The Light Keepers Part 39

"He looks too friendly to be very fierce," Sidney replied, and the first a.s.sistant muttered:

"You can't allers tell by the look of a cat how far she'll jump. I'd rather have a man come at me hammer an' tongs, than be so terrible pleasant when he's gettin' ready to read the riot act."

When Mr. Peters and Sidney entered the kitchen the inspector was questioning Uncle Zenas as to how he had been injured, and the second a.s.sistant soon told the whole story, very briefly.

"I suppose Captain Downs is in his room," the inspector finally said.

"We'll go there, and if it is possible for you to get up-stairs far enough to hear what is said, Mr. Stubbs, I shall be glad to have you do so."

"He's goin' to give all hands a wiggin'," Mr. Peters whispered, and Sidney felt strongly inclined to laugh outright, so comical was the expression of fear on the first a.s.sistant's face.

The crew of Cary's Ledge light was not long kept in suspense as to the reason for the inspector's visit. After a.s.suring himself, by personal examination, that the keeper's injured limb had been attended to in a proper manner, he said abruptly as he took rather a bulky package from his pocket:

"Captain Nutter of the _Nautilus_ reported to the Department, through me, that you two men, at great peril to yourselves, saved the lives of three of his crew and himself, all of whom would have unquestionably been drowned but for your heroic exertions. The Light-House Board has instructed me to say that they are proud to have such men in the service, and I have here a letter of commendation. The Treasury Department has sent these two gold medals on which are inscribed your names and the service rendered, in token that the Government holds you in especial esteem as brave men--such men as are needed in the light-house service."

As the inspector spoke, the two keepers and Sidney gazed at him in open-mouthed astonishment, while from the head of the stairs could be heard the heavy breathing of Uncle Zenas, and when the cases containing the medals were being opened by the officer, the second a.s.sistant could remain silent no longer.

"You ain't makin' the littlest bit of a mistake, Mr. Inspector, when you call them two brave men! I know what they did, an' I'll take my affidavy that you won't find another couple of their age who'd put out in a dory sich a mornin' as that when the barkentine laid on the shoal!"

"I am willing to say, judging from the statement made by Captain Nutter, that it was an exceptional show of bravery, Mr. Stubbs, and am thoroughly well pleased to be able to put the medals in their hands. Why don't you look at them?" he added as Captain Eph and Mr. Peters held the leather cases gingerly without offering to touch the heavy golden tokens.

"To tell the truth, sir, you've knocked the gimp all out of me!" the old keeper said as he brushed his eyes, and then threw his arms around Sidney as if on the verge of bursting into tears, while Mr. Peters choked and coughed, but spoke never a word.

Then the inspector, as if to break the silence which was becoming almost painful, said as he laid his hand on Sidney's head:

"It was because of you that we tried to land here the other day; your father had requested that you be taken from the ledge, and a boarding-place be found for you on the mainland. Since having received your letter, however, he telegraphed, yesterday, that you be allowed to remain in the light until his return, and because of the a.s.sistance which I learn you have rendered the keepers, I see no reason why the Board will not grant his request."

"Then he's to stay, is he?" Captain Eph cried, displaying a keener interest in the matter than he had in the medals, and the inspector repeated what he had already said.

"I'd rather have the little shaver with me for a year to come, than all the gold an' letters the Board can send!" he cried, again holding Sidney very close to him, and the inspector quietly went down-stairs, leaving the two men and the boy alone.

Uncle Zenas was not disposed to keep secret Mr. Peters' latest exhibition of bravery, and, calling upon Mr. Sawyer for confirmation, he told the story to the inspector in detail, concluding by saying:

"There are times when it's terribly tryin' to have Sammy pokin' 'round the kitchen; but if any trouble comes up, you can count on him every minute of the day or night, no matter how many chances he may be takin'

of losin' his own life. He an' Sonny together have run the light, done the cookin', an' doctored Cap'n Eph and me up in great shape since we were laid by the heels."

"I will report to the Board that which you have told us," the inspector said gravely, and then announced that he intended to leave the ledge at once. "I wanted to give the medals into the hands of the keepers, rather than intrust the matter to others, and there is nothing now to keep me."

"Don't you want to see Cap'n Eph agin?" Uncle Zenas cried, surprised that the inspector should even think of going away without informing the keeper of his purpose.

"It will be well to leave them alone for a time, and whatever business I may have in regard to the boy can be transacted when I next come out on a tour of inspection. Now, Mr. Sawyer, if you are ready, we will go aboard."

Thus it was that when, ten minutes later, Mr. Peters and Sidney came into the kitchen, there was no one save Uncle Zenas to be seen, and the light-house tender was hardly more than a faint smudge in the distance.

"The inspector has gone, an' took Sawyer with him!" Mr. Peters cried to the keeper when he learned of what had occurred.

"Gone?" Captain Eph cried incredulously. "Why, that can't be, for I haven't had a chance to make a report about the way Uncle Zenas an' I have neglected our duty."

