Four Afloat: Being the Adventures of the Big Four on the Water

by Ralph Henry Barbour

  CHAPTER XVII--IN WHICH DAN PLAYS A JOKE

  Long before sunset the _Vagabond_ was berthed for the night at the endof an otherwise empty pier scarcely a stone's throw from the railroadstation at New London.

  "I don't know who this wharf belongs to," said Nelson as he passed thebow line up to Dan, "but there isn't any notice to keep away and so wemight as well use it." "I think it's an orphan pier," said Dan as he ranthe line through a ring and made it fast. "Anyhow, that's the way itappears," he added. Nelson groaned.

  "That'll do for you," he said. "Leave plenty of slack there to allow forthe fall of the tide. If those trains make as much noise to-night asthey're making now we'll wish we'd anchored across the river."

  "Yes, I do hope the noise won't keep Tommy awake," said Dan concernedly.

  "I think," replied Tom, who was trying to make Barry stand on his hindlegs and beg for a strip of bark torn from a spiling, "that it's ratherfun seeing trains again. I love engines, anyway. I used to think I'd bean engineer when I grew up."

  "Well, I think you'd make a success on the railroad," said Bobthoughtfully, "but not as engineer."

  "What, then?" demanded Tom unsuspiciously.

  "Why, you'd make a dandy sleeper, Tommy," was the reply.

  Presently they landed, crossed the railroad tracks, and skirted thelittle open space with its monument, erected, as Tom declared, tocommemorate the discovery of New London by Thomas Ferris, the famousexplorer. And just then they made another discovery. It was the eve ofthe Fourth of July. That fact was extremely evident. Up and down thestreet the sound of exploding firecrackers was deafening. Dan started tosing "The Night before the Fourth," but Tommy darted into a store andwhen the others reached him he already had his arms full of crackers andRoman candles. Then they visited other shops and bought all sorts ofthings from news-papers to canvas shoes. Finally Dan was despatched tothe launch with the purchases and the others went on up the hill to thebig hotel. When Dan joined them he brought exciting news of a show whichwas announced for that evening at the local theater and during dinnerthey unanimously decided to attend.

  "You ought to see the posters," said Dan. "Oh, great! There's onepicture where the hero in a false yellow beard has got into thecounterfeiters' den and is holding them all at bay with a pistol in eachhand, saying '_The first to move is a dead man!_' Oh, it's swell!"

  "What's it called?" asked Tom eagerly.

  "'The Counterfeiter's Bride.'"

  "Did you see the bride?" asked Bob.

  "Yes, she was there, too; in a corner, with her face over her handsand----"

  "With what?" shouted the others.

  "I mean with her hands over her face. She has beautiful golden hair andwears black; they always do. Then there's a terribly funny picture ofthe comic fellow jumping out of a second-story window with alife-preserver strapped around his waist."

  "That doesn't _sound_ terribly funny," remarked Bob.

  "With a life-preserver on him?" demanded Dan. "It was a fire."

  "You didn't say it was a fire. I thought he was jumping into a river orsomething."

  "Well, he isn't; he's jumping into the street."

  "Still," hazarded Nelson, "maybe he put the life-preserver on to savehim from automobiles. You know it's a mighty dangerous thing, jumpinginto the street nowadays."

  "Oh, you fade away!" growled Dan. "I'm going to see it, anyway."

  "We all are," said Bob. "I haven't been to a theater since Christmasvacation."

  So go they did, and had a fine time. After they got back to the launchand had been welcomed by Barry Tom and Dan reproduced the second act inthe engine room, Dan playing the role of the Secret Service hero and Tomdoing the distracted bride. Barry somewhat marred the effectiveness ofthe supreme situation by thinking the whole affair organized for hisamusement and trying to shake Dan off his feet just when the latter hadcovered Nelson and Bob with a pair of "sneakers" and was in the act ofdeclaiming in a blood-curdling voice: "_The first to move is a deadman!_"

  Nelson's and Bob's laughter drowned the line, but Tom, who had his facecovered with his hands, continued to emit his piercing shrieks longafter and had to be forcibly persuaded to desist. Then they went up ondeck and set off Roman candles and firecrackers, a proceeding which sentBarry into paroxysms of excitement.

