The Light Keepers: A Story of the United States Light-house Service Read online

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  _Frontispiece._ "LOOK OUT FOR THIS 'ERE ROPE!"]

  THE LIGHT KEEPERS

  A STORY OF THE UNITED STATES LIGHT-HOUSE SERVICE

  BY

  JAMES OTIS AUTHOR OF "THE LIFE SAVERS," ETC.

  NEW YORK

  E. P. DUTTON AND COMPANY 31 WEST TWENTY-THIRD STREET

  COPYRIGHT, 1905

  BY E. P. DUTTON & CO.

  Published, September, 1906

  The Knickerbocker Press, New York

  CONTENTS

  CHAPTER PAGE

  I. AN INVOLUNTARY VISITOR 1

  II. SIDNEY HARLOW 22

  III. PLANS FOR THE FUTURE 43

  IV. REPAIRING THE MOTOR BOAT 65

  V. A CLOSE SHAVE 84

  VI. THE VOYAGE 104

  VII. A LESSON ON BUOYS 124

  VIII. THE SURPRISES 143

  IX. THE WRECK 164

  X. THE RESCUE 184

  XI. "SONNY'S" OUTFIT 204

  XII. MR. PETERS' MISHAP 224

  XIII. A DISABLED CREW 244

  XIV. NURSES AND LIGHT-KEEPERS 264

  XV. STORM-BOUND 285

  XVI. AS IF FROM THE GRAVE 305

  XVII. THE INSPECTOR 325

  APPENDIX 341

  ILLUSTRATIONS

  PAGE "LOOK OUT FOR THIS 'ERE ROPE!" _FRONTISPIECE_

  "YOU LUBBERS!" CAPTAIN EPH SCREAMED 92

  CAPE ELIZABETH 130

  MT. DESERT ROCK 170

  SADDLE BACK LIGHT 210

  BOON ISLAND 250

  ISLE OF SHOALS 290

  MATINICUS 330

  THE LIGHT KEEPERS.

  CHAPTER I.

  AN INVOLUNTARY VISITOR.

  "If that 'ere ain't a boat, Cap'n Eph, I'll agree to eat this buff-skin,an' wash it down with a pint of Uncle Sam's best oil," and Mr. SamuelPeters, first assistant of Carys' Ledge light, flattened his noseagainst the glass of the lantern as he peered out over the surgingwaters which surrounded the light-house on every hand.

  An odd-looking man was Mr. Peters (better known to his companions in theservice as "Sammy"), because of the fact that a bullet from the works ofPetersburg had ploughed a deep furrow across his left cheek, and carriedaway a goodly portion of one ear. Thus indelibly branded as a veteran ofthe Civil War, Mr. Peters had been glad to accept the position of firstassistant keeper of Carys' Ledge light, under the command of his oldcomrade-in-arms, Captain Ephraim Downs.

  "What good would it do you to eat the buff-skin, Sammy?" Captain Ephasked in a mild tone, and without looking up from his task of polishingthe lenses. "It stands to reason that you'd have a fit of the dyspepsyafter doin' it, an' then I'd be called upon to report that we'd lost abuff-skin, an' the best part of Number 12 from the medicine chest, forI'd feel it my duty to doctor you up to the best of my ability an' theprinted instructions from the Board, even though you had been makin' afool of yourself."

  "But why don't you look out an' see what's drivin' in here?" Mr. Peterscried with just a shade of irritation in his voice. "What's the use ofbein' so pig-headed?"

  "Now, Sammy, you know I ain't overly fond of bein' called pig-headed, anyet you throw that word at me in season an' out of season," CaptainDowns said placidly as he polished the lenses carefully with thebuff-skin.

  "Then take a squint to the east'ard, an' see what this 'ere muck of abeastly fog is bringin' us," Mr. Peters insisted, this time in such animploring tone that the old keeper could do no less than comply with thealmost tearful request.

  A single glance over the heaving waters, which had a grayish hue in theearly morning light, obscured as it was by the fog, and Captain Downsforgot for the moment the "rules and regulations" by which he governedthe movements of himself and his companions.

  "I do declare, Sammy, you're right!" he cried. "It does look like aboat, for a fact, an' the surprisin' part of it is that you hit so nearthe truth! It ain't often you can make out the difference betwixt a shipan' a seal."

