CHAPTER XXV
AT THE LIGHTHOUSE
The boys remained concealed in the high grass for some time. Theywatched the men moving about on the sloop and near the hut, but thethieves seemed to pay little attention to the motor boat.
"I wonder if they're getting ready for a trip?" said Bob. "That willmake it easier. If they leave we can go down there and get something toeat."
"Oh, Chunky!" exclaimed Ned. "You--" but he could think of nothingappropriate to say, and so stopped short.
"They're all boarding the sloop," Jerry remarked, as he saw four mencome from the shack and go on the sailing vessel. "Going out of thecove maybe."
"Can't, with the water as low as it is."
"I only hope they go to sleep in the shack," Ned remarked. "It will beeasier for us then."
Through the long afternoon the boys waited. The little camp on theshore of the hidden cove seemed deserted. None of the men was to beseen. Toward evening there arose a thin column of smoke from the galleyof the sloop.
"They're getting supper," remarked Bob, with a sorrowful note in hisvoice.
"Never mind, Chunky, you'll get yours sooner or later," said Jerry ascomfortingly as he could.
As it grew darker the boys noticed that the water in the cove wasagitated. The sloop, and the motor boat rocked at their anchorages.
"The tide's coming in," said Jerry. "It will soon be time to act. Ihope we can get to the _Dartaway_ without being seen."
"We've got to," spoke Ned. "If they see us it means we'll have a lot oftrouble. We must crawl along until we get close to her. Then we'll getin. I'll crank up, you can steer, and Bob can use a boat-hook to fendus out from the shore."
"Lucky she's headed the right way to get out of the cove," Jerryremarked. "It will save time by not having to turn her."
Thus it was arranged, and the boys, tired and hungry, remained hiddenin the grass until it was dark enough to put their plan in operation.
They watched the sloop closely. After their supper aboard, the men cameon deck and stood conversing a while. The boys could just make outtheir forms in the dusk. One seemed to be doing the most talking, andhe frequently motioned off toward the sea.
"Acts as if he was trying to get them to go somewhere," spoke Bobsoftly.
But in the end the men went ashore, and after looking to the fasteningof the motor boat and a small rowing craft tied near it, they went intothe shack. Presently lights shone from it, and Jerry said:
"I guess we can sneak down now. Go easy, everybody."
Cautiously the boys left their hiding places and began to descend theslope that led from the bluff to the shore of the cove. Every nowand then they paused to listen. They could hear the men laughing andtalking in the hut.
Foot by foot they crept nearer. There was a path leading from the topof the sand dune to the hut, but the boys did not take this, fearingthey would be seen. Instead they crawled on their hands and kneesthrough the grass. The process was a painful and slow one, for theirarms and legs came in contact with sand burrs, while innumerableinsects attacked them. But they suffered in silence.
"Easy now, we're almost there," came from Jerry.
At that moment the door of the hut opened, and a man looked out. Theboys, with wildly beating hearts, crouched down. They feared they hadbeen discovered.
"See anything?" called some one from inside the hut.
"No," was the answer, "I thought I heard some one at the boats, butI guess it was the tide swinging the sloop. Looks like a storm. Hopewe'll get one by to-morrow night. It'll be just what we need," and theman re-entering the hut, closed the door.
For a few seconds after this the boys remained silent in the grass.
"Lucky escape, that," murmured Bob. "Five seconds more and he'd caughtus."
Cautiously they resumed the progress toward the boat. Nearer and nearerthey came until Jerry, who was in the lead, was able to step over theside into it. Ned and Bob followed. The latter grasped a boat-hook andstood ready to fend off when the start was made. Ned and Jerry cut thebow and stern lines with which the _Dartaway_ was made fast to thelittle dock. They worked quickly and silently.
Jerry turned on the gasolene, and waited a few seconds to allow it tofill the carburettor, as the boat had not been run in several hours.Then he switched on the spark.
"Turn her over!" he whispered to Ned, who was in the engine cockpit.