  The next day, instead of continuing westward along the shore, theyheaded the _Vagabond_ up the Thames River and had a Fourth-of-Julyexcursion up to Norwich between smiling green hills against whichnestled comfortable white farmhouses. Nelson grew reminiscent and retoldthe story of the only Harvard and Yale boat race he had witnessed,pointing out the quarters of the rival crews as they passed along. Theyspent a couple of hours in Norwich and came back in the afternoon. Afterthey had passed under the railroad bridge and left New London behind Danhad an idea.

  "Say, fellows," he said, "instead of keeping on let's stop along theshore here somewhere and camp out for the night. We can cook dinner onthe beach and rig up a tent with the awning. What do you say?"

  They said yes, instantly and enthusiastically. And at five they found aplace that suited them, ran the launch into a little shallow cove andset about disembarking. Three trips were made in the tender, and beforethe last was completed Bob had a stone fireplace set up and Tom hadgathered enough fuel to last a week. By mutual consent Bob became chef_pro tem_.

  The cove was skirted by a little pebbled beach and in one place atumble-down stone wall ambled out of the woods nearby and fell to piecesin the water, affording a very handy landing place for the tender. Therewas only one mishap, and that occurred when Tom strove to relieve Dan ofa load of frying pans and dishes, lost his footing on a slippery stoneand went into two feet of water with his burden. Luckily nothing wasbroken and Tom, by standing in front of the fire and turning slowlyaround, was soon able to get dry again. They locked the cabin on the_Vagabond_ and made everything shipshape for the night. Then, at alittle after six they squatted around the fire and ate fried eggs andbacon, baked potatoes and smoky toast and washed the repast down withsmoky tea. But they all declared that it was the best supper they hadtasted for a long time.

  "It's sort of a relief," said Nelson, "to have things seasoned with woodsmoke for a change. I was getting a little tired of Tom's keroseneflavor."

  "It isn't my fault," defended Tom. "Your old stove smokes like thedickens."

  After supper they set to work with the deck awning and, not withoutseveral failures and many tribulations, at last rigged it up into thesemblance of a tent. Then they discovered that they had left beddingentirely out of their scheme, and Bob and Tom rowed back to the launchfor blankets. By that time it was twilight and the river and the Sound,just below them, were golden in the afterglow.

  "Mighty pretty, isn't it?" asked Bob as he drew in his oars and gotready to lay hold of the launch.

  "Yes," Tom answered without enthusiasm, "but I think it would be a heapmore comfortable to sleep on the boat where we have decent mattressesthan to lie on the ground."

  "Tommy, you're a sybarite," said Bob, as he climbed onto the launch.

  "I don't know what that is," grumbled Tom as he followed, "but if it'ssomething that likes a decent bed I'm it."

  They kept the fire going until bedtime and watched its flames leap andwrithe in the purple darkness. Then the moon came up and dimmed thefirelight and showed them the _Vagabond_ floating quietly at anchor alittle way off. Tom looked toward it longingly.

  "Wish I was there," he murmured. And, after a moment, "What's asybilite, Dan?" he asked. Bob laughed.

  "A 'sybilite,' Tommy," he said, "is a person who'd rather sleep on alaunch than on the ground."

  "That's me," sighed Tom. "I thought, though, it was a fellow who toldfortunes, or something like that."

  "Oh, no," said Dan, "that's a gypsyite."

  "Hope you choke," muttered Tom. "I'm going to bed, although I don'tsuppose I'll be able to sleep any."

  "Only about twelve hours," jeered Dan.

  When they awoke in the morning i
t was to a gray, wet world. A fine mistwas falling, everything outside the improvised tent was sopping and theother side of the river was shut from view.

  "There's no use trying to make a fire with this wood," yawned Bob. "Ivote we go on board."

  Dan and Nelson agreed. Tom was silent, for after one disgusted look atthe outside world he had turned over and promptly gone to sleep again.

  "Let's leave him," whispered Dan.

  "But we need the awning," Nelson demurred. Dan chuckled.

  "Sure, and we'll take it. He'll never wake up."

  So very quietly they gathered the things together and bore them to thelanding. Two trips of the tender were sufficient, and on the second onethey took the awning. Back at the edge of the woods, with the mistfalling gently on his upturned face, slept Tom.

