The Light Keepers: A Story of the United States Light-house Service

by Roy J. Snell

  CHAPTER II.

  SIDNEY HARLOW.

  For the first time since Ephraim Downs had been appointed keeper ofCarys' Ledge light, was the work in the lantern left undone until afterthe crew had eaten breakfast, and also for the first time had the secondassistant failed of having an appetizing meal served in a proper manner.

  It was, as Mr. Peters afterward said, as if the "rules an' regerlationshad been trampled in the mire," owing to the arrival of one small boy.

  No sooner, however, had the poor apology for a breakfast been eaten thanCaptain Eph suddenly awakened to a full realization of the situation,and then he stormed at his assistants as if they were wholly at faultbecause the regular routine had been broken in upon.

  "It strikes me, Sammy," the keeper began when he had eaten the lastmorsel of johnny-cake, and washed it down with the last mouthful ofcoffee, "that instead of loafin' around this 'ere kitchen, you'd betterbe in the lantern, else the inspector may get it into his head that thegood of the service demands that a new assistant keeper be appointed forCarys' Ledge."

  Mr. Peters looked in speechless astonishment, first at Captain Eph, andthen at Uncle Zenas, after which he held up both hands as if in token ofhis bewilderment, and went slowly toward the stairway.

  "An' I'd also like to know why this 'ere kitchen looks as if it wasridin' out to a fair?" Captain Eph continued sharply. "There's got to bea change 'round here mighty soon, or I'll court-martial this whole idlecrew."

  Uncle Zenas' face flushed a deeper red, if indeed that could bepossible, as he said slowly:

  "I've studied the rules an' regerlations ever since I was somisfortunate as to be appointed second assistant keeper of this 'erelight, an' so far I haven't found anything laid down agin answerin' thekeeper back when he tries to ride over a man. I allow you're in commandof the lantern, Captain Eph; but I've got some rights all to myself herein the kitchen, an' there's goin' to be trouble if them as belongup-stairs interfere while I'm 'tendin' to my reg'lar duties."

  Then Uncle Zenas began to bustle around, as if every moment was preciousand he seemingly filled the little kitchen so full, as he moved hisponderous body from one side to another, that there was really no roomfor any other person in the little apartment.

  Captain Eph did not venture to make any reply; but at the firstopportunity followed Mr. Peters up the stairway, tip-toeing through theapartment where the lad lay asleep, and making no halt until gainingthat floor known as the lantern deck.

  During five minutes or more the keeper and his assistant workedindustriously at those tasks which should have been performed earlier inthe day, and then Mr. Peters asked:

  "How long do you allow that little chap will sleep, Cap'n Eph?" and thekeeper replied:

  "It wouldn't surprise me a bit if he run his nap way over till to-morrowmornin'. You see it ain't likely he got much sleep while he was alone inthe boat."

  "An' it stands to reason that he didn't have a great deal to eat, for Icouldn't see anything on the craft that looked like provisions."

  "I reckon there's no question but that he went hungry, Sammy."

  "In which case he's needin' food as much as sleep," Mr. Peters saidthoughtfully, "an' I'm askin' if it ain't our duty to rouse him upafter a while, so's to shove somethin' inter his stomach."

  "Well I declare, Sammy!" Captain Eph cried emphatically. "I never oncetook heed to anythin' of that kind, an' yet it's only common sense. I'llrun down an' see what Uncle Zenas can fix up that'll hit his case."

  "You look after the boy, an' I'll 'tend to things in the lantern," Mr.Peters said as he wiped here and there with the buff-skin over imaginaryspecks of dust on the lens.

  "That 'ere Sammy breaks out in spots of good, sound sense every once ina while," Uncle Zenas said when the keeper repeated to him theconversation which had been held in the lantern. "It stands to reasonthe little shaver needs somethin' in his stomach, an' I'll fix up a messright away. Perhaps we might pour a little broth down his throat withoutdisturbin' him very much."

  "All right; see what you can do, an' I'll take a squint at his boat. Itain't certain but that she can be patched up, an' he may need herpowerful bad before the inspector comes this way."

  Having said this, Captain Eph, forgetting that, according to the"regerlations," he should remain in the lantern until everything therehad been put to rights, descended the outside ladder leading to therocks below, and made his way to where the lad's boat had been left.

  Here he found nothing contrary to the opinion he and his first assistanthad already formed--that she had been built as a tender to a largevessel. A gasoline motor of 3 horse-power, with the appearance of havingbeen well cared for, was aft where the helmsman could attend to it whileholding the boat on her course, and lashed on either side inboard wereoars and spare fittings. Everything about the craft told that she hadlately been looked after by sailormen, and, having ascertained thismuch, Captain Eph set about learning how seriously she had been damagedby the rocks.

