It was probable that the wind carried his words down to the steamer; but when a man emerged from the wheel-house with a megaphone, and evidently made some reply, it was as if he were indulging in a pantomime, for not a sound came to the ears of those on the tower. "I can't hear you," Mr. Peters shouted, repeating the words again and again until he was literally red in the face, and the man on the steamer evidently replied again; but it was as if he had not spoken. "I'm gettin' tired of this fool business," Mr. Peters said irritably. "Why didn't they stay at home?" "Perhaps some one saw the smoke of the fire, and sent word that the tower was burned," Sidney suggested, and then Mr. Peters shouted, using his hands as a trumpet: "We're all right here! Nothin' the matter with us!" and he added in a lower tone, "It's no use to try an' make 'em understand that Cap'n Eph an' Uncle Zenas are off duty, for they couldn't hear me." Once more the man with the megaphone shouted, and then the bow of the little steamer was headed landward, the steam which escaped from the whistle-valve telling that she had saluted. "If that ain't a leetle the biggest wild goose chase I ever heard of, then my name's Benjamin, which it ain't!" Mr. Peters exclaimed as he led the way inside the lantern, and when the window had been carefully closed, he asked sharply: "What sent 'em out here on a day like this?" "I can't tell you," Sidney replied with a laugh, and at that moment the voice of Captain Eph could be heard from below: "Ahoy, Sammy! Are you goin' to stay there all day?" It seemed as if the first assistant was about to make an impatient reply, as in the days before he had deceived his comrades; but he checked himself ere the first word was uttered, and replied: "We're comin', Captain Eph. I only wanted to make certain everythin' was ship-shape up here." Then the two descended the stairs, and they were yet on the floor above the kitchen when Captain Eph shouted again: "What did they say to you?" "That's what I wish I knew," the first assistant said emphatically, as he entered the kitchen. "Somebody danced 'round a good bit; but with this wind blowin' dead in his teeth, we couldn't hear so much as a single yip from him." "But what did he want?" Uncle Zenas asked impatiently. "He must have been after something to come out here when he knew he couldn't land." Again Mr. Peters was about to make an impatient reply, and again he checked himself in time, replying mildly: "There was no show for me to find out what he wanted so long as I couldn't hear a word he said. He's gone now, though, an' I wish he hadn't come, for it's mixed us all up." "Wa'al, if it was important business, an' I reckon it must have been else the steamer wouldn't have come out in this wind, they'll have another try at it in better weather, an' perhaps by that time, Uncle Zenas, we'll be able to toddle 'round a little."