The Rival Campers Afloat; or, The Prize Yacht Viking

by Herbert Strang

  CHAPTER VIII. LITTLE TIM A STRATEGIST

  Joe Hinman, with his crew of three, composed of George Baker, AllanHarding, and little Tim Reardon, did not intend to be idle during theabsence of the yacht _Viking_. The yacht _Surprise_, when it should bepatched up, cleaned, and once more floated, and equipped with a spare setof sails that had been left in the _Viking_ when she came into thepossession of Harvey and Henry Burns, was to become the property for thesummer of Joe and the rest of the crew. The morning after the _Viking_had left the Thoroughfare, in company with the _Spray_, the boys set towork in earnest upon the hull of the _Surprise_, with the tools that hadbeen left for them.

  It was hard work, for the barnacles and sea-grasses had covered the yachteverywhere, not only below, but on deck and even in the cabin. They gotsome pieces of joist that had been cast up ashore with a lot of otherriffraff and shored the yacht up on an even keel, so they could work tobetter advantage, without getting in one another's way.

  They worked industriously to the noon hour, only Little Tim knocking offwork an hour before the others, in order to go down on the rocks andcatch a mess of cunners for their dinner. He had these cleaned andcooking by the time the other three were ready, and they ate the mealheartily, in sight of their labours. Then they were at it again shortly,and worked hard till sundown. The yacht had begun to have a differentappearance.

  The next three days they made even better progress, and had the most ofthe deck scraped down, so that it began to look bright again, as Harveyand his crew had always kept it.

  "She'll be the fine old boat she was before," exclaimed Joe Hinman,joyfully, as they stood that next evening eying their work approvingly."Jack won't know her when he gets back."

  But the following morning, when Joe had arisen and dressed and taken apeep out of the old shed in which they had found shelter, he could scarcebelieve his eyes. His first thought was, however, when he had begun tothink at all, that the yacht _Spray_ had returned, and that the Warrenboys had surprised them by coming to lend a hand, and that they had begunwork early.

  Then he saw that the yacht that lay anchored close in shore was not the_Spray_, but a strange boat; and furthermore that the four persons whowere busily engaged at work upon the hull of the _Surprise_ were not theWarren boys, but larger youths, and strangers.

  No, they were not all strangers, either. For there was one with whom theyhad a slight and brief acquaintance. It was Harry Brackett. What hadhappened was this:

  When Harry Brackett had ventured finally to return to his father's home,he had not received that fond welcome that one might expect from anindulgent parent. In fact, Squire Brackett was so incensed at having beenled to make the exhibition of himself in the store before his fellowtownsmen that he stormed roundly at his son, and he made some remarksabout having wasted his money for the last few years in sending youngBrackett to the city to school, an assertion which perhaps Harry Brackettknew the full truth of even better than the squire.

  "Now," said the squire at length, "let's see if you can't make yourselfof some use, instead of just spending my money. You get Tom Dakin and EdSanders and John Hart, and take the _Seagull_ and get down there in theThoroughfare and see if you can't raise up that yacht that those youngscamps wrecked there last fall. She's abandoned, and she belongs toanybody that can get her. I'd just like to fetch her back here and righer up handsome, and let them see what they might have done. I'll showthem a thing or two.

  "Now you work smart," continued the squire, "and get that boat, and I'llgive her to you to use while you are at home; and I'll get John Hart toteach you how to sail her. And see here, don't you go fooling around withthe _Seagull_ any. You let John Hart sail her. That was a pretty storyyou told me about winning races around Marblehead! Now clear out and seewhat you can do."

  It might be said that if young Harry Brackett had had any knowledge ofboat-sailing he could not have gained it from the squire, for, whereasthat gentleman had property interests in several sailing-craft, by way ofbusiness, he knew nothing of seamanship himself, and was invariablyseasick when he went out in rough water.