  Mr. Peters was so engrossed with that which he saw as not to give anyheed to the ironical remark, for, under almost any other circumstances,he would have resented it deeply.

  "She's headin' this way, an' seems to be comin' right along, though Ican't make out anything in the shape of oars," the first assistant saidhalf to himself, and Captain Eph added as he went to the head of thenarrow stairway which led to the dwelling-rooms below:

  "You ain't so young as you use' ter be, Sammy, an' can't depend on youreyesight overly much." Then, raising his voice, he cried, "Hello, UncleZenas! Bring up the glass will you?"

  "I reckon that'll stir him up a bit," Mr. Peters said with a chuckle asof satisfaction. "Uncle Zenas claims there isn't anything in the rulesan' regerlations that says he shall be interfered with while he'scookin'."

  "He'll find I've got a few rules an' regerlations of my own, which can'tbe broken by any cook that ever beat an egg," Captain Eph said sharply,and then he stepped back by the side of Mr. Peters in order to getanother glance at that object which had interfered with the earlymorning duties of the light-house force.

  A moment later it was possible for the two in the lantern to hear a dullrumbling sound, something like imitation thunder, from below, and againMr. Peters chuckled until it really seemed as if he was choking.

  "You've stirred Uncle Zenas up all right, Cap'n Eph," the firstassistant said, "an' I'm wonderin' whether you get them 'ere glasseswithout goin' after 'em yourself."

  "He'll fetch 'em or I'll hang him out of this 'ere lantern till he comessomewhere nigh understandin' his duty aboard this light. I didn't fishoff the Banks year in an' year out for the best part of my life, to beflouted by a whipper-snapper like Zenas Stubbs."

  The rumbling sound from below increased in volume until, afterconsiderable difficulty, the head and shoulders of a very fat man wereliterally forced through the aperture in the floor of the lantern, andthe upper portion of the "whipper-snapper" was revealed to view.

  Uncle Zenas had admitted, in moments of strictest confidence, that heweighed "nigh to three hundred pounds" and even Mr. Peters, who wasprone to contradict any statement which might be made in his hearing,had no word against it. The cook _was_ large, with a face so red itseemed as if the blood was about to burst through its veins, and, savein the present case, was blessed with a mildness of disposition inproportion
to the size of his body.

  "If I'm to fetch an' carry for this whole blessed crew, an' that at atime when the fish-cakes are like to be burned to a cinder, I'll send ina petition to the Board to have this 'ere stairway stretched till anordinary man can get through without scrapin' the skin all off hisshoulders," he said angrily, and Captain Eph replied, as he took theglasses from the huge hand which was extended toward him:

  "Better ask for a derrick, Uncle Zenas, an' then we can run you up onthe outside of the tower when we're needin' your delicate frame in thelantern."

  Uncle Zenas raised his hands above his head as if despairing of findingwords of sufficient intensity to do justice to the occasion, and then,noting the fact that Captain Eph and Mr. Peters were gazing seawardintently, he apparently forgot the peril of the fish-cakes as, afterconsiderable difficulty, he pulled his entire body through the narrowopening which gave entrance to the lantern.

  "What seems to be the matter?" he asked in a whisper, much as ifbelieving Captain Eph might be disturbed in his efforts to bring theglasses to bear upon the tiny object which was being tossed wildly aboutby the waves so far away.

  For reply, Mr. Peters motioned him to look toward the east, and afterone glance he asked:

  "What is it? Looks like a log, an' if grown men in Government employhave taken to spendin' the time when they should be eatin', in huntin'up drift stuff, it's time the inspector was notified that a full,able-bodied crew is needed at Carys' Ledge light."

  "I say it's a boat," Mr. Peters replied, "an' if I'm right, it stands toreason that there may be somebody aboard of her. Now----"

  "It _is_ a boat!" Captain Eph cried with no slight show of excitement,"an' I'm allowin' that there's at least one man aboard."

  "What can he be doin' out there to the east'ard?" Mr. Peters cried as hetook the glasses from the keeper's hand, and began adjusting them to hisown eyes.

