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

by Roy J. Snell

  CHAPTER VIII.

  THE SURPRISES.

  Uncle Zenas held possession of the kitchen, refusing admittance to Mr.Peters from without, and threatening Captain Eph and Sidney withseverest penalties if they should attempt to descend, until the longbeams of light from the lantern illumined the waters in the vicinity ofCarys' Ledge, and then, flinging wide open the outer door, he summonedall hands to supper.

  As a matter of course no one was greatly surprised, because, owing tothe excessive precautions of the cook, the dwellers in the towerexpected to see something very elaborate in the way of a supper; butthey were not a little mystified as to how he had contrived to make somany different dishes with such raw material as was at his command.

  It was "a reg'lar Thanksgivin' spread," as Captain Eph declared, andalthough the principal portion consisted of fish cooked in a variety ofways, the second assistant had found among the stores a sufficientamount of canned delicacies to relieve it of sameness.

  Mr. Peters apparently forgot that he had been forced to spendconsiderable time on the rocks, when it was his desire to be inside thetower, and ate as if he had been deprived of food for many days.

  "There's no use talkin', Uncle Zenas, you lay way over anybody I eversaw when it comes to cookin,' an' this 'ere lay-out is fit for the bestking that ever lived," the first assistant said approvingly, as heapplied himself industriously to getting a full share of all that hadbeen placed before him. "It's growin' cold mighty fast, an' gives a manquite an appetite to loaf around on the ledge only about half dressed."

  "Don't make any excuses because you're eatin' a good deal," Uncle Zenassaid as he gave the first assistant another portion of the broiledcorned-fish. "I laid myself out on this supper so's you'd take hold witha will, for it's what you might call a party that we're givin' toSonny."

  "He's the one I was thinkin' 'bout when I figgered out my surprise," Mr.Peters added, speaking indistinctly owing to the fullness of his mouth.

  "When's that comin' off?" Captain Eph asked.

  "I reckon it'll be time when we've finished supper, an' the sooner thebetter 'cordin' to my idee, for if this nor'east wind ain't blowin' up astorm I don't know anything about the signs."

  "It wouldn't surprise me if we had snow," the keeper said with an airof wisdom. "It's late enough in the season for somethin' of the kind,an' this day has been what you might call a weather-breeder."

  "I should think it would be snug and comfortable here in a storm,"Sidney said thoughtfully, and Captain Eph replied:

  "So it is, Sonny; but somehow a man can't really enjoy it because ofthinkin' of the many craft which must be off the coast battlin' withit."

  "Have there ever been any wrecks on this ledge?"

  "Bless your heart, yes, Sonny. Many a vessel went ashore here before thetower was built, an' we've had a wreck close at hand twice since, thoughneither of the craft struck this ledge. If the weather is changin', asSammy says, it ain't very pleasant to be talkin' 'bout what's likely tohappen whenever the light can't be seen. Ain't it time for you to showup your surprise, Sammy?"

  "I reckon it is, Cap'n Eph, an' if all hands of you will sit over bythis window, I'll start the show."

  "I wonder what it is he's got in his noddle?" the old keeper saidcuriously as Mr. Peters went hastily out of the tower to the ledgebelow, and Uncle Zenas declared that he "couldn't guess if he should tryall day"; but Sidney cried gleefully:

  "I believe he bought some kind of fireworks when we were ashore, for Inoticed that the shop-keeper had to hunt around a good while before hecould find what Mr. Peters wanted, and you know how careful he was tostow the packages where they wouldn't get wet."

  "I declare if Sonny hasn't hit the nail right on the head!" Captain Ephcried in delight, "an' there goes the beginnin' of his show."

  It was evident that the first assistant had succeeded in putting up theframe-work of boards, for by the time Captain Eph had ceased speakinghalf a dozen small spinning wheels were revolving in a manner which toldthat they were fastened to something above the level of the ledge.

  The display of fireworks was not as brilliant as many Sidney had seen;but the two keepers cried out again and again in delighted surprise,thus proving that to them it was something very wonderful.

  During fifteen minutes or more the exhibition was continued, and then,the last fiery serpent having wriggled its way among the rocks, Mr.Peters appeared in the doorway triumphantly happy.

  "Wa'al, what do you think of it, Cap'n Eph?"

  "It's jest great, Sammy, great!" the keeper replied emphatically. "I'mwonderin' how you got the hang of settin' 'em off in that style."

  "I've seen a good deal of them things, an' once I helped fire a big pileof all kinds. It's been so long since I've had a Fourth of July, that Igot to hankerin' after it an' on the way over I made up my mind that ifthere was any fireworks ashore left from last summer, I'd spread myself,jest to show how glad we are 'cause Sonny has come to make us a visit."