  Barry seemed to appreciate the change of quarters as much as anyone andwas soon curled up in a corner of Bob's bunk. The dampness had got intotheir bones and all were stiff and full of queer little aches when theystretched their muscles.

  "What we need," said Nelson, "is some hot coffee and lots of it."

  "And right away quick," added Dan.

  So Bob got busy at the stove while the others put the awning back overthe cockpit. While they were doing it they cast many amused glancesacross at the shore where Tom still slumbered under his gray blanket.

  "I tell you what," said Dan presently. "Let's go on down the riveraround that point. Then when Tom wakes up he'll think we've gone offwithout him. What do you say?"

  Nelson laughed and agreed. So they pulled up the anchor, started theengine, and went slowly downstream until a point of woods hid them fromthe cove. Here they let down the anchor again and had breakfast. Theywere intensely hungry and spent the better part of half an hour attable.

  "We'll keep something hot for Tommy," said Bob. "I'd just like to seehis face when he wakes up and finds us gone!"

  "So would I!" said Dan with a chuckle. "Poor old Tommy! Won't he be fineand damp?"

  "Don't suppose he will catch cold and have rheumatism, do you?" askedNelson doubtfully.

  "Tommy? Catch anything? He'd never move fast enough," laughed Dan. "Iwonder what he will do, though, when he finds the launch gone."

  "Hope he doesn't go hunting upstream instead of down," said Nelson.

  "Thunder! That would be awkward," said Dan. "I say, maybe we'd better goback, eh? He ought to be awake by this time, and looking for us. And ifhe gets it into his silly head that we've gone up the river instead ofdown----!"

  "I don't believe he's awake yet," said Bob. "If he was we'd have heardhim yelling for us."

  "I don't know about that," answered Nelson. "We must have come a goodthird of a mile downstream."

  "Anyway," insisted Dan uneasily, "I think we'd ought to go back."

  "All right," said Nelson. "Come on and we'll hoist anchor. It seems tome we don't do anything else nowadays; I'm getting a crick in my backover it."

  They went across the engine room and stepped out into the cockpit. Thenthey stared about them in surprise. There was nothing to be seen. Thefog had crept up since they had gone below and was now stealing silentlypast them, blown landward before a tiny southeast breeze. Nelson and Danlooked at each other inquiringly.

  "Isn't this the dickens?" asked Dan.

  "It surely is," was the reply. "O Bob! Come out here!"

  Bob appeared. After a moment of surprise he asked:

  "Where's the shore?" Nelson pointed off to starboard.

  "Sure?" asked Bob.

  "Yes, pretty certain. The tide's still running in and so we can't haveswung around."

  "Hang these old fogs, anyhow!" growled Dan. "What are we going to donow?"

  "Go back for Tommy," answered Nelson. Bob looked doubtful.

  "Can we do it?" he asked. "Aren't you afraid of running into something?"

  "No, I guess not. We'll keep the whistle going, you can take the wheel,I'll stand at the engine, and Dan can keep a lookout from the bow. Wedon't draw much water and there weren't any shallows as far as I couldsee coming down here. Besides, we ought to be able to see the shore atleast ten feet away. If Dan keeps a good lookout and yells quickly, andyou pass the word on down to me we'll manage all right, I guess. Let'sget the mud-hook up."

  That done, Bob took the wheel, Dan perched himself in the bow, andNelson started the engine at the slowest speed. The _Vagabond_, with ashrill screech from her whistle that so surprised Dan that he nearlytumbled off the bow, pushed the fog aside and crept through the silence.All went well for a moment. Then came a quick warning from Dan.

  "Back her!" he yelled. "Land dead ahead!"

  "Back her!" called Bob, swirling the wheel around. There was a suddencommotion under the launch's stern as the propeller was reversed and, atthe same instant, a tiny jar as her bow settled on to the sandy bottom.Dan ran back and seized the boat hook.

  "Tell Nel to keep her backing," he called, "and I'll see if I can'tshove her off."

  But it was a five minutes' task, and had not the tide been coming ininstead of running out it is likely that the _Vagabond_ would havestayed where she was for a good twelve hours. But finally her bow wasfree once more and Dan shoved and panted over the boat hook until thelaunch was headed away and the dim line of shore was gone from sightagain.

