Billie Bradley on Lighthouse Island Part 23

"You bet," said Paul fervently, as he made his boat fast to the dock. "It would have been a hot note if I'd had to lose my boat that way after working all year to earn it."

The girls and boys stared at him in surprise for a moment. Then they laughed, and the laughter broke the tension that they had been under and made them feel more natural.

"Never mind us as long as you saved your boat," said Ferd with a chuckle.

"Come on, folks. It's mighty damp out here. I'll be glad when we can get under cover and dry out a bit. Gee, but I'll say I'm some wet."

"And Mother will be just worried to death," cried Connie penitently, for this was the very first minute she had given her mother a thought. "Oh, let's hurry."

They were starting off almost at a run when Billie called to them.

"Do you know we forgot something?" she asked. Then she pointed to the untouched lunch hamper which Mrs. Danvers had heaped high with good things. This was still standing close to the railing on the deck of _The Sh.e.l.ling_ where the boys had put it when they climbed aboard.

"We forgot all about eating," she said in an incredulous voice. "Now I know we were scared."

"Say, what do you know about that?" asked Ferd weakly. "I'd have said it couldn't be done."

"And it must be away past lunch time, too," added Chet.

"Oh, gosh! why did you go and remind me I was starving?" groaned Teddy, and with a quick movement he leaped into the boat and caught up the basket. "Come on, who's first?" he cried.

But Billie stopped him by pressing a determined hand down on the lid.

"Not here," she begged. "We're all wet and uncomfortable, and we'll enjoy it ever so much more if we wait till we get to the house. Please, Teddy, now mind."

Teddy looked longingly at the basket, then at Billie, and gave in.

"All right," he said. "Only we'll have to walk fast!"

When they reached the cottage they found Connie's mother almost beside herself with anxiety and Connie's father doing his best to soothe her. So that when the young folks came in the door looking rather damp and bedraggled but safe, Mrs. Danvers cried out joyfully, ran to them, and hugged them one after another till she was completely and rapturously out of breath.

"You precious kiddies!" she cried, standing back and regarding them with shining eyes. "You will never know how horribly worried Dad and I have been. You poor children, why, you are soaked through! And," as her eyes fell on the basket, "you don't mean to tell me you haven't had any lunch.

Oh dear, oh dear! Run into the library, the lot of you. Daddy made a fire thinking if we ever did get you back you'd need some drying out--and you can be starting in on sandwiches while I make you some hot chocolate. Now run along--quick." And she disappeared into the kitchen while the young folks went on into the library.

Connie would have run after her mother to offer her help, but Mr. Danvers stopped her.

"I'll help Mother," he said. "You run along with the others, dear, and get warmed through. I don't want my little girl to catch cold. It might spoil your whole summer."

So Connie went on into the library and found that the boys had arranged the chairs in a semicircle around the fire and were already opening the lunch basket.

Mrs. Danvers came in a few minutes later with the chocolate, and, oh, how that hot drink did taste! She demanded to know all about everything. They told her, speaking one at a time, two at a time, and all at once, till it was a wonder she could make any sense out of it at all. But when she and her husband did realize how terribly close the young folks had been to disaster they looked very sober and in their hearts thanked Providence for guiding them back to safety.

After they had eaten, the girls and boys felt very lazy and lingered in the pretty library before the open fire till the shadows began to fall.

"I hope we have half-way decent weather to start out on to-morrow," said Paul suddenly as he gazed out of the window.

"Oh! must you go _to-morrow_?" asked Billie, with such genuine regret that Teddy looked at her sideways.

"I'm afraid so," said Paul, also turning to look at her. "We've had a bully good time and we'd like to stay longer, but you see I promised Dad I'd pick him up a little farther along the coast and I can't do it unless we start to-morrow."

"But suppose it isn't a nice day?" Connie put in. "Will you go anyway?"

"Oh, of course, if it was really stormy we couldn't. We would have to wire Dad or something. But I think it's going to be clear to-morrow," he finished cheerfully.

Connie shook her head.

"I don't know about that," she said. "Uncle Tom says that a terribly heavy mist like this generally forecasts a storm, and a pretty bad storm, too."

"Well, we don't have to worry about that now, anyway," said Teddy, stretching his long legs out contentedly toward the fire. "Let's enjoy ourselves while we can. By the way," he added, turning to Billie, and Billie thought that Teddy was getting better looking every minute--or was it the firelight? "What did you girls mean by speaking of a mystery? We haven't heard a word about any mystery."

"Of course you haven't. You don't suppose we tell you _everything_, do you?" said Laura, with a sisterly sniff.

"Well, but what did you mean?" asked Ferd, adding his voice to Teddy's while the other boys seemed interested.

The girls looked at one another and then at Billie.

"Shall we tell them?" asked Vi.

"I don't see why we shouldn't," Billie answered, her eyes on the fire.

"Of course we don't know that there's any mystery about it. It only looks queer, that's all."

Then with the help of the girls she told the boys all about the man who lived in a hut in the woods and called himself Hugo Billings, and also about Miss Arbuckle and the alb.u.m she had been so overjoyed to recover.

The boys listened with an interest that fast changed to excitement.

"Well, I should say there was something queer about it!" Ferd Stowing broke out at last. "Especially about the man who lives in the woods and makes fern baskets. He's either crazy or he's a thief or something."

"Gee, I wish you had told us about it while we were there!" said Chet regretfully. "We might have been able to find out something--landed him in jail maybe."

"Then I'm glad we didn't tell you," said Billie promptly.

"Why?" asked Chet, amazed.

"Because I felt awfully sorry for him," his sister answered softly. "And I'd rather help him than hurt him. I'd like to see him smile again."

"Smile?"

"Yes, for he looked so awfully downhearted."

CHAPTER XXII

THE FURY OF THE STORM

The next day the boys went off again in spite of Mrs. Danvers' entreaties to stay another night or two until the weather showed definite signs of clearing up.

But the boys were decided--saying that since the mist had lifted they had really no excuse for staying longer, and as Paul was evidently very anxious to get to his father, Mrs. Danvers had nothing else to do but to give in.