  Harry Brackett was not wholly disinclined to the task imposed upon him,although he had certain misgivings as to how it would coincide with thecommission imparted to him by the man, Carleton, whom he had met atBellport. He figured, however, that the _Surprise_, if she could befloated, would be worth vastly more than the promised two hundreddollars. So he went about the village hunting up the youths his fatherhad named. These three were rough fellows, whose worth the squire hadwell in mind in selecting them. They were strong and able-bodied, olderby some years than Harvey and his companions; youths who went alternatelyon short fishing-voyages and hung about the village at other times, readyequally for work or mischief.

  The four accordingly embarked at evening and sailed down to theThoroughfare that night. Great was their surprise to find, on coming toanchor, that the yacht they had expected to see deep under water lay outon shore, with evidences of having been worked upon.

  Not to be defeated so easily, however, they resolved, on the spur of themoment, to lay claim to the yacht, especially as they saw no boat of anydescription anchored anywhere in the Thoroughfare. They would takepossession of the _Surprise_ and, if it should prove that a party of thecampers had raised her,--and not any of the villagers,--they would swearthat they themselves had found her in shoal water and had dragged herout.

  As to the future possession of her, they would trust to the squire tofight a lawsuit, if necessary, to retain her. It was a lonely place, downthere in the Thoroughfare, and there could be no outside witnesses.

  Therefore, before the sun was up, they had rowed ashore and begun workupon the yacht. They began differently, however, than the boys had done.They realized that the first thing for their purpose was to get the_Surprise_ afloat. Once in possession of the yacht, afloat and towed backto harbour, whoever should claim it then might have trouble in makingtheir claim good.

  John Hart was something of a shipwright in a small way, and they hadbrought carpenter's and calking tools along.

  They, in turn, busily engaged at their work, were taken by surprise allof a sudden at the appearance of Joe Hinman and his crew, tearing downupon them, half-dressed, and their eyes wide with amazement andindignation.

  "Here, that's our boat," cried Joe, rushing up to them, panting forbreath. "You've got no right to touch it. We raised it."

  John Hart, with sleeves rolled up, displaying a pair of brawny arms,looked at the crew sneeringly. They were certainly not formidable asagainst himself and his two comrades, to say nothing of young HarryBrackett.

  "You raised it!" he exclaimed, roughly. "That's a likely story. What didyou raise her with--your hands? You're a fine wrecking-crew. Why, we hadthis boat out on shore two days ago. What are you interfering with usfor?"

  "Now, see here," said Joe Hinman, "that won't work, so you better not tryit. There are too many on our side." And he narrated, rapidly, thehistory of the raising of the _Surprise_ by the Warrens and Henry Burnsand Harvey and himself and crew.

  John Hart and his comrades seemed a bit nonplussed at this. It did put adifferent phase upon the matter. They looked at one another inquiringlyfor a moment. But they were rough fellows, not given to weighing evidencecritically. Might was right with them if it could be carried through.

  "That's a lie!" exclaimed John Hart, suddenly, advancing toward JoeHinman. "You think you can fool us with your city ways, but you'd betterlook out. Where are all these fine youngsters that you say raised theboat? This boat is ours, because we saved her. You get out and don't comearound bothering, because we won't stand any nonsense."

  There was no present hope for Joe and his crew. They were clearlyoutmatched. They withdrew, therefore, to the shed, cooked their breakfastand ate it with diminished appetites.

  "What will Jack say," remarked Little Tim, ruefully, "if he gets here andfinds the boat gone? We can't get away to give the alarm, either. We've
got to stay here till he comes back."

  "Never mind," exclaimed Joe, bitterly. "They can't keep it long. We'llprove in the end that we saved her."

  "Yes, but that means half the summer wasted in fighting over it," saidGeorge Baker, despondently. "You see, when one person gets hold of athing, that gives him some advantage. They will have that boat afloat,and rigged, before they can be sued."