  "All right now," he called, and Nelson again threw the clutch forward.In the excitement of getting afloat they had forgotten the whistle, butnow Nelson made up for lost time, and the launch poked her way gingerlyalong to an accompaniment of distressful shrieks.

  "How are we going to know when we get back to where we left Tommy?"asked Bob down the companion way.

  "We'll just have to guess at it," was the answer. "If we get where Tommycan hear the whistle we'll be doing all right."

  Several minutes passed. Then came another caution from the bow.

  "Land on the port bow," called Dan. "Hold her off a bit more, Bob."

  "All right," said Dan a moment later. "Can't see anything now. Seems tome, though, we ought to be far enough."

  "I guess we are," answered Bob dryly. "We're out on the bar, I shouldsay."

  "What do you mean?"

  "Don't you feel the swells? If we aren't in the Sound we're pretty nearit."

  "But how can we be? We've been going up the river toward New London,haven't we?"

  "I thought we had, but we haven't, I guess. Say, Nel, come up here aminute."

  Nelson appeared and agreed with Bob.

  "Either we are somewhere around the mouth of the river or else we're ina steamboat's wake; and we haven't heard any pass. Wait a bit." He wentdown and stopped the engine. "Now," he said as he came back, "let's havethat boat hook a minute."

  Dan passed it to him and he dropped it into the water, keeping hold ofthe end. The submerged portion floated back against the hull. Nelsonpulled it up and tried again over the stern.

  "We're just about broadside to the current," he announced. "And I'mblest if I know where we are. Best thing we can do is to drop anchor, Iguess."

  "Not if we're in the middle of the river," said Bob. "Let's keep on abit farther. Dan saw land a moment ago over there. Suppose I head thatway and we creep over until we find it again. Then we won't be in dangerof being run down by somebody."

  "That's so," answered Nelson. "Keep your eyes open, Dan."

  So the _Vagabond_ took up her travels again, groping her way through thegray mist, with Dan peering anxiously from the bow. It was ratherexciting while it lasted and the monotonous screech of the whistlebreaking the silence lent an uncanny touch to the adventure. Then----

  "Stop her!" called Dan, and Bob repeated the injunction to Nelson at theengine. The propeller stopped and the launch floated softly through themist. "Star-board a little," said Dan. Bob turned the wheel. "Allright," said Dan. "How's this, Nel?"

  Nelson had joined him and was peering perplexedly through the fog.

  "I don't see any land," he said finally.

  "Over there. I can't see it myself now, though. Wait a
bit and the fogwill thin. There it is," said Dan. "See that dark line?"

  "Yes. Let's put the anchor down. Stand by the cable, will you? It's allsnarled up." There was a splash which sounded momentously loud in thestillness and the cable ran out for some ten feet. "We must be prettywell in toward shore," said Nelson.

  "Now what?" asked Bob, working his way forward over the slippery deck.They looked from one to another. Finally----

  "Stay here until the fog lifts and we can find Tommy, I guess," saidNelson.

  "Hang Tommy, anyhow," said Bob disgustedly. "He's always getting lost inthe fog."

  "Yes, it's the easiest thing he does," agreed Dan. "He ought to write abook about it when he gets home. 'Fogs I Have Met, by Thomas CourtenayFerris.'"

  "Supposing we shoot off that revolver of yours a few times?" Nelsonsuggested.

  "All right," said Bob. "I'll get it."

  "It was a dandy joke of yours, Dan," said Nelson. Dan shrugged hisshoulders and wiped the drops from his face against his sleeve.

  "How the dickens was I to know this fool fog was coming up?" he asked."Here, let me shoot that, Bob."

  "You run away," answered Bob, as he filled the chamber of his revolver.

  "But I feel that I am to blame in the matter," said Dan earnestly, "andI ought to be allowed to do all I can to--er--remedy things."

  "Well, you can't shoot my revolver," answered Bob dryly. "But you canhold the cartridges."

  "Let me shoot once," Dan begged. Bob relented and between them theybanged away into the air until there was a good-sized hole in thecontents of the cartridge box and Bob called a halt. Then they listenedattentively.

  "There!" whispered Dan.

  "Steamboat whistle," said Bob, and Nelson nodded concurrence.

  "Let's shout," said Dan. They shouted. Then they stopped and listenedagain. There was not a sound to be heard save the faint lapping of thewaves against the shore.