  Sidney tried to say something which should express his gratitude for allthat had been done for him by these kind-hearted old men, but, try as hemight, it was impossible, and Captain Eph, seeming to understand whatwas in the lad's mind, cried heartily:

  "Wa'al, Sammy, both you an' Uncle Zenas have done yourself proud on thisday. I don't know when there's been so much excitement on Carys' Ledge,an' it pleases me same as it does Sonny; but we mustn't forget thatwe're hired to look after this 'ere light, an' it's time we turned in,else we'll get the watches mixed in great shape."

  Then Captain Eph ascended the stairway, the others following, and tenminutes later it was as if Carys' Ledge had never been the scene of suchbewildering festivities.

  Greatly to his delight, Sidney was awake when Mr. Peters called thekeeper to perform his share of the night duties, and as soon thereafteras he could make his toilet, the lad went into the room directly beneaththe lantern.

  "How the wind howls!" he exclaimed after saying "good morning" toCaptain Eph. "It really seems as if the tower was shaking."

  "I reckon it does sway a bit, for we're gettin' what you might call afull-sized nor'east gale. Sammy was right when he allowed there'd be achange in the weather, an' I wasn't so far out of the way when I talkedabout snow."

  "Is it snowing?" Sidney cried in surprise.

  "Take a squint out of the window, an' you'll see the flakes comin' sothick an' fast that it's worse'n a fog."

  Sidney did as he was bidden, and after gazing into the wreaths of thewhirling particles which were revealed by the strong light from the roomabove, he cried:

  "I really believe the waves are breaking over the highest part of theledge!"

  "If they are it won't be anythin' new, Sonny. Time an' time agin I'velooked outer that window when it seemed as if this 'ere tower stoodright in the sea, with never a rock showin' itself; but the surf ain'trunnin' as high as it will be in the mornin'. Then, whether the winddies away or not, you'll see the waves breakin' mighty near the kitchendoor."

  "But what about the motor boat?" and Sidney looked alarmed.

  "Sammy called me after he'd been on watch a couple of hours, an' wewent down to see what could be done. She's lashed fore an' aft to theboat-house, but with all that there's danger of her bein' stove, an' wecan't do anything to prevent it."

  "What shall I do? What shall I do?" Sidney cried in distress, for itseemed to him that if the boat belonging to the _West Wind_ wasdestroyed, the last link binding him to his father would be broken.

  "There's nothin' you can do, Sonny," Captain Eph said soothingly, as hetook the lad in his arms. "Out here we have to take whatever comes,without a chance of fightin' agin it. If your boat is lost you must tryto look pleasant, an' thank God this 'ere gale didn't spring up beforeyou reached Carys' Ledge."

  The howling of the wind and the beating of the surf against the base ofthe tower made such a noise that it was necessary those in thewatch-room should speak loudly in order that their words might be heardabove the tumult of the elements. Sidney
clung tightly to Captain Eph,with both arms around the old man's neck, for the danger seemed suddenlyto have increased as he realized that they were beyond reach of earthlyaid in event of any accident.

  Never before had he understood how entirely alone were light keepers onan isolated station, nor how ominous the howling of the wind mightsound under such circumstances.

  "Could the wind blow this tower over, sir?" he asked, and Captain Ephreplied as he stroked the lad's hair affectionately.

  "Now don't get anythin' like that inter your head, Sonny, although Iallow there's reason for it. When I first came to Carys' Ledge, an' wasstandin' watch on a night like this, it seemed certain the tower wouldgo by the board; but after a time I made myself understand that it wasalmost as firm as the solid rock. Besides, not bein' so big as to offermuch resistance to the gale, I question if even a full-sized tornadocould harm it."

  "But light-houses are sometimes destroyed," Sidney whispered.

  "Anything like that doesn't happen once in a hundred years. I reckonyou're thinkin' of Minot's Ledge Light, on the Massachusetts coast,which was carried away in 1851; but in that case it was shown prettyclearly the mischief was done through the keepers' disobeying orders."

  "Tell me about it, sir."