  The task of making the _Surprise_ tight enough to float was, however, notto be so easy as it might appear at first glance. It was a nice andparticular job fitting in new planking where the hole had been stove. Ittook a good part of the day, though John Hart and his comrades workedindustriously.

  Then it was apparent that the yacht had strained all along her bilgebadly and about the centreboard, so that it would require all of anotherday to calk her and set the nails that had been wrenched loose. Byevening of the next day, however, she was ready for hauling off, in theopinion of John Hart; and they would do that in the morning and tow herback to Southport.

  But they had not reckoned wholly with Joe and his crew. Findingthemselves outmatched in strength, these youngsters had wandereddisconsolately about the little island for the last two days, fishing andswimming and passing the time as best they could; watching eagerly outthrough the Thoroughfare, in hopes that Harvey and Henry Burns and theothers might put in an appearance; and all the while keeping sharp watchof the progress of work upon the _Surprise_.

  Hart and the other three, fearing no interruption from the boys, hadignored them. At night they went out aboard the _Seagull_, where they hadprovided temporary quarters for all four of them by stretching themainsail over the boom for a shelter, and tying it to the rail at theedges.

  "They're all ready to haul her off in the morning, I think," said JoeHinman, as the boys sat gloomily by the door of the shed on the eveningof the second day after the arrival of the men. "I heard them singing andlaughing out aboard, and saying something about 'to-morrow' and'Southport.' Oh, if there was only another day's work on her, the boysmight get here in time yet."

  "Then I'll keep her here another day," exclaimed Little Tim, "if theybeat me black and blue for it."

  "You can't do it," said Joe.

  "Can't I, though?" responded Tim. "Well, watch me and see. Will youfellows help?"

  The boys assented, not to be outdone in courage by the smallest one ofthem.

  "We can do it," said Little Tim. "They leave their tools aboard the cabinof the _Surprise_ at night. I saw John Hart put the box in there beforehe went out aboard. He said another hour's work would fix something orother. I couldn't hear what. But we'll fix her so it will take longerthan that, I reckon."

  "O-o-oh!" exclaimed George Baker. "But we'll catch it, though, when theyfind it out."

  "All right," said Tim. "I'll take my share if the rest will."

  Again the others assented somewhat dubiously.

  Toward midnight, the four lads stole cautiously down to the shore, andclimbed noiselessly aboard the _Surprise_. As Little Tim had describedit, there, tucked away in the cabin, was a box of carpenter's tools.

  "Here's what we want first," said Little Tim, softly, producing a bigauger from the box. "We'll use this for awhile, because it doesn't makeany noise."

  "Great!" exclaimed Joe Hinman, whose imagination was now fired with theidea of mischief. "Let me have the first turn at it."

  Little Tim yielded him the precedence.

  Climbing out of the yacht again, Joe Hinman proceeded to bore into theplanking of the _Surprise_, on the opposite side from the shore. Thisserved to hide their operations and also to deaden what little sound itmade. He went laboriously along the length of one plank, and then turnedthe auger over to Little Tim, who went to work with a subdued squeal ofdelight.

  "Keep to the same plank," said Joe. "We don't want to ruin the wholebottom of the boat."

  They bored the holes in turn, close together, all around one plank, andthen began on another. It was tiresome work, but they served three longpieces of planking the same way.

  Then they brought out a great chisel and pried off the planking, fearfulof the noise it made. But they had done their work well, and the sound ofthe tearing wood was not sharp. No one stirred out aboard the yacht.

  "That's enough," said Joe, as the third plank came away. "They'll havehard work to match that up in two days. They're short of wood now, by theway they patched the other place."

  "We'll take away the pieces of planking we've cut out, to make sure, andbury them in the sand up alongshore," suggested George Baker.

  "Why not take the box of tools, too?" said Little Tim, whose blood wasfired, and who would have stopped at nothing.

  "Not much!" exclaimed Joe. "We're in for it enough as it is. Tim, Ididn't know you had so much pluck."

