Four Afoot: Being the Adventures of the Big Four on the Highway

by Ralph Henry Barbour

  CHAPTER XX

  FOLLOWS WITH A RESCUE, AND INTRODUCES FRIENDS IN NEED

  “If he has,” said Bob quietly, “he’ll probably drown out there beforenight.”

  They pulled the empty line in silently. Barry, wet and woe-begone,huddled himself against the storm, and watched out of reach of thewaves.

  “I wonder if there’s a boat around here,” said Nelson.

  They turned and looked about them. They seemed to be on the end of theisland, for beyond them at a little distance the waves raced by a sandypoint. To their right, as they faced inland, a beach stretched awayuntil lost in the blur of the beating rain. In front of them was beachgrass, flattened under the wind, and beyond, on higher ground, a fewstunted cedars and underbrush.

  “We’ll have to find one,” said Nelson. “Two of us had better stay here,and two go and hunt. Who’ll stay?”

  “I will, if you say so,” answered Tom.

  “All right, Tom and I’ll stay,” said Nelson. “You and Dan see what youcan find. Maybe there’s a path or a road up there; looks as thoughthere might be. You’d better put your coats on.”

  “Can’t get any wetter,” answered Dan, shivering. They untied thebundle, which had come safely ashore, and pulled their dripping coatson. Then, with Barry beside them, they started off, and in a minutewere out of sight.

  It was weary waiting there on the beach with the rain pelting them, andthe wind chilling them through and through.

  “If we only had a fire,” chattered Tom.

  Every now and then they faced the wind, and tried to make the boy inthe sloop hear them. But it is doubtful if he did, for their wordsseemed to be blown back into their faces. Nelson looked at his watch.The soaking had not affected it, and it proclaimed the time to betwenty minutes past four.

  “It’ll be dark before very long,” he said, “if this storm keeps up.”

  “What time did we start?” asked Tom.

  “I didn’t notice, but I guess it was about a quarter to three.”

  A half hour passed, and another had almost gone, when a faint hailreached them. It seemed at first to come from the sloop, and they puttheir hands before their mouths and answered as loudly as they could.Then it came again, and unmistakably from behind them. They looked, andpresently, like gray wraiths, figures appeared against the sky line.

  “They’ve got one!” cried Tom.

  Toward them came two persons and a horse drawing a dory.

  “Here’s your boat!” called Bob. “And, say, this isn’t an island at all;it’s some old point! This gentleman lives about half a mile down theroad, and he’s going to help us.”

  The second person proved to be a big chap of twenty-eight or thirty inyellow oilskins.

  “How are you, boys?” he said. “Where does she lie?”

  They pointed out the location of the sloop.

  “Struck on the bar,” said the man. “Well, we’ll have your friend safein no time. Get up there, Prince!”

  The horse moved down to the water, and was unhitched.

  “But where’s Dan?” asked Tom.

  “He had a beast of a chill, and I made him stay behind at the fire,”answered Bob. “But he said he was coming along in a minute. We had anawful time finding anybody. Got off the road, and pretty near wanderedback into the bay on the other side over there. This chap’s all right.He was out harnessing that plug of his before we were through tellinghim.”

  “Which of you fellows can row?” asked the stranger.

  “All of us,” answered Tom.

  “Well, I’ve only got two pairs of oars, so I guess one will be enough.”He turned to Bob. “Want to come?”

  “Sure,” said Bob, “unless--” He looked at Nelson.

  “No, go ahead, old chap,” Nelson answered. “You did the hard work, andought to have the glory. I’ll stay here and look after Tommy.”

  So Bob scrambled into the dory, and the stranger pushed off. They hadlaunched at a point some little distance up the beach, and presently,when they had struggled through the breakers, they turned the boat’snose out to sea, and worked along toward the bar. It was wet work, butnot dangerous, for with careful management a dory will lift itselfover the worst sea that ever ran. When they approached the sloop thestranger hailed, but there was no answer.

  “You don’t suppose he jumped and lost the rope, do you?” he shouted toBob.

  “Don’t believe so,” was the reply. “He’s probably too scared to answer.”

  They worked the dory around to the lee of the sloop, and found thatBob’s theory was the correct one. Will lay in the cockpit, very scaredand very, very seasick. He opened his eyes when they called to him,but evidently he was incapable of making any further effort. Thestranger dropped his oars, waited his chance, and then leaped to theslippery deck. Bob held the dory as near as he could. The strangerpicked up the boy and shoved the limp body over the side.

