A moment later the _Fox_ grazed the small boat, and both lads leaped for
their lives. They reached the launch, clung to her, and she turned and
raced away from the fatal ledge, upon which the waves flung the deserted
boat.
The storm that had risen in the night passed swiftly with the coming of
morning. In the Reach there were no heavy swells, for the wind had been
in the wrong direction to send a heavy sea rolling in there.
The sun rose clear just as a small steam launch rounded the northern end
of the Isle au Haut. A mile away to the northwest a yacht under full
sail was making toward Deer Island.
“That is the _White Wings_,” said Frank Merriwell, who was at the wheel
of the _Fox_, grim determination expressed on his handsome face. “Those
lobster fishermen told us the truth when they said they had seen her
leaving the island with the first peep of day.”
“There is a clear course between us,” declared Howard Dustan, who was
studying a chart of the bay. “Hold straight for her, Merriwell.”
Hodge, Diamond and Wallace were also on the launch. Bart had not been
seriously injured in the encounter the previous night, and he had found
a rock to which he could cling after being flung from the bank into the
cove.
While Bart was clinging there, the _Fox_ came creeping back into the
cove, and he was taken on board. But Merriwell had been overcome, and
when the boys went to his rescue they were too late. They saw through
the darkness the boat that was carrying Frank off to the _White Wings_.
Then they hurried back to the _Fox_, and backed out of the cove without
delay.
Dustan explained the disappearance of the launch by saying that, after
Bart and Frank went ashore, they heard some men talking and knew they
were looking for the launch by circling the shore of the island. As
quietly as possible he and Diamond had pushed the _Fox_ out of the cove.
Knowing Frank was a captive and had been taken on board the _White
Wings_, the boys ran round the island in the launch, intending to try to
board the yacht and attempt to rescue Merriwell.
They were surprised to find the yacht under sail. Then they followed her
in the little launch, the light that she carried enabling them to do so.
As they carried no light, they were not discovered.
When Frank and Wallace were cast adrift the launch was lying at a
distance. It started to follow the yacht, but Diamond discovered the
small boat was gone, and then he felt certain Frank had been put adrift
in her.
Thus it came about that the launch ran out to search for the small boat,
which it found just in time to save two lives.
And now the boys were again after the stolen yacht, having been aided by
some lobster catchers who had seen the _White Wings_.
Frank Merriwell was determined to have revenge and recover his yacht. He
stood at the wheel as Dustan tended the fire, and the smoke poured from
the funnel of the flying launch.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account