  "I wish it was over with," said Tim, looking apprehensively toward the_Seagull_.

  They stole softly away again, back to the shanty. But it was long beforethey dropped off to sleep.

  When Tim Reardon awoke, the next morning, he was dreaming that he hadjumped up suddenly in the cabin of the _Surprise_ and had bumped his headagainst the roof of the cabin. It was a hard bump, too. Then it seemed asif the boat was turning upside down, and jumping out of water, and thefloor rising up and hitting him. The next moment, however, he realizedthat he was in the shanty, where he had gone to sleep, but that a stronghand held him fast, and was shaking him roughly, while another hand wascuffing him over the head and ears.

  He let out a lusty yell for mercy, and the others jumped up, fearful ofwhat was coming.

  Little Tim, in the grasp of John Hart, was receiving the soundest cuffingand mauling that had ever fallen to his lot in a somewhat variedexperience with the world. It had been his misfortune, lying nearest theentrance, to be the one on whom John Hart's heavy hand had fallen, as heentered, followed by the other three, Harry Brackett bringing up therear.

  "Oh, I'll larn ye to scuttle other people's boats!" cried John Hart,wrathfully. And he cuffed young Tim again, whereat that youngster howledfor mercy.

  "You're a coward!" cried Joe Hinman, hotly. "Licking a boy half yoursize."

  "Well, you're nearer my size," exclaimed John Hart, dropping Little Timand making a rush for Joe. They clinched, but the younger boy was nomatch for Hart, who was, too, reinforced by his three companions. Thoughit was noticeable that Harry Brackett discreetly held aloof until one ofhis companions had overpowered an adversary, when he essayed to put in ablow or two.

  There was no help for them. The boys got what they had expected--andworse. They were soundly thrashed when John Hart and his companions hadsatisfied their vengeance.

  "Now, see here," said John Hart, wrathfully, shaking a rough fist at theboys. "What you have just got is like a fly lighting on you compared towhat you'll get the next time, if you lay another hand on that boat."

  "We won't," blubbered Little Tim.

  And he meant it.

  "Ouch!" groaned Allan Harding, as he tried to rub a dozen places at oncewith only one pair of hands. "You got us into a nice mess; that's whatyou did, Tim."

  "Yes," wailed Little Tim. "But, o-o-h, it's over now. And," he added,sniffling and chuckling at the same time, "the boat stays, doesn't it?You knew we'd catch it, so what's the use blaming me?"

  "I didn't think it would be such a dose," said Joe Hinman. "But I'llstand it all right, if Jack only gets here in time. Let's have somethingto eat. We'll feel better."

  The yacht _Surprise_ did, sure enough, stay. They had done their partwell. Try as best they could, the workers could not fasten her up againbefore sundown. They finished the job, however, by the aid of alantern-light, and, taking no more chances, got some pieces of old sparsfor rollers and dragged the yacht down into the water, where they mooredher close to land, a few rods away from the _Seagull_.

  There was no sleep for the boys that night. They were stiff and sore, forone thing. But it was the last chance for rescue. It was the seventh daysince the _Viking_ had sailed away. They took turns watching, awa
y downon the point of the little island, an eighth of a mile below where the_Seagull_ and the _Surprise_ lay. Nor did they watch in vain. Along abouteleven o'clock, Little Tim saw the moonlight shining on a familiar sailaway down the Thoroughfare.

  With the return of daylight, following their narrow escape, Henry Burnsand his friends, wide awake, had begun fishing early. It proved a recordmorning for them. They filled their baskets with cod, and piled thecockpit deep with them, and only hauled in their lines finally, about themiddle of the forenoon, when they had exhausted the supply of herringwhich they had purchased for bait of the trader. They had about sixdollars' worth of fish when they weighed in their catch at the trader'sdock.