  "Wa'al, Sonny, I allow it ain't overly cheerful talk on a night likethis; but so long as it's in your mind I don't s'pose it'll make mattersseem worse if we go over the story. Nobody knows jest what time, on thenight of April 16th, the tower was carried away; but it's reasonable toallow it was done about high water, which was an hour after midnight. Itwas built on iron piles set into the rock, instead of bein' a solidtower sich as are put up nowadays. I've heard them as should know, saythat keepers weren't held up to the rules an' regerlations as strict asthey are now, an' them as were in charge of Minot's Ledge Light hadbuilt a platform well down below the livin' rooms, where they could stowanything which it might not be convenient to keep inside. Here's whatthe Government engineer, who was sent to look after the matter, saidabout it," and Captain Eph, opening a book which lay near him, read thefollowing:

  "'The keepers had improperly built a sort of deck or platform, uponwhich were placed heavy articles, such as fuel, water-barrels, etc.,which should have been in the store-room, designed for their reception.The deck, in addition to the weight placed upon it, was fastened to thepiles and braces, thus offering a large surface, against which the seacould strike.

  "'In addition to this, the keepers had attached a five-and-a-half inchhawser to the lantern deck, and anchored the other end to a graniteblock, weighing, according to their account, seven tons, placed upon thebottom at a distance of some fifty fathoms from the base of the tower.The object of this was to provide means for running a box orlanding-chair up and down; but it is very clear that so much surfaceexposed to the moving sea had the same effect upon the light-house aswould have been produced by a number of men pulling at a rope attachedto the highest part of the structure, with the design of pulling itdown.

  "'At 4 o'clock on Wednesday afternoon, the 16th, or ten hours before thelight fell, the platform above mentioned came ashore at Cohasset. Asthis was forty-three feet above the line of low water, and twenty-eightfeet above high water, spring tides, the sea had at that time reachedwithin seven feet of the base of the store-room of the light-house.Without undertaking to speculate upon the probable shock that thestructure must have received from the effect of the sea upon a platformfastened to the piles forty feet above the rock, it is enough to knowthat the sea had reached within seven feet of the body or solid part ofthe structure.

  "'Still increasing, it required but a slight increase in the height ofthe waves, after having reached the deck, to bring it in contact withthe main body of the structure. When this took place it is plain toperceive that such a sea, acting upon the surface of the building at theend of a lever fifty or sixty feet long, must be well nighirresistible, and I doubt not that the light-house was thus destroyed.'

  "So you see, Sonny, carelessness had, 'cordin' to the belief of theGovernment engineer, a good deal to do with the loss of the light,"Captain Eph said as he came to an end of the reading.

  "Was that the only light-house ever destroyed in a storm, Captain Eph?"

  "Bless you, no, Sonny. There was the Eddystone, off Plymouth, England.It was a fanciful sort of a thing, an' disappeared during a hurricane inthe year 1703. The tower was rebuilt, an' in 1755 was burned, becausethere was a good deal of wood-work inside, which you won't find inlight-houses built nowadays. That makes up the list of coast lights thathave been destroyed, so you see we needn't bother our heads aboutanything of the kind happenin' here, for Carys' Ledge Light has stoodagainst many a worse gale than this."

  "But it shakes as if it was going over," Sidney persisted, and CaptainEph replied with a laugh:

  "This 'ere tremble ain't anything compared with what I have felt, an'it'll be worse as the sea gets wilder, for--"

  The old keeper did not finish his remark, for at that moment Mr. Peters'head appeared through the trap door, as he said sharply:

  "It strikes me that a man of your age, Cap'n Eph, could be in betterbusiness than tellin' stories about light-houses that have been carriedaway, to a lad who's gettin' his first taste of a storm in a place likethis! I wouldn't have thanked anybody for spinnin' sich yarns the firstyear I came on this ledge. We didn't have a heavy sea in all that timebut I expected the tower would go, an' when a nor'easter struck us, Iallowed there wasn't any show of savin' our lives."

  "I was only tellin' Sonny of the Eddystone an' Minot's, to prove that alight-house what's been properly built don't go under in any kind of agale," Captain Eph replied, much as if apologizing for what he had said."I'd like to know what you're out'er bed for, Sammy Peters. It can't bemore'n half an hour since you turned in."

  "I haven't been asleep anyway," Mr. Peters grumbled, "an' the reason forit is that I can't help thinkin' we might do somethin' to put the motorboat in better shape. It stands to reason there'll be a heavy searunnin' by sunrise, in which case there won't be much chance of savin'her."

  "I don't know what we can do, Sammy, unless we should turn out the dory,an' put her inter the boat-house, which couldn't be thought of for aminute because it's clean agin the rules an' regerlations."

  "Of course you can't do anythin' of that kind. Cap'n Eph, no matter ifSonny's boat _is_ worth five or six times as much as the dory; but whatabout haulin' her up between the boat-house an' the tower? She'd be moresheltered there."