  Both bows two or three feet abaft the stem were stove in; but theinjuries were not so serious that they could not be repaired by ordinaryworkmen, and Captain Eph said to himself as he pulled the boat around onthe ways:

  "I reckon Sammy an' I can put her in shape, pervidin' the weather holdsgood; but if we get much of a gale she's bound to go, for it won't do totake the Government boat out of the house in order to run her in, evenif she is worth four or five times as much as ours."

  The keeper brought down from the tiny boat-house of cement, a rope,which was attached to a small windlass or winch, and, making one endfast to the bow of the disabled craft, hauled her up the incline untilshe was in some slight degree sheltered by the little building. Then hecarefully covered the motor with a spare sail belonging to his own boat.

  All this had required no small amount of time, and when he again enteredthe kitchen, Mr. Peters, his labors in the lantern having beenperformed, was moving in an aimless manner around the apartment,evidently under the impression that he was assisting Uncle Zenas inpreparing a thin soup to be given the involuntary visitor.

  "Well?" the keeper asked as he entered, and Mr. Peters replied:

  "Uncle Zenas an' I believe he ought'er have some of this stuff inside ofhim as soon as we can get it there. He'll sleep better with a fullstomach."

  "What is it you've made?"

  "I've thinned down one of them 'ere cans of soup you was so extravagantas to buy when Sammy went ashore last," Uncle Zenas replied, "an' itsmells good enough to eat."

  Captain Eph tasted the savory mixture critically and then saidthoughtfully:

  "I reckon you're right about his needin' it, though it does seem too badto waken the little shaver while he's bottlin' up so much sleep. Buthave your own way. How are you goin' to do the job?"

  "You lift him up, an' I'll pour it down," Uncle Zenas replied in a tonewhich showed that he had already settled the details in his own mind."The sooner we do it the better, 'cordin' to my way of thinkin', sos'pose you lead the way."

  There was an expression of deepest anxiety on Captain Eph's face as heascended the iron stairs, and on arriving at the floor above he stoodfor a moment gazing at the childish face which could be seen amid themountain of bed-clothing, for in his desire to do all that might bepossible for the little fellow, Mr. Peters had piled upon the bed everyblanket and comfortable to be found in the tower.

  "Better get right at it," Uncle Zenas said in a whisper, as he halted bythe bedside with the bowl of soup in his hands.

  Captain Eph raised the boy so gently that his slumber was not disturbed;but when Uncle Zenas attempted to pour the warm liquid down his throat,he opened his eyes, crying in distress:

  "What is it? What do you men want? Where am I?"

  "You're safe and sound in Carys' Ledge light, Sonny, an' we've come upto give you somethin' to eat," Captain Eph replied, as he pressed thelad closely to him. "You've been havin' a hard time, an' are needin'what we've brought. Drink it down like a little man, an' then you may goto sleep agi
n."

  Just for an instant the little fellow looked around wildly, and then, asif reassured by the friendly pressure of Captain Eph's arms, began toswallow the soup, slowly at first, as if from a sense of duty, and theneagerly as hunger asserted itself.

  "My! but that was good!" he exclaimed as Captain Eph laid him back uponthe pillow, and Uncle Zenas asked eagerly:

  "Do you want some more? There's plenty in the kitchen, an' it'll do yougood."

  "If I _could_ have a little more. It's _so_ good, and I didn't know Iwas hungry till I got a taste of it," the little fellow said, rising toa sitting posture, and as Uncle Zenas hurried down the stairway CaptainEph whispered solicitously:

  "Why not lay down agin, Sonny? You're mighty sleepy, an' it'll do yougood to get another nap."

  "If you don't care, I'd rather keep awake till I've had more of thesoup. How nice it is to be here where it's warm and dry!"

  "Bless your dear heart, you shall do as you want to in this 'ere light!"Captain Eph cried. "Only don't forget that you've been havin' a hardtime, an' need sleep as much as food."

  "There isn't much chance I'll forget anything of that kind while you'reall so good to me. When do you suppose my father will come to take meaway?"

  "Who is your father, Sonny?" Mr. Peters asked.

  "Captain Harlow, of the schooner _West Wind_--she's a five-master, and abeauty. This is her first voyage, and I'm going all the way to PortoRico in her," the lad cried, and then suddenly remembering how long ithad been since he was on board the _West Wind_, he cried, turning towardCaptain Eph, "Do you suppose he can find me, now that I've come ashore,sir?"

