The Light Keepers: A Story of the United States Light-house ServiceOtis, James
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The Light Keepers: A Story of the United States Light-house Service
Otis, James
Lighthouse keepers -- Juvenile fiction
"That 'ere Sammy breaks out in spots of good, sound sense every once in
a while," Uncle Zenas said when the keeper repeated to him the
conversation which had been held in the lantern. "It stands to reason
the little shaver needs somethin' in his stomach, an' I'll fix up a mess
right away. Perhaps we might pour a little broth down his throat without
disturbin' him very much."
"All right; see what you can do, an' I'll take a squint at his boat. It
ain't certain but that she can be patched up, an' he may need her
powerful bad before the inspector comes this way."
Having said this, Captain Eph, forgetting that, according to the
"regerlations," he should remain in the lantern until everything there
had been put to rights, descended the outside ladder leading to the
rocks below, and made his way to where the lad's boat had been left.
Here he found nothing contrary to the opinion he and his first assistant
had already formed--that she had been built as a tender to a large
vessel. A gasoline motor of 3 horse-power, with the appearance of having
been well cared for, was aft where the helmsman could attend to it while
holding the boat on her course, and lashed on either side inboard were
oars and spare fittings. Everything about the craft told that she had
lately been looked after by sailormen, and, having ascertained this
much, Captain Eph set about learning how seriously she had been damaged
by the rocks.
Both bows two or three feet abaft the stem were stove in; but the
injuries were not so serious that they could not be repaired by ordinary
workmen, and Captain Eph said to himself as he pulled the boat around on
the ways:
"I reckon Sammy an' I can put her in shape, pervidin' the weather holds
good; but if we get much of a gale she's bound to go, for it won't do to
take the Government boat out of the house in order to run her in, even
if she is worth four or five times as much as ours."
The keeper brought down from the tiny boat-house of cement, a rope,
which was attached to a small windlass or winch, and, making one end
fast to the bow of the disabled craft, hauled her up the incline until
she was in some slight degree sheltered by the little building. Then he
carefully covered the motor with a spare sail belonging to his own boat.
All this had required no small amount of time, and when he again entered
the kitchen, Mr. Peters, his labors in the lantern having been
performed, was moving in an aimless manner around the apartment,
evidently under the impression that he was assisting Uncle Zenas in
preparing a thin soup to be given the involuntary visitor.
"Well?" the keeper asked as he entered, and Mr. Peters replied:
"Uncle Zenas an' I believe he ought'er have some of this stuff inside of
him as soon as we can get it there. He'll sleep better with a full
stomach."
"What is it you've made?"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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