  "We couldn't do the job without callin' all hands, an' I don't feel asif I'd be doin' right to take any chances jest to save property. The seais breakin' over the ledge already, an' the rocks remainin' out of watermust be covered with snow an' ice. Go back to bed, Sammy, for, as youknow full well, we've got no right to stick our noses outside thisnight. After daybreak, if she's still sound, we may be able to worksomethin' for her safety."

  Mr. Peters disappeared without further remark, evidently realizing thatthe keeper was fully justified in refusing him permission to leave thetower at such a time, and Sidney said half to himself as he gazedthrough the window, trying to prevent the tremor of fear from beingapparent:

  "It must be uncomfortable in a light-ship when the storm is so severe."

  "Uncomfortable, Sonny? There's where you get danger! We're snug as micein here; but the poor fellows who keep a light-ship must have theirhearts in their mouths at sich a time. In this 'ere report I found alittle somethin' regardin' lights of that kind, which seemed to strikethe spot. Here it is," and the keeper handed Sidney an open book, fromwhich he read the following:

  "The purpose of a light-ship is to do the work of a light-house in aplace where one is necessary, but where it has not been erected becauseof the great difficulty, not to say expense, of such a structure. Toinsure permanency of position is a matter of great difficulty. Whenmoorings have been made too heavy to drag, chains have broken; when theyhave held, mooring-bitts have been torn out; when they have held, theship has foundered at her ancho
rs, or the cable has been slipped, andthe ship has sought a harbor or gone to sea for safety."

  "Is there a light-ship near here, sir?" Sidney asked as he finished thereading.

  "One lays off to the east'ard about twenty miles. I've never seen her,because she hasn't been on the station more'n two years. I don't claimto be anything of a coward in seafarin' matters; but I never wanted anypart of a light-ship in weather like this. Let's have a look around thelantern, lad. If a body don't feel jest right in mind, it's a good ideeto move about a bit, instead of stayin' in one place listenin', for thewind does contrive to make some mighty queer noises."

  After assuring themselves the light was burning as it should, the twowent down to the kitchen, at Captain Eph's suggestion, and there atequite a hearty breakfast from that which remained of Uncle Zenas' feast.Then it was Sidney understood, even better than while they were in thewatch-room, the danger which threatened the motor boat.

  The waves were dashing entirely over the ledge, and now and then a heavyone would strike the base of the tower with a force which seemed to jarthe entire structure.

  "It'll soon be daylight, Sonny, an' then the storm won't seem so bad,even though it may be worse," Captain Eph said soothingly, as he notedthe lad's start of alarm.

  "Do you think my boat will be wrecked?"

  "I'm obleeged to confess, Sonny, that the chances are agin her. It ain'tlikely much damage has been done yet; but it won't be high tide tilleight o'clock, and then's when she'll get the worst poundin'."

  The keeper and Sidney were yet sitting at the table when Uncle Zenasentered the kitchen, and Captain Eph cried in surprise:

  "What sent you out so early as this?"

  "There's sich a racket up-stairs that I can't sleep; I was awake when youtwo came through the room. What do you say to a cup of hot coffee?"

  "It wouldn't go bad, Uncle Zenas, an' that's a fact, though Sonny an'me have had quite a bite already."

  The cook built a fire, and the cheery glow went very far towardrestoring to Sidney the courage which had oozed out of his finger endsas the tower trembled under the blows of the tempest.

  "You two have been up in the watch-room till you're half frozen," UncleZenas said as he shoveled a generous supply of coal into the stove. "Ithas grown cold mighty sudden, an' I reckon Sonny will need his coat bythe time I get it done."

  "When will that be?" Captain Eph asked, hoping rather to turn Sidney'sattention from the raging of the gale, than because he was eager forinformation.

  "If nothing happens I'll take the last stitch in it by noon. I got onfamously with the work while you were ashore."

  Then Uncle Zenas, after having filled the coffee pot, brought out thepartially finished garment for inspection, and before they were donecritising it, Mr. Peters came down-stairs, complaining bitterly of thecold.

  "It was lucky we went ashore yesterday," he said as he warmed his handsover the stove. "I reckon it'll be quite a spell before we make any morevisits, or have any visitors."

  Captain Eph was on the point of replying to this remark when suddenly,even amid the roar of the tempest, could be heard a dull, booming sound,so foreign to anything which the gale brought to their ears that evenSidney ran to the window in alarm.

  The gray light of the coming day had dispelled the darkness in someslight degree: but the swirling downpour of snow was so great that itwas impossible to make out the crests of the surges twenty feet away,yet all four remained at the window silent and motionless.