  “Bring her up till she bumps,” he said.

  Bob obeyed, and Will slid into the dory to lie supinely against theseat with the water washing about his legs. The owner of the dorytumbled in after him, saved himself from going out the other side, andseized his oars.

  “All right!” he cried. “Push her off! We’ll go back the way we came.I’m afraid we might get carried by the point if we tried it here.”

  By the time they were in the breakers again Dan had joined Tom andNelson, and all three waded out, and dragged the boat up. Will waslifted out and borne up the beach.

  “We’ll have to carry him, I guess,” said Dan.

  “Put him right back in the dory when we get it on the road,” said thestranger. “It’ll be rough, but he’s had it rougher already and won’tmind, I guess.”

  So, presently, with Will lying at full length in the bottom of thedory, and the others trudging beside, the procession started inland.Fifteen minutes of battle against the elements brought them to a neatand cosy little red cottage standing in a grove of cedars a shortdistance from the beach. Lights gleamed from the windows, and Tom andNelson cheered feebly.

  There was a roaring fire in the open fireplace of the little livingroom into which they were ushered, and the mellow glow of a big lampadded to the comfort of the scene. Nelson backed up to the flames,stretched himself, and grinned like the Cheshire cat.

  “This is simply great!” he said with a sigh.

  The host brought a little bright-faced woman and introduced her asMrs. Cozzens, and Bob introduced Nelson and Dan and Tom with ludicrousformality considering the fact that they were all dripping wet.

  “You’ll want to get your things off and dry yourselves,” said Mrs.Cozzens. “So you go right upstairs to the guest room, and Mr. Cozzenswill look after you.”

  Will, who had been propped up in a big armchair before the fire, beganto show signs of returning animation. He lifted his head and lookedabout the room.

  “Hello,” said Nelson. “Feeling better?”

  “I guess so,” was the faint answer.

  “He’d better go right to bed,” said the woman. “You carry him up, John.”

  Nelson assisted, and Will was put to bed. Their host returned presentlywith something hot in a cup and made Will sip it. After that, in spiteof the fact the others were changing their wet garments for all theclothes, old and new, that Mr. Cozzens could find and making a lot ofnoise about it, Will went sound asleep on his cot. When the Four werefinally ready to return to the living room they were a strange-lookingquartette. Mr. Cozzens’s garments were much too large for even Bob, andsleeves and legs had to be turned up generously. Tom was a strikingfigure in a pair of old white tennis trousers and a red sweater, whileBob in a brown canvas shooting jacket, Dan in a pair of duck trousersand a Tuxedo coat, and Nelson in a suit of blue serge that could havegone around him twice were not far behind in point of picturesqueness.They went downstairs laughing merrily to find Mr. Cozzens with a traycontaining cups of steaming coffee in his hands.

  “I was just going to take this up to you, boys. Here, sit down
by thefire and put this down. It’ll do you good. There’s cream in it, and thesugar’s in the bowl. Hello! No spoons? Jennie, what did you think theywere going to stir with? Their fingers?”

  Mrs. Cozzens hurried laughingly in with the teaspoons, and the boysmade short work of the coffee.

  “Supper’ll be ready in a little while,” said their host. “Did youspread your things out around the stove upstairs?”

  “Yes, sir. They’ll be dry before very long, I guess,” Dan answered.

  “I think we’d ought to get on,” said Bob half-heartedly.

  “Get on? Not while this storm lasts,” replied Mr. Cozzens. “Why, you’dlike as not walk into the bay! It’s as black as pitch outdoors. Andthat reminds me I ought to be out in the stable this minute.”

  “Let me help, sir?” said Nelson, jumping up. Mr. Cozzens pressed himgently but firmly back into his chair.

  “You sit right there, my boy, until supper’s ready. After supper we’lltalk about your going on. Meanwhile you’ll find books and papers aroundif you look, and if you smoke----?”

  “No, sir,” answered Bob. “We’ll do finely, sir.”

  “Don’t smoke, eh? Well, you’re sensible. Do without it as long as youcan. When you can’t, smoke a pipe and leave cigarettes alone. That’s myadvice, and ’tain’t so many years since I was a boy myself.”