  It had been a satisfactory trip, on the whole, and had showed them whatthey could do. Deducting the money they had paid out for bait and forsome provisions, they had netted nearly eighteen dollars, having fished apart of five days. The division of this gave six dollars to Tom and Boband left twelve dollars to the two owners of the _Viking_. True, theywould have a new anchor and some new line to buy out of this; but thatwas, in a way, an incidental of yachting, and might have happened in someother manner.

  There was a southwesterly blowing, with some prospect of its holding onlate. So, after clearing up accounts with Mr. Hollis, the trader, andhaving an early supper in the harbour, where they were free from thepitching of the sea outside, they got under way and stood up once morefor Grand Island, running free before a good breeze. It was about fiveo'clock in the afternoon, and, if the wind held, they would make the footof Grand Island by nine o'clock. They were impatient to be back atSouthport, and were willing to sail at night if need be.

  And yet it was a mere chance that should bring them in to theThoroughfare on time; for, just north of North Haven, and before they hadcome to the group of islands beyond, some one suggested that they standon for Southport and go down to the Thoroughfare the next morning. Harveyhalf-assented, and then, with a fondness that still lingered for his oldboat, was doubtful.

  "What do you say, Henry?" he had asked of Henry Burns. "I'll do as youthink about it."

  "Oh, better go down to-night and relieve the crew," said Henry Burns."They're probably sick of staying there by this time, all alone. At anyrate, we'll leave them a new supply of food."

  But Henry Burns himself would rather have gone to Southport.

  The wind held on for all of the eighteen miles they had to run; but itdropped away to a very light breeze just at sundown, then freshened alittle soon after. It was not until near eleven o'clock, however, insteadof nine, as they had expected, that they entered and sailed up theThoroughfare.

  Tom Harris, as lookout forward to watch the shoaling of the channel, saw,all at once, something that made his flesh creep. A stout, wholesome ladwas Tom Harris, too, with no superstition about him. Yet he had heardsailors' yarns of ghostly things in the sea--and he might almost havebeen warranted in thinking he now beheld something of that sort.

  There, off the port bow, about an eighth of a mile from shore, wassomething that did look strangely like a human head bobbing along; and ifthere wasn't an arm lifted again and again from the water, as of some oneswimming a side-stroke, why, then Tom Harris was dreaming, or seeing someseaman's phantom. He had to believe his own eyes, though; and yet howcould it be, away down at this end of the island, where there were nocabins of any sort--and the crew up beyond?

  "Jack, Henry, Bob," he whispered, excitedly, "there's a queer thingswimming just ahead there. It may be a big fish or a seal, but it looksdifferent to me."

  "That's no fish," cried Harvey, springing to his feet. "It's some oneswimming. I'll bet it's one of the crew. Little Tim Reardon, most likely.Just like the little chap to try to surprise us. He's the best swimmer Iever saw. Learned it around the docks up the river before he was sevenyears old."

  If there was any doubt in their minds it was dispelled by a faint halloofrom the swimmer, accompanied by a warning cry for them to make no noise.

  "That's queer," said Harvey. "Something's up when Tim doesn't want anoise. I wonder if anything has gone wrong."

  Little Tim, climbing aboard a few moments later, and telling his story inexcited tones, quickly apprised them that things were decidedly wrong upthe Thoroughfare. Wrong indeed! The yachtsmen were thunderstruck.

  Jack Harvey brought the _Viking_ into the wind as near shore as he dared.

  "Bully for you, Tim!" he exclaimed. "Now take the dory and get ashorequick, and bring the rest of the crew down here."

  Tim was away for shore in a twinkling. A few minutes later the four couldbe seen coming down on the run. They piled aboard the _Viking_ in a heap,and the yacht stood along up the Thoroughfare once more.

  "Well, what are we going to do, Jack?" inquired Henry Burns, as theyturned a bend of the shore and came in sight of the mast of the_Seagull_.