The big flywheel went around under the impulse of Ned's sturdy arm.There was a sort of cough from the engine. Then came a chug, followedby a splutter, and the motor got into action.
"Fend her off! She's headed into the bank, and I can't steer her outquick enough!" cried Jerry to Bob.
Chunky pushed with all his strength, on the pole, against the bank.Slowly the nose of the boat came out from the shore. The screw waschurning the water into foam. Jerry spun the wheel around, and headedthe craft for the channel, the opening of which he could just make out.
At that instant the door of the hut flew open, and in the light whichstreamed forth several men could be seen running toward the shore.
"Hi there! Stop! Bring that boat back!" they called.
"Guess not! She's ours!" Ned called back.
"We're off!" exclaimed Jerry in a low tone. "She's running like acharm. They'll never catch us!"
There was the sound of feet on the dock. Then came a squeaking of apulley block, the creak of ropes and the rattle of the boom on the mast.
"What's the use going after them in the sloop?" they heard some onecry. "There's no wind. Take the rowboat!"
The thud of men jumping into the small craft tied near the sail boatcould be heard. There was the rattle of oars, and then the splash ofthem in the water.
"They'll never get out of the channel," the boys heard one of the mensay. "We'll catch 'em before they strike open water."
"You will, eh?" thought Jerry. "We'll see about that."
The engine was speeded up. Jerry was beginning to distinguish thingsbetter as his eyes became accustomed to the darkness on the water. Thechannel was a narrow and winding one, but the incoming tide had made itplenty deep enough.
The boys could hear the men frantically rowing after them, but it wasa hopeless race. The _Dartaway_ was speeding ahead. It kept Jerry busysteering to avoid running into the bank, but presently the channelwidened and he had no more difficulty. On sped the craft until thelittle creek emerged into a small bay, which, in turn, opened into theocean.
"We're safe now!" cried Jerry. "Let's light the lamps, and put forhome."
The men in pursuit had been left far behind. While Jerry held the boaton her course up the beach Ned and Bob kindled the red and green sidelights and the search lantern. In about two hours the _Dartaway_ wassafe at her dock, and the boys were telling their story to a number oftheir friends.
"We must notify the police and get after those thieves," said CaptainJenkinson. "They're dangerous men to have around. It's a good thing youdiscovered that cove. They probably have been hiding there a long time."
But the primitive police system of the shore summer resort could not begotten in readiness for a raid that night, and when some constables didgo to the cove the next morning they found the sloop gone and the hutseemingly deserted.
The boys found their boat had suffered little damage at the hands ofthe thieves. Some tools had been removed as had a few of the cookingutensils, but these were easily replaced.
"Now I guess we'd better make a trip to the lighthouse," remarked Ned,the next afternoon, when the _Dartaway_ had been put in shape. "Weought to warn Mr. Hardack."
"And, incidentally, I suppose, Jessica," added Bob.
"I think they'll give the whole plan up, now they see we are afterthem," Jerry added. "I believe they've cleared out for good."
"It'll do no harm to go over and see Mr. Hardack," Ned insisted. "If wefind out there's no likelihood of the thing coming off, we needn't sayanything."
They got to the lighthouse about five o'clock. Mr. Hardack greeted themwarm
ly.
"Come right in," he said. "Sorry Jessica is not home. She was justwishing some visitors would come, and about an hour ago that Nixon chapcame along in his boat and took her for a ride."
Ned seemed less happy than when the start had been made.
"But come in," the lighthouse keeper went on. "I've got some fresh milkand Jessica baked some cookies this morning."
Bob was the only one who looked pleased.
As the boys were getting out of their boat they saw a man coming downtoward where the oil lamps were usually filled. At first they thoughtit was Bill Berry, but a second look showed them it was not.
"Got a new helper?" asked Jerry, trying to speak calmly.
"Yes, my other one skipped off yesterday. This chap came along and Ihired him. Had to have some one in a hurry."
The Motor Boys on the Atlantic; or, The Mystery of the Lighthouse Page 25