  He went out, and the Four, left to their own devices, talked untilthe crackling wood fire made its influence felt and lulled them todrowsy silence. Barry, stretched as near the flames as safety allowed,actually snored. And then, just when they were on the point of fallingasleep, Mr. Cozzens returned with a cheerful slamming of doors andstamping of feet, and looked in on them on his way upstairs.

  “All right, eh?” he asked. “Supper’s almost ready.”

  Nelson smiled half-sleepily, watched the door close, and then picked abook at random from the table beside him. It didn’t promise to be veryinteresting, for it was a volume on Montaigne, and Nelson had smallaffection for that gentleman. As he returned the book to its place aninscription on the fly leaf met his eyes.

  “H. Dana Cozzens, St. Alfred’s School,” he read.

  Then their host, since he was a bit too old to be a student, must be aninstructor. Nelson wondered where St. Alfred’s was, doubtful of everhaving heard of it before. His conjectures were interrupted by thesummons to supper.

  The meal was a simple one, but everything was nicely cooked, and therewas plenty of it. The Four ate until Bob, as spokesman, felt driven toapologies.

  “We don’t always eat like this, Mrs. Cozzens,” he assured the hostess.“At least, none of us except Tom. I haven’t any excuse to offer forhim; he’s beyond them.”

  They told their afternoon’s adventure, and asked what Mr. Cozzensthought about the sloop.

  “Well, it’s moderated a whole lot,” was the answer, “and if she hasn’tbroken up any by this time, she won’t. She’ll probably have some of herplanks sprung, but I don’t think she’ll be much worse for her accident.Now, you boys had better stay right here until morning. There’s nooccasion to turn out in this storm and get all soaked up again. Wecan put you up without any trouble if you don’t mind being a littlecrowded.”

  They didn’t mind it at all, only----

  “Call it settled then,” interrupted Mr. Cozzens. “We’ve got plenty ofcots even if our space is limited. We don’t often entertain a wholeship’s crew, you see. In fact, we’re pretty well out of the way outhere on the point, and our friends, all except a few, leave us alone.That’s one reason I built here,” laughed the host. “When summer comesI want a real vacation, and that to me means rest and ease and oldclothes.”

  “I should think it would be fine here,” said Bob.

  “It is; I’m sorry you haven’t seen it in good weather. The next timeyou’re over this way you must come and see us. Any time from the firstof July to the twentieth of September you’ll find us at home. Well,shall we adjourn to the other room and let the lady of the house clearthe table?”

  Back in the living room Mr. Cozzens picked a pipe from a tray, andbegan filling it from a big jar of tobacco.

  “It was something of an accident that you boys found me at hometo-day,” he said thoughtfully. “I’m glad you did, for there isn’tanother cottage for nearly a mile. I was going up to New York thismorning on business, but when I reached the village I found so muchmail to be answered that I postponed the trip.” He paused and smiled.“I was going to look for a boy, and now Fate has presented me withfive.”

  “How’d I do, sir?” asked Tom promptly.

  “I’m afraid you wouldn’t like the job,” laughed Mr. Cozzens. “I’d liketo have you, but----”

  “Take me, Mr. Cozzens,” interrupted Dan. “I don’t know what the workis, but I’ll bet I can do it.”

  “All right,” answered their host with a twinkle in his eye. “The wagesare one dollar a week, and you get your board. In return for thatmunificent salary I expect you to get up at six-thirty, attend to thefurnace, look after the horse, run errands, shovel snow, wash windowsnow and then, and, in short, make yourself as useful as you know how.Appeal to you, does it?”

  “Well, I never washed a window yet,” answered Dan, “but I guess I coulddo it. Anyhow, I wouldn’t have to go back to school.”

  “Eh? But you’d be at school,” replied Mr. Cozzens.

  “How is that, sir?”

  “That’s where I want the boy; at my school in Oak Park, St. Alfred’s.”

  “Oh!” said Dan blankly, amid the laughter of the others. “That would beout of the frying pan into the fire, I guess.”

  “Out of St. Eustace into St. Alfred’s,” supplemented Bob.

  “Do you go to St. Eustace?” asked Mr. Cozzens.

  “Yes, sir.”

  “And the rest of you?”

  “No, the others don’t amount to much, sir. Nelson and Tom go toHillton, and Bob there is in the high school at Portland.”

