New England -- Juvenile fiction; Sailing -- Juvenile fiction; Sea stories
The boys had breakfast about half-past six. Except coffee and bread
there was little left, and the outlook, in case the gale continued, was
not inspiring! Perry declared that he'd much rather drown than starve to
death. The first cheerful event that happened was the drawing near of
the _Adventurer_. The white cruiser came plunging up to within a quarter
of a mile about nine o'clock and signals were exchanged. An hour later
the _Follow Me_ appeared coming up from westward and at noon the
schooner and the two convoys were reunited. But there was still no
chance of getting lines aboard. All that they could do was wait. Dinner
hour aboard the _Catspaw_ was dinner hour in name only. There was
coffee, to be sure, but the sugar was low and the condensed milk had
given out completely. All else had disappeared at breakfast time. The
spirits of the "prize crew" got lower and lower as the afternoon began
and they were faced with another night aboard the schooner. Twice they
sighted other craft, once a steamer headed toward the northeast and once
a schooner dipping along under reefed sails. Neither craft showed any
curiosity and each went on its way without a sign.
Once the _Adventurer_ circled close to the windward and Steve shouted
encouragement through his megaphone. Just what was said they couldn't
make out, and Joe's attempts to acquaint the cruiser with the fact that
they were out of provisions was unsuccessful, since he had only his
hands to shout through and the wind was unsympathetic. But having the
cruisers at hand was comforting, and when, at about four, there was a
brief glimpse of sunlight to the south their spirits arose somewhat. The
wind now began to go down perceptibly and by five it no longer roared
down on them from the northwest, but, swinging around to the northeast,
became quite docile and friendly. They put up their sail again and
gradually the _Catspaw_ pointed her nose toward the coast. Just before
darkness came the sea had quieted enough to make possible an attempt to
get the cables aboard again and those on the schooner saw the cruisers
draw together. Steve and Phil caught the line hurled from the _Follow
Me_ after several attempts and then the tender was dropped over and with
the two cables aboard the boys made for the _Catspaw_.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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