  "If he don't it won't be any very great job to let him know where youare, Sonny," the keeper replied emphatically. "It'll go hard if we can'thail a fisherman, or a pilot boat, an' send a letter ashore to thepost-office, so you needn't worry about that part of it. But tell me howyou happened to be adrift in that motor boat."

  "We went out to look at what seemed to be a lot of wreckage; it was socalm that the _West Wind_ hardly moved through the water, and fathersaid I might go with Mr. Sawyer, because I know how to run the motor andsteer. Then, before we'd got to the wreckage, the fog shut in, and wecouldn't see the schooner. I believe I could have gone straight to herat first, but after Mr. Sawyer fell over-board, I turned the boat aroundso many times trying to pick him up, that I couldn't tell where the_West Wind_ might be."

  "Who was Mr. Sawyer?" Captain Eph asked.

  "The second mate; he was a good friend of mine, and I wouldn't have beenallowed to go out to look at the wreckage if he hadn't coaxed father."

  "How did a sailorman contrive to tumble over-board?" Mr. Peters askedcuriously, as if it seemed to him impossible such an accident couldoccur.

  "We ran down a spar, and he was leaning over the bow trying to make outif it was a buoy that had gone adrift, or a portion of the wreckage wehad sighted, when a heavy sea came. It seemed to me as if the timberstruck Mr. Sawyer on the head, for over he went like a log, and althoughI put the boat back and forth until it grew too dark to see, I couldn'tfind him."

  "Wasn't you frightened, Sonny?" Mr. Peters asked, and the lad repliedwith a sigh:

  "I was feeling too sorry for that, sir, and I thought certain theschooner would pick me up, even if the fog was thick; but I did getfrightened when the night shut in, and the wind began to blow so thatthe spray from the tops of the waves came aboard, soaking me withwater. My name is Sidney, if you please, sir."

  "Then what did you do?" Captain Eph asked in a whisper.

  "I just sat there and cried, sir, till I remembered what father hasoften told me, that when a boy, or a man, for that matter, loses hiscourage, he is a great deal worse off than if he kept up his spirits. Ihad often run the motor while the _West Wind_ was in port, and I triedto make out how much gasolene there was in the tank, for I knewsteerage-way was needed, else I couldn't keep her head up into the wind.It was a terribly long while before day came again, and then the fogcovered everything so that I couldn't see very far in either direction.Of course father hunted for me; but I knew he didn't have much chance offinding me in that kind of weather."

  "Wasn't you hungry?" Mr. Peters asked.

  "Perhaps so, sir; but I was too much frightened and sorry to know ituntil I got a taste of the soup."

  "What did you do all the long day and second night?" and Captain Eph puthis arms around the lad as he asked the question.

  "I sang a little, sir, and cried a good deal; but the most of the time Iprayed, and once when I fell asleep without knowing it, I thought I sawmy mother, who went to Heaven when I was only a little shaver."

  At this point in the story Uncle Zenas appeared with a fresh supply ofsoup, and after Sidney had drank it eagerly, Captain Eph said as heforced the boy to lie down again:

  "You're a brave little lad, Sidney, an' I have no doubt but that youreally saw your mother, for surely God would have let her go to her babyboy when he was in such trouble. Now you must sleep again, an' whileyou're growin' stronger we'll cook up a letter to send your father,tellin' him where you are, for I reckon he's feelin' mighty bad aboutthis time."

  Then, motioning for his assistants to follow, Captain Eph led the way tothe watch-room, and Uncle Zenas, who brought up the rear, closed eachdoor behind him lest the sound of their voices should prevent Sidneyfrom sleeping.

  When the three men were in the apartment directly under the lantern theystood in silence, gazing at each other, while one might have countedtwenty, and then Captain Eph said in a low tone:

  "Wa'al, you've heard about all the story he can tell, an' now what doyou think?"

  "I reckon it's the truth all right," Mr. Peters replied in what heintended should be a jovial tone, and on the instant the keeper wasaroused to anger.

  "I hope there ain't any one here so mean an' bad-minded as to questionany statement that little shaver has made! The truth! Of course it is,every word, an'----"

  "Now, look here, Cap'n Eph, there ain't any call for you to get up sohigh on your ear," Mr. Peters interrupted. "I wasn't allowin' it couldbe anything but the truth, an' only spoke that way because there didn'tseem to be much else to say. We've got him here, an' are bound to takecare of him, no matter what the rules an' regerlations say aboutboardin' or lodgin' houses."