  “I see. I have an instructor with me who graduated from Hillton; Mr.Hopkinson; ever hear of him? He was a good deal before your time,though, I guess.”

  “Where is Oak Park, sir?” asked Tom.

  “It’s near the north shore about midway between Hempstead and ColdSpring Harbor. A very attractive place, Oak Park.”

  “And you’re the Principal, sir?”

  “Yes, or Head Master, as we call it. The school isn’t a large one. Wehad thirty-two boys last year. But it’s been in existence only fouryears.”

  “And--and the boy you hire, sir?” continued Tom with rising excitement,“cu-cu-cu-could he do any studying?”

  “Why, yes, I should want him to. Are you thinking of applying?” askedMr. Cozzens with a smile.

  “No, sir, bu-bu-bu-but I--I--” He stopped and looked at Nelson and Boband Dan, who, suddenly guessing what Tom was thinking of, all tried tospeak at once.

  “Jerry!” cried Dan.

  “Just the thing!” cried Nelson.

  “We know the very fellow you want, sir!” added Bob.

  “Well, this is interesting,” said Mr. Cozzens. “Who is he?”

  “You tell him, Bob,” said Nelson. “Tom’s excited, and it would take himall night.”

  So Bob told about their meeting with Jerry Hinkley in the barn nearBakerville, of their plans for his education, and of their subsequentencounter at the circus. It was rather a long story, and Mr. Cozzensfrequently interrupted the narration with his questions, but when itwas finished their host was clearly impressed.

  “If you can get hold of that boy,” he said, “you do it. Send him rightto me at Oak Park. I shall be there in three days. I can’t make anypromises, but if he turns out what I expect from your description hewill suit me nicely. And if he’s really eager to learn, and has anordinary amount of pluck, he ought to be able to do very well at St.Alfred’s. He will be pretty busy, for there’s plenty to do, but hewill have time to attend all classes, and to study some outside. Infact, it ought to be the very place for him. He’s six
teen, you say, butbackward? He’d probably have to start with the younger boys, but if heshowed willingness I’d do all I could to put him along. Whether at theend of the year he would be able to pass the examinations for Hillton,I can’t say. It will depend a great deal on himself. But I should thinkthat, with some help during the summer, as you had planned, he oughtto be able to pass. You will see him, you say, at Barrington?”

  “Yes, sir; at least, we hope to,” answered Bob. “He said when we lefthim that he expected to be there about the twentieth. I hope we willfind him! When does your school begin, sir?”

  “On the twenty-third, but I should like to have him there as soon afterthe twentieth as possible. Supposing you let me hear from you after youget to Barrington? Let me know whether to expect him, for if you don’trun across him I’ll have to look for some one else.”

  “All right, sir, we’ll telegraph you at Oak Park as soon as we get toBarrington. I hope he’ll suit, sir, for Jerry is a fine chap, and weall want him to get on. You see, we--we’ve adopted him in a sort ofway, sir!”

  “I see you have,” laughed Mr. Cozzens. “And very good of you it is,” headded seriously. “I hope your plans for him will turn out splendidly,and if he comes to me you may trust me to do all I can for him.”

  “Yes, sir, we do,” answered Tom earnestly.

  “Well, I guess I’d better go up and have a look at the invalid,” saidMr. Cozzens. “Don’t hurry off,” he added as the others rose. “It isn’tlate; sit up just as long as you want to.”

  “I guess we’re all about ready for bed,” said Bob. “I know I am.”

  So they followed their host upstairs. Will was sleeping as soundly asthough he had not been at it four hours already. Mr. Cozzens said goodnight, and the Four prepared for bed. But, in spite of their proclaimedsleepiness, they were too highly elated and excited over Jerry’sprospects to drop off immediately, and it was all of an hour later whenthey finished discussing them. Tom had a way of getting in the lastword, and to-night was no exception.

  “Isn’t it funny how things happen?” said Nelson. “Who’d have thoughtwhen we got shipwrecked out there on the point that it was going toturn out like this?”

  “That’s so,” Dan replied sleepily. “Talk about luck!”

  There was silence for a minute. Then Tom’s voice came solemnly acrossthe dark from his cot in the comer.

  “It isn’t altogether luck,” he said. “I guess God had a good deal to dowith it.”