Dan Carter Cub Scout Part 30

"Come quick, Brad!" he urged. "Someone is signaling from Rabb Island in Morse code. We need you to read it."

Not only Brad but all the Cubs poured out of the kitchen and ran down to the river.

The flashes of light still were visible from across the water.

"Can you make them out, Brad?" Mr. Holloway asked. "It's important that we read the message. Mr. Hatfield and Chips may have run into trouble."

"The flashes are so weak," Brad said. "I can't get it. Yes, now I can."

"BOAT LOST. SEND-"

"Boat lost! Send help!" Dan finished as the flashes faded completely and did not reappear. "Chips and Mr. Hatfield must have reached the island, but they're in trouble. We've got to get to them right away!"

CHAPTER 15 The Grand Howl

Alarmed for the safety of Chips, Mr. Hatfield and the dwellers of Rabb Island, Mr. Holloway immediately telephoned the Coast Guard station for a.s.sistance. He was a.s.sured that a rescue boat would be sent immediately.

"It will take them at least a half hour to reach the island," the Den Dad reported to the Cubs. "Meanwhile, a lot may be happening there."

Decidedly worried, Mr. Holloway and the Cubs established a vigil on the river front. The flashlight signals from Rabb Island were not repeated.

This however, was no consolation.

"Mr. Hatfield's flashlight battery probably is so weak it won't operate,"

Brad said.

"Say, can't we borrow a boat from somewhere and row over there?" Dan demanded, made anxious by the long wait. "Dorman Clark keeps a motor boat."

"But his place is two miles down stream," Mr. Holloway reminded the Cubs.

"It would take us longer than thirty minutes to get there, launch the boat, and beat our way upstream to Rabb Island," Brad objected.

Mr. Holloway nodded in agreement. "Our best bet is to wait here for the Coast Guard launch," he decided, "even though it's hard to remain idle."

Little more was said by the Cubs although their anxiety was far from relieved. Wandering up and down the sh.o.r.e, they repeatedly checked the level of the water. Slowly but steadily, the river was creeping higher.

"Two years ago when the floods came, Rabb Island was almost entirely submerged," Brad remarked, gazing anxiously at Mr. Holloway. "Do you think there is danger it might be covered again?"

"The river was at least two feet higher then, Brad. There's no immediate danger of the entire island being flooded."

"We're not positive Mr. Hatfield and Chips reached the island, though the signals appeared to come from there," Mack remarked. "If we interpreted the message right, something happened to the boat."

"That's what I can't figure," said Dan. "Do you suppose it sprung a leak?"

"Possible, but hardly likely," the Den Dad replied. "That boat was tight as a drum. I caulked the seams myself."

"Hey!" Brad suddenly shouted. "I see a light on the river!"

The other Cubs turned to gaze where he pointed. Far across the water they could see a bright, moving light.

"It's the Coast Guard launch," Mr. Holloway said in relief.

Plowing slowly upstream against the turbulent waters, the launch kept to midstream, churning on through the darkness toward Rabb Island.

Their minds now partially relieved, the Cubs nevertheless waited in suspense along the sh.o.r.e, wondering what might be amiss.

Finally, after at least another twenty minutes, the rescue craft was seen to put off from the island.

"She's heading this way!" Brad observed.

A few minutes later, churning up spume, the launch halted well beyond the shallows opposite the submerged Holloway dock. In short order a small boat was lowered. Aboard were Sam Hatfield, Chips, Mrs. Dustin, her two small children, and a very bedraggled dog.

"What happened?" Mr. Holloway demanded as he and the Cubs waded out to pull the boat up onto land.

"Well, it's quite a story," the Cub leader replied, carefully a.s.sisting Mrs. Dustin from the boat. "Before I go into it, suppose we get this lady and her children into the house. They've had a harrowing time of it on the island."

Mrs. Dustin brushed aside a wisp of damp hair which had blown across her drawn, care-lined face. She wore a man's coat over her housedress, but the latter was soaked from the knees down and clung to her as she walked.

"My husband went to Webster City late this afternoon and couldn't get back," she explained. "Then the river came up frightfully fast. It flooded our little place, ruining everything. The children and I had to take refuge on the highest point of the island. I don't know what we'd have done, if help hadn't come when it did."

Mrs. Holloway slipped an arm about the woman's shaking shoulders as she led her and the two small children toward the house.

"Don't worry about anything now," she comforted. "You'll spend the night here and we'll get word to your husband. We have plenty of room."

Having delivered the pa.s.sengers safely, the Coast Guard launch now prepared to pull away, but not before Sam Hatfield and Mr. Holloway both had thanked the crew for the timely rescue.

"It's just part of our job," the boatswain replied carelessly. "Glad to have been of service."

After the launch had disappeared in the darkness, Brad and the other Cubs gathered about Mr. Hatfield, urging him to relate what had occurred on Rabb Island.

"What became of Mr. Holloway's boat?" Dan asked. "And why was it necessary to send the distress message?"

"Well-" the Cub leader hesitated, glancing briefly at Chips. "Oh, we had a little bad luck. The boat broke away after we left it on sh.o.r.e."

"It wasn't bad luck exactly," Chips corrected quietly. "I was careless.

Mr. Hatfield told me to fasten the boat, and I did tie it to a dock post-only not securely enough."

"It wasn't really your fault, Chips," the Cub leader said generously.

"Yes, it was, sir. I should have been more careful."

"Accidents can happen to anyone, Chips."

"What became of the boat?" Dan asked although he knew the question was a rather useless one.