  "Right you are," Uncle Zenas added, "an' I for one don't see as there isany need of talk. We've got stuff enough to eat, an' jest so long as hisappetite sticks by him I'll give him a chance to find out what kind of acook I am, though it stands to reason I can't come anywhere near mixin'up what he's been in the habit of gettin' on board one of them bigschooners."

  "Now see here, Uncle Zenas," Captain Eph said sharply. "I've sat underthe droppin' of your cookin' quite a spell, an' so has Sammy. We'venever had any fault to find, an' as long as there's breath left in mybody I'll maintain that you can hold your own with the cook of any craftthat sails."

  "Then what did we come up here to talk about?" Uncle Zenas asked as ifin perplexity.

  "About that boy of our'n, for I reckon he belongs to us till his fathercomes after him. I ain't wishin' harm to any man; but it wouldn't makeme feel very bad if nobody ever showed up to claim the little shaver,'cause it makes this 'ere tower seem a good deal like home to have ababy in it."

  "Are you tryin' to fix up some plan so's it sha'n't be known he's here?"Mr. Peters asked as if in astonishment, and Captain Eph roared angrily:

  "See here, Sammy, there are times when you try a patient man like me, asnobody has been tried since the days of Job. Of course I ain't tryin' tokeep any baby away from his own true an' lawful father, an' I called youup here so's we could decide how to get word to the capt'n of the _WestWind_ that his boy is here as safe an' snug as a bug in a rug."

  "You seemed to allow a spell ago that we might hail a fisherman, an'send a letter ashore," Mr. Peters said in perplexity.

  "It don't seem jest the thing to wait a great while for some craft tocome within hail, for it stands to reason the poor man is jest aboutcrazy t
hinkin' the lad's knockin' around in that boat, starvin' todeath," and the keeper rubbed his chin vigorously, as if by so doing itmight be possible to more readily solve the problem which was beforethem.

  "It wouldn't be any fool of a trip from here to the mainland, at thisseason of the year, in a dory," Uncle Zenas suggested, and Mr. Peterscried as if he saw a way out of the difficulty.

  "The first thing, whatever we agree on, is to write the letter, an'after that's been done we'll have time enough to figger how it's to besent. I reckon it'll get there all right if you put on it the name ofthe captain an' the schooner, to be found at Porto Rico, eh?"

  "That's what's puzzlin' me a good bit," Captain Eph replied. "I ain'tsure but that there may be more than one post-office in Porto Rico. Inever was on the island, so don't know much about it."

  "Why not send your letter to the light?" Uncle Zenas asked. "No matterwhat kind of an island it is, there's bound to be a light on it."

  "An' who's to tell me where or what it is?" the keeper cried petulantly."The place may only be buoyed out, or have nothin' more'n a beacon onit."

  "Wa'al, you've got the report of the Board in your room, an' all thefacts are certain to be put down in that, since we've adopted the placeso to speak," Mr. Peters suggested, and Captain Eph's face brightenedat once, as he cried:

  "There are times, Sammy, when you do really seem to have quite a lot ofsense! Now any idjut ought'er thought of doin' that same thing; but I'vebeen so mixed up since daybreak that my brain seems to be off somewhereon a strike. Wait a bit while I fetch the book."

  "Sneak inter the room quiet-like, or you may wake the lad," Uncle Zenassaid warningly, and Captain Eph, who was already half-way through thedoor in the floor, stopped to say in a tone of reproof:

  "Any one would think, to hear you two old shell-backs talk, that Inever knew anything about babies, an' yet I've handled more of 'em thanyou ever saw."

  Then the keeper disappeared from view, and a full five minutes elapsedbefore he reappeared, to explain his long absence by saying:

  "I couldn't help stoppin' to look at the little rascal as he lays thereasleep. I declare he is handsome as a picter, an' twice as sweet."

  "Did you get the report?" Mr. Peters asked impatiently.

  "Of course I did. What else do you reckon I went after? Now we'll soonknow if there's a light on that island of Porto Rico."

  Captain Eph had not pored over the pages of the report many minutes,before he looked up at his mates in dismay, as he said:

  "What do you think, boys? There's no less than fourteen lights on theblessed place, an' it must be quite an island. Now we're up a tree forsure!"

  "If I was the keeper of this 'ere light I'd make an official report tothe inspector, of how the lad came to the ledge, an' ask the Governmentto hunt up the father," Uncle Zenas said quietly. "I ain't so certainthat it's the Government's business to go 'round huntin' for strayfathers; but it seems to me, seeing as how he landed on this 'ere ledge,an' is stayin' here, the least them as are at Washington could do wouldbe to take one end of the job, if we're willin' to handle the other."