  "I'm going to fight for that boat!" cried Harvey, angrily. "I'll die forit, but they sha'n't get it away from me."

  "Of course we'll fight for it if we need to," said Henry Burns, calmly."We will all stand by you, eh, fellows?"

  "Yes, sir," exclaimed Tom and Bob together, feeling of their muscles,developed by canoeing and gymnastics.

  The crew also assented, less warmly. They had had their taste of italready.

  "All the same," said Henry Burns, "it would be a huge joke on them, afterthey have gone to work and patched her up and floated her for us, to sailin and tow her out without their knowing it. Just imagine them waking upin the morning and finding the boat and the crew both gone."

  "Yes, and we'll catch it for that, too, I suppose," groaned George Baker.

  "No, we'll stand by you," said Henry Burns. And he added, "Let's try theeasiest way first, Jack. We'll run in as quietly as we can, come upalongside the _Surprise_ and take her in tow. If they wake, we'll standby you and fight for the boat. But I think we may get away with her.They're bound to be sound sleepers."

  Carefully stowing away every pail or oar or stick that could be in theway at the wrong time and make a noise, the yachtsmen brought the Vikingclose in upon the dismasted _Surprise_. Then, as Harvey made a wide sweepto bring the _Viking_ about into the wind, Henry Burns and Tom Harrisdropped astern in the dory and picked up the line with which the_Surprise_ had been moored. They were ready for Harvey when he had comeabout. Throwing the line aboard as the _Viking_ rounded to, close in,they rowed quickly alongside and sprang over the rail. The line had beencaught by Bob, who made it fast astern.

  The _Viking_ had not even lost headway, so skilfully had the manoeuvrebeen carried out. Standing away on the starboard tack, the _Viking's_sails filled and the line brought up. The wind was fairly fresh and theweight of the unballasted _Surprise_ did not stop the _Viking_. The_Surprise_, its long, lonely stay down in the Thoroughfare ended, had atlast begun its homeward journey toward Southport.

  "I don't see but what your friends on the _Seagull_ did us a good turn intrying to rob you of the _Surprise_," said Henry Burns, smiling. "Theyseem to have made the old boat pretty fairly tight. They've saved ustime."

  "Oh, yes, we owe 'em something for that," exclaimed Little Tim, feelingaround for a sore spot, "but I hope they don't try to collect any more ofthe debt from me."

  "Tim, you were a brick to do what you did!" cried Harvey. "And the restof you, too. You had the real pluck. But Tim suggested it, and he's firstmate of the _Surprise_ after this, and next to Skipper Joe. That's fair,isn't it?"

  George Baker and Allan Harding agreed.

  "What do you think," asked Harvey, as they sailed on up the bay, "willthey keep up the fight for the boat? Will the squire take it to court, orwill they quit, now they find themselves outwitted?"

  "They'll give it up," said Henry Burns. "They would have tried to lie itthrough if they could have got the boat away from here. But now that wehave it, they will look at it differently. They'll find, when they getback to the village, too, that the Warren boys were down here, and thatwill settle it." Henry Burns was right.

  John Hart and his comr
ades, astounded, on awakening, to find the_Surprise_ nowhere to be seen, had jumped to the conclusion that the crewhad stolen down and cut her loose.

  "We'll take it out of them!" he had cried, fiercely; and, followed by hisno less irate comrades, had dashed up to the old cabin. Anotherdisappointment. And still another, when they had searched all the shoresof the Thoroughfare and examined its waters, and realized that the boatwas gone.

  "Well, we'll get it yet, if they have carried it off," young Brackettventured to suggest.

  "We'll do nothing of the kind," cried John Hart, angrily. "You idiot!Can't you see we're beaten? Some one has been down in the night andhelped them. That must have been true, what they said about the otherchaps. The best thing we can do is to keep quiet about what we have done,or we'll have the whole town laughing at us for working on their boat."

  Young Harry Brackett looked pained.