"He left jest the same as if he knew all about it," the second a.s.sistant cried, and then, turning to Mr. Peters, he demanded, "What have you done with your medal, Sammy?"

"We've put 'em both away in Cap'n Eph's box. You don't s'pose we'd keep the like of them knockin' 'round loose, do you?"

"Of course I s'pose it!" Uncle Zenas cried angrily. "I'm allowin' that you'll wear 'em all the time, so's folks will see what you've done. I'd like to know what medals are for, if not to wear."

"Wa'al, the ones that are up-stairs will stay jest where they are, 'cept when you get ready to look at 'em. Do you allow, Uncle Zenas, that I'd look pretty cleanin' fish, or knockin' 'round over the ledge with a big lump of gold hangin' to my coat?"

The second a.s.sistant was by no means satisfied with this statement. He declared that if the medals were not to be worn daily, they should at least be kept where visitors would be certain to see them, and threatened that, unless some arrangement of that kind were made, he would resign his position of second a.s.sistant without delay, "rather than stay 'round with a couple of idjuts who didn't know enough to spread themselves when they had the chance."

Uncle Zenas carried his point finally, otherwise his comrades might have had difficulty in obtaining food, save by using force, and before he would consent to take the first step toward cooking dinner, the medals were hung conspicuously in the watch-room.

Sidney was woefully disappointed because he had not been able to send some message by Mr. Sawyer to his father; but Captain Eph consoled him by predicting that the mate would not succeed in getting to Porto Rico before the _West Wind_ had taken her departure.

"He's got to find a vessel bound for that port, an' then coax the cap'n into givin' him a pa.s.sage, all of which takes time. It don't stand to reason, Sonny, that he'll get there, an' your messages can be sent in a reg'lar letter, for of course your father wrote you an' me 'bout the same time he telegraphed to the inspector. It seems to me everything has come 'round jest as we'd like to have it, an' you're to stay here with us!"

"But how am I to get the letter, if father wrote one?" the lad asked anxiously, and Uncle Zenas replied:

"Don't you fear but that it'll be sent out here to you. The inspector is bound to come again before long, for he jest the same as said so, an'

all we've got to do is enjoy ourselves--that is, when Cap'n Eph can toddle 'round once more, an' I'm able to move about without most killin'

myself."

This conversation had been carried on with Uncle Zenas sitting on the stairs where he could look into the keeper's room, for he had refused to go back to the kitchen, or allow any one else to do so, until the medals had been hung in the watch-room according to his instructions.

Now, however, he made ready to set about the work of getting dinner, and astonished his comrades by declaring that when he had cooked the best meal possible from the stores on hand, it should be served in the keeper's room, regardless of the additional labor such an arrangement would entail.

"You'll have to lug everythin', even to the dishes, up here, an' carry 'em back again!" Captain Eph exclaimed, and Uncle Zenas replied:

"I wouldn't care if the whole outfit was to be taken inter the lantern, it should be done. I'd like to know, Ephraim Downs, if we're ever likely to have so much reason for a thanksgivin' dinner as we've got this day?"

"You're right, Uncle Zenas, you're right, an' seein's how the only way we can celebrate is by eatin', get to work, an' if dinner ain't ready till midnight, we'll turn to all the heartier for havin' waited so long."

"You'll have to bring up the table an' the dishes, Sammy," the second a.s.sistant said in a tone of authority, and Mr. Peters replied with a grin:

"I reckon that won't be any very hard job; but if you're countin' on my luggin' you too, the plan won't work, for nothin' short of a derrick would answer on sich a job as that."

"If I can't get 'round this 'ere tower without callin' on you for help, I'll stay in the kitchen, same's I've been doin'," Uncle Zenas replied sharply, and then he made his way down the stairs, a furious clattering of pots and pans telling a few moments later that he had commenced work on the "thanksgiving" dinner.

And here it is, while preparations for the celebration are in progress, that we must leave the crew of Carys' Ledge and their guest, for the very good reason that it would not be practicable to follow them day by day to the present time. The year which Sidney was to remain there does not come to an end until next October, and, therefore, it is impossible to say whether he will leave the crew when his father returns, or live so near them that daily visits may be possible.

More than once since that day when he delivered the medals has the inspector hinted that as a reward for their faithful services it was probable they would be transferred to a light-house on the mainland, and during his last visit he told Sidney as a very great secret that he believed the change would be made during this present summer.

When this has been done, the three light keepers will be stationed near Sidney's old home, and he believes that he will be allowed to live near, if not really with them, while attending school.

The motor boat was built as Mr. Peters had planned, and early in the spring after the wreck of the _Nautilus_, she was taken to Cary's Ledge. During this summer she has been used for pleasure excursions, trips to the mainland, or for fishing on nearly every pleasant day, and that she is a seaworthy craft may be inferred from the fact that Uncle Zenas has been out in her a dozen times or more.

It would indeed be a labor of love to set down more concerning the lives of these three light keepers and the lad whom they call "Sonny"; and at some future day, if the young people so desire, the full particulars of Sidney's stay on Carys' Ledge, after the visit of the inspector with the medals, shall be written.