  "It's some fisherman, I reckon, what lost himself in the fog," UncleZenas said, as if he no longer had any interest in the matter, and Mr.Peters cried excitedly:

  "That's no fisherman's boat, and it don't look as if it came from apleasure craft. There! Yes! I can make out somebody in the stern sheets;but I don't see any oars, and how in the name of goodness has he kepther headin' for this 'ere light? What do you allow it is, Cap'n Eph?"

  "Much the same as you've made out, Sammy, an' it puzzles me to say whyshe's abroad on a morning like this."

  Just at that instant the odor of burning fish came up through the doorin the floor, and Uncle Zenas made all possible haste to descend, as thekeeper cried irritably:

  "I'd like to know if you haven't studied the rules and regerlationsenough to find out that there mustn't be any smoke here in the lantern?Why don't you stay down where you belong, instead of makin' more workfor Sammy an' me?"

  "I'd have been willin' to staid there, an' it was what I wanted to do,"Uncle Zenas replied breathlessly, as he tried unsuccessfully to lowerhis huge body through the narrow aperture. "If the crew of this 'erelight hadn't been so desperately lazy that they couldn't come down aftera little pair of glasses, we wouldn't be losin' the best mess offish-cakes that was ever put together on Carys' Ledge."

  "Get down, can't you, an' not do so much talkin'?" the angry keepercried, pushing on the shoulders of the big cook until Uncle Zenas hadliterally scraped his way through, and then the door was closed soviolently that several particles of dust arose, causing Captain Eph tomutter:

  "It does seem as if the crew of this 'ere light had gone out of theirheads this morning. What with smoke an' dust here in the lantern, Ireckon we're smashin' the rules an' regerlations all to flinders. Whatdo you make out, Sammy? What do you make out?"

  "It's one of them motor boats, Cap'n Eph, an' she's no fisherman, thatmuch I'll go bail."

  "Well, get to work cleaning' up, an' let _me_ find out what she is. Itseems as if a full grown man with a pair of good glasses ought'er knowall about her by this time."

  "How do you expect me to wrastle with the rules an' regerlations, whenfor all we know that 'ere boat may be comin' in with a load ofshipwrecked men?" Mr. Peters cried petulantly, as he gave the glassesinto the keeper's hand, and then stood gazing over the water as ifbelieving it was possible to see more plainly with the naked eye.

  "It don't stand to reason that 'ere craft has got shipwrecked menaboard, else we would see 'em, Sammy, an' I'm certain she's light, butfor a man in the stern-sheets. Here comes the fog agin, and whoever'ssteerin' stands a mighty slim chance of strikin' Carys' Ledge, if it sobe he wants to make this 'ere bit of rock. I do hate to get so mixed upbefore breakfast! Why couldn't the idjut have waited until long towardsnoon, when we hadn't much of anything to do, before he hove in sight?"

  "He'll heave out of sight mighty soon, for this 'ere smother is comin'back faster than it went," Mr. Peters said half to himself, "an' Ireckon we know now all we ever shall about him."

  "It must be he's makin' for the ledge, an' it stands to reason weought'er lend him a hand. There, that's the last we'll see of the craftunless some mighty fine steerin' is done, an' since it's no use lookin'out in the fog, Sammy, you'd better get to work on the lamp, while I godown in case he's got brains enough to hold his course. Remember, that'cordin' to the rules an' regerlations, the work of gettin' thingsship-shape must be begun immediately the light is put out, and we'veloafed too long already."

  "I reckon it wouldn't hurt very much if we broke the regerlations alittle bit, when perhaps there are lives to be saved," Mr. Petersmuttered as the keeper, raising the trap-door carefully, descended thenarrow, winding staircase, but the first assistant made no attempt tofollow his superior officer, because of knowing full well, from pastexperience, that any such disobedience of orders would be followed by areprimand not pleasant to receive.

  Descending the first flight, the keeper came to the watch room, wherewas a table, a chair, a stove, and a small lamp for the comfort andconvenience of those who were on duty during the night to make certainthe lamp in the lantern (meaning the floor above), burned steadily; andhere also was a square, upright piece of mechanism known as the drivingclock, which operated the flashing light.

