The Light Keepers: A Story of the United States Light-house ServiceOtis, James
General
The Light Keepers: A Story of the United States Light-house Service
Otis, James
Lighthouse keepers -- Juvenile fiction
Then Captain Eph pulled the dory in toward the wreck until it was
possible for Mr. Peters to clamber on board at the expense of a thorough
wetting, and while the keeper and Sidney waited in the dory, after she
had been backed off at a safe distance, the lad said with more of
decision in his tones than he ordinarily used when speaking to the old
sailor:
"I was thinking while you were ashore this forenoon, sir, that if I am
to stay at the light until father gets back, it's time I made a change
of sleeping quarters."
"Is there anything the matter with the bed you've got now, Sonny?"
Captain Eph asked anxiously.
"Nothing, except that it is yours, and I'm not willing to have you
turned out any longer. I don't need a room all to myself, and you do,
so there must be a change."
"I couldn't be any more comfortable than I am the way we've already
fixed things, Sonny, an' it would do me a world of good to know I was
givin' you somethin' nigh as fine as you'd get ashore."
"Neither you nor I know how little I might have ashore, sir, and I
sha'n't feel contented so long as you are kept out of your own room."
"How would it do if Uncle Zenas could fix up another bed there? It seems
to me we'd be snug an' cosy then," and Captain Eph's tone was much the
same as if he had been asking a great favor.
"Then it would be all right, sir. What I want is, to know that you have
the same chance for sleeping as before I came."
"I'll get Uncle Zenas to see what can be done this very night. You shall
have half the shelves for your own things, an' we'll make it look mighty
homelike, unless I'm way off my reckonin'. Hello, you Sammy!" the old
man cried, raising his voice. "How much longer are you goin' to fiddle
'round there?"
"I ain't much more'n got aboard; but if you're in sich a pucker to get
back to the reef, I'll wind up business for the night, an' come alone
to-morrow mornin', when I can do somewhere nigh what I want'er."
"That'll be the ticket, Sammy. Come out here an' stop all day, if you
like; but jest now I'd rather be where I'm paid for stayin'."
The dory was backed in as Captain Eph spoke, and Mr. Peters succeeded in
boarding her without serious mishap.
"There's a good bit of stuff aboard that's worth savin'," the first
assistant said as he pulled at the oars. "I reckon I'll make a raft of
it, so's to get it ashore in one trip."
"Take what you like, Sammy; but don't forget that you've got a mighty
small place in which to stow it."
Mr. Peters was so busily engaged in planning how he could care for the
material which might be taken from the wreck at the expense of
considerable hard work, that he was not inclined for further
conversation, and no word was spoken during the return trip.
When, the dory having been hauled up on the ways and properly housed for
the night, Sidney went into the tower, he found Uncle Zenas sewing on
the clothing which Captain Eph had brought from the mainland, and he
asked in surprise:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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