Adventure stories; Puget Sound Region (Wash.) -- Juvenile fiction; Ranch life -- Juvenile fiction; Young men -- Juvenile fiction
When the boat brought up to her anchor the boys spent some time
straightening up her gear and pumping her out. The work put a little
warmth into them, but they were glad to crawl into the cabin when it was
done. There was scarcely room in it to sit upright, and with the
moisture standing beaded everywhere it looked rather like the inside of
a well. Mr. Oliver had lighted the stove and a lamp was burning. By and
by he took off a hissing kettle, and when they had made a meal they lay
down in their wet clothes amidst a raffle of more or less dripping ropes
and sails. Fortunately, the place was warm, and Frank was thankful to
stretch himself out along the side of the boat. He was discovering that
mental strain of the kind he had undergone during the last few hours is
as fatiguing as bodily labor.
But he did not immediately go to sleep. The craft rocked upon the long
swell which worked in round the point, with now and then a sharp rattle
as she plucked hard at her cable. Sometimes she swung suddenly around
upon it as an eddying blast swept down from the rocks above, and the
drumming of the halliards against the mast broke continuously through
the moan of the wind among the trees ashore and the deeper rumble of the
ground sea. At last, however, he fell into a heavy slumber, and it was
daylight and Harry had put the spider on the stove when he awoke again.
He made his breakfast before he went out on deck, to find that the wind
had dropped a little and it was raining hard. The dim, slate-green
water lapped noisily upon the wall of rock close by, and glancing
seaward he saw nothing but a leaden haze and a short stretch of tumbling
combers. Mr. Oliver had gone out earlier and was standing on the deck
looking about him.
"There's no great weight in the wind, though the sea's still rather
high," he said presently. "I think we can push on for Victoria."
Frank, who fancied they would not get there before that night, was by no
means so keen about the sail as he had been on the previous day. He felt
that it would be considerably pleasanter to remain in the shelter of the
point until the sun came out or the wind went down, and it seemed to him
that Harry shared his opinion. The dog also looked very draggled and
miserable and had evidently had enough of the voyage. They, however, set
the mainsail, leaving the reefs in, hauled up the anchor, and hoisted
the jib as the sloop stretched out across the waste of tumbling water,
after which the boys went below to straighten up the breakfast things.
Frank once or twice felt a little sick as he did so, and he noticed that
Harry wore a somewhat anxious look.
"It's not blowing as hard as it was when we ran in, but I don't think
dad would have gone unless he'd some particular reason," Harry said at
length. "I wonder who the man is he expects to meet in Victoria, because
I'm inclined to believe it's not the one who wants him to look at the
land. The worst of dad is that he keeps such a lot to himself."
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