  Down another flight, and the keeper was in a third circular room, wherewere two beds. Another flight brought him to his own apartment, andbelow that the kitchen, over which Uncle Zenas presided as cook andsecond assistant light keeper, where everything was wondrously neat andclean, and where every inch of space was economized for the betterkeeping of the food, cooking utensils, and such articles as areordinarily found in similar apartments on shore.

  "Are the fish-cakes spiled?" Captain Eph asked as he opened the doorleading outside the tower to a ladder of iron, which was fasteneddirectly to the masonry of the building.

  "Gone to a cinder," the cook replied in a tone of sorrow, "an' I allowthey was the best I ever put together. What about the boat?"

  "That's what I can't tell, Uncle Zenas. This 'ere fog has shut in worsethan ever, an' the chances are we'll never see her agin."

  "How did she happen to be out there? Some fisherman, eh?"

  "No; me an' Sammy are both agreed that it's a motor boat, an' she lookedto me like such a craft as would be carried by some big sailing vessel."

  "But what is she doin' out there?"

  "Now, look here, Uncle Zenas, I don't know anything more about her thanyou do. How can you expect I'm goin' to answer such a fool question asthat? All I can say is that, 'cordin' to the last sight I had of her, itlooked as if she was headin' for this 'ere ledge, an' all the rest is apuzzle."

  "Where are you goin' now?" the cook asked as he set about preparing morefish-cakes.

  "Down to the rocks. It's just possible I may be able to give the courseto whosoever is coming, an' Heaven knows he'll need it."

  Then, as if to put an end to the conversation, Captain Eph closed thedoor emphatically behind him, and descended the long, slender ladderwhich led to the ledge below.

  Not an inviting looking place in which to spend the greater portion o
fone's life was Carys' Ledge; nothing but a mass of black, jagged rocksrising out of the ocean a dozen miles or more from the mainland, andin extent at low water, half a mile long, and considerably less thanthat distance in width.

  Save for two rows of timbers securely bolted to the rocks, and extendingfrom the base of the tower to the water's edge to form "ways," on whicha boat could be drawn up or launched, and a small hut not unlike thedwelling of an Esquimau, made of cement, and large enough to shelter adory, there was nothing to be seen on the ledge of jagged rocks, overwhich one could make his way only with considerable difficulty.

  Captain Eph descended to the water's edge by following the timbers ofthe boat-ways, taking due care as to where he stepped, for the footingwas far from secure anywhere save on the extreme top of the ledge, and,making a trumpet with his hands, he shouted again and again, pausing nowand then in a listening attitude.

  "It don't stand to reason he could hold his course long enough to hitthis 'ere ledge; but I reckon it's my duty as a Christian man an' alight keeper to do what I can toward lendin' a hand. If he don't comeashore here, the chances are mightily agin his strikin' land while thebreath is left in his body, for this 'ere smother is enough to mix upanybody except an old shellback like me. Hello-o-o-o! Hello-o-o-o!"

  Captain Eph actually started in surprise at hearing his hail answered,and it seemed to him as if it was a child's voice which had come fromout the fog.

  "I must be losin' my mind, to even imagine sich a thing!" he exclaimedpetulantly, dashing the moisture from his eyes as if by so doing itmight be possible to penetrate the dense veil of vapor which shut outfrom view even the tower of the light. "It's a crazy trick for a grownman to be whifflin' 'round here in this smother, without my thinkin' Iheard a boy. Hello-o-o-o!"

  "Hello!" came out from the fog, and the old keeper really looked aroundhim in fear; but an instant later he had gathered his sensessufficiently to cry:

  "Uncle Zenas! Uncle Zenas!"

  The outer door of the tower must have been opened at the first word, forthe light keeper heard his cook and second assistant ask petulantly:

  "Now what's creepin' over you, Ephraim Downs? Do you allow that we canafford to lose another mess of fish-balls this mornin', or have youknocked off eatin' altogether?"

  "Come down here, Uncle Zenas, an' bring the fish-balls with you, if youcan't come without 'em. I've got the boat in hail, an' it's a child whoanswers me. We'll be needin' all hands, if he is to be brought ashorealive. Sing out for Sammy!"

  Then Captain Eph cried out once more for the guidance of the stranger,and the reply was sufficient to convince him, if he had not alreadydecided the matter in his mind, that the helmsman of the boat was veryyoung.

  "Are you on an island?"

  "