  Then came that which they feared to hear--another dull report brought onthe wings of the gale, and there was no longer any doubt in the minds ofthe keepers.

  "God help 'em!" Captain Eph cried fervently as he began to pace the roomnervously, and Sidney asked:

  "Help who, sir?"

  "The poor wretches who are firin' that 'ere gun with the idee that theremay be some one near who can give 'em a hand."

  "Do you mean that there is a wreck?" the lad asked, speaking in a toneso low that none save the old keeper heard him.

  "Ay, Sonny. This ledge makes off to the east'ard near half a mile, an'the craft, whatever she may be, has struck there."

  "How can you tell without seeing her, sir?" Sidney asked, as if hopingto convince the keeper that he had made a mistake.

  "In the first place, she must be there because the wind brings to us thesound of her signal gun; she might be only half as far away on the otherside, an' we couldn't hear anything, owin' to the gale."

  "She must be a large craft, else she wouldn't have a gun aboard," Mr.Peters suggested, and Uncle Zenas nodded in token that he was of thesame opinion.

  "I can't make out why any craft should be hereabouts in an easterlyblow," Captain Eph said with nervous impatience. "It seems to me thatany half-careful skipper would have clawed off shore at sunset, unlesshe knew his way as I do this 'ere ledge!"

  "Don't you count on trying to do anything?" Sidney asked as the menmoved nervously about the small room.

  "That's what makes it so tough, Sonny," Captain Eph said in a tearfultone. "There's nothin' we can do, but stay here an' think of the poorwretches who are facin' death."

  "Couldn't you go out in one of the boats, sir?"

  "Bless your dear heart, Sonny, it ain't possible! The dory is thebetter sea-boat of the two, an' we couldn't even launch her, to saynothin' of pullin' up into the teeth of the gale."

  "My boat doesn't need any pulling."

  "She wouldn't be more'n an eggshell in this sea. There's nothin' but alife-boat that could do the trick, an' the nearest station is a goodfifteen miles away."

  Again the wind brought to them the boom of the gun, and Sidney coveredhis eyes with his hands as if to shut out the picture his fears hadpainted.

  Mr. Peters went swiftly from window to window, although knowing fullwell that nothing could be seen from either. Uncle Zenas walked from thedoor to the stove, and then back to the door as if questioning whetherhe should not open it, despite the fact that every now and then a wavewould dash against it, while Captain Eph paced swiftly to and fro,stopping now and then to listen.

  "There ought'er be a fog signal with this 'ere light!" he cried angrily,and Uncle Zenas asked helplessly:

  "S'posen there was? It wouldn't help them poor fellows out any, an' I'mdoubtin' if the best whistle that was ever made could have been heard amile away to the east'ard."

  "There'd be some little comfort in blowin' it to tell the poor creeterswe're here an' willin' to help 'em. If she's a square-rigged vessel, asI count she is, there's a chance of her holdin' together till mornin',an' we're got to sit with our hands folded, listenin' to their calls forhelp!"

  Uncle Zenas ground more coffee to add to that which was already on thestove, and then tried in vain to set about getting breakfast; butsucceeded in doing nothing.

  It was a positive relief to Sidney when the keeper finally said:

  "It's gettin' well on to sunrise, an' I'll go inter the lantern. Ofcourse there's no show of our bein' able to lend a hand out yonder; butyet it won't do any harm to be ready, so eat your breakfast as soon asit's cooked, Sammy."

  "What about yours?"

  "I don't want any."

  "Neither do I. Do you think a man could eat while that gun is bein'fired?"

  Captain Eph ascended the staircase slowly, and Sidney asked timidly ifhe might be allowed to go with him.

  "Of course you may, Sonny. There's never any need of askin' to go withme, my boy, for I'd like to have you by my side every minute of the dayor night."

  Not until the two were in the lantern did Sidney speak, and then it wasto cry, as he burst into tears:

  "Oh, Captain Eph, wouldn't it be dreadful if the wreck was the _WestWind_, having come out here after me?"

  "Bless your heart, Sonny, it couldn't be her no-how, for she's way downby Porto Rico by this time."

  "But father might have heard where I was, and come back after me!"

  "Now don't get any sich idees into your head as that, for your fatherdon't even dre
am where you are, more's the pity. Why my report hasn'tyet reached the inspector, consequently there ain't a single soul,outside of us four, who knows anything about the wreck of the _WestWind_, because he hasn't come out here about it. Did the _West Wind_have a gun aboard?"

  "No, sir."

  "Then that part of it is settled. The craft that's taken the ledgeyonder is a heavier vessel than your father's, so you can count himright out of your mind, so far as this wreck is concerned."