  "You've hit the nail right on the head, Uncle Zenas!" and Captain Ephgravely shook his second assistant by the hand. "I'll make a report, an'from this on, till we decide upon somethin' better, all hands are to beon the lookout for a craft that can be hailed."

  "If you're goin' to settle down to a spell of writin', an' I'm allowin'it won't be any small job to put the thing together ship-shape, I'll seewhat can be done toward patchin' up the boy's boat," Mr. Peters said asif making a suggestion. "If we get any good weather, an' the motor isin fair shape, it mightn't be very much of a trip to run across."

  "Get at it, Sammy, get at it. Seems to me I'm the only one in this 'erecrew that don't rightly know what to do," and once more Captain Ephcrept softly to his own room in search of writing materials.

  Half an hour later the keeper and his assistants were busily engaged ontheir respective tasks. Captain Eph sat in the watch-room laboring overhis report; Uncle Zenas was cooking as if his very life depended upongetting the largest amount of provisions prepared for eating in theshortest possible space of time, and on the rocks Mr. Peters wasmeasuring and figuring on the shattered boat, confident that he couldsoon put her in a seaworthy condition, provided he should be able tofind the proper material.

  The cook was spearing doughnuts out of a kettle of hot fat with along-handled fork, bringing into play all his professional knowledge tothe end that each one should be of the proper color and degree ofcrispness, when he was startled so badly that he actually squeaked, byhearing a light footstep on the floor directly behind him.

  "I'll be roasted if I didn't think you was a ghost!" he cried as,turning quickly, he saw Sidney standing near the foot of the staircase."Why didn't you stay in bed, lad, since that's where you belong for thenext four an' twenty hours?"

  "I guess I've slept long enough, for I wakened without being called, andthose doughnuts smelled so good I had to come after one. What a nicekitchen this is!"

  "It's a bit small for so big a cook," Uncle Zenas said with a laugh ashe held the pan half-filled with delicately browned cakes toward theboy. "Help yourself to whatever you want so long as you're on Carys'Ledge, for everything here that don't belong to the Government is thesame as yours."

  "You have all been awfully kind to me, and if father could only knowwhere I am, it would be very nice to stay here a while, for I was neverin a light-house before."

  "Where do you live when you're at home?" Uncle Zenas asked, as hespeared more doughnuts from the kettle of fat.

  "I haven't got any home now. I did board with a very nice family inMalden; but they moved out west, and father said I might stay on theschooner until spring, when I'm to go somewhere to school. Is thereanother room under this?" and Sidney tapped with his foot on a trap-doordirectly in the center of the floor.

  "Wa'al, I don't reckon you can call it a room, seein's it's our cellar,"and Uncle Zenas raised the door that the lad might look beneath.

  In the middle was what appeared to be a well, while around the sides ofthe aperture were stores of all kinds, stacked up neatly with a view toeconomy of space.

  "Yes, that's our well," Uncle Zenas said in reply to Sidney's question."Least-ways it's a hole in the masonry which is filled every once in awhile by the water-boat from the harbor, which comes out here for thatpurpose. Yonder is the oil, and our lamp eats lots of it. This 'ere iswhat is known as a first order light, an' we use somewhere over eighthundred gallons of oil in a year. The Light-House Board sends all oursupplies, for it stands to reason we can't run out to the shop wheneverwe're needin' anythin' extra."

  "But of course the Board can't tell just how much you will eat, and Ishould think you might come short once in a while," Sidney saidthoughtfully as he gazed into the odd cellar, noting the variety ofstores therein.

  "No, the Board don't know how much we might eat; but it takes it uponitself to say how much we _shall_ eat, an' here's the list of what mustlast one man a full year," Uncle Zenas said grimly as he opened a largeblack book, the title of which was _Instructions to Light Keepers_.

  Then Sidney read aloud the following table of annual allowance for eachkeeper and assistant in the service:

  "Beef ... 200 pounds. Potatoes, 4 bushels. Pork, 100 pounds. Onions, 1bushel. Flour, 1 barrel. Sugar, 50 pounds. Rice, 25 pounds. Coffee, 24pounds. Beans, 10 pecks. Vinegar, 4 gallons."

  "But suppose you eat more than that?" Sidney asked laughingly, as hecame to an end of the list, and Uncle Zenas replied with a wink, whichwas very comical because his cheeks were so fat:

  "Here comes Cap'n Eph; you'll have to ask him about that, for he's thehead boss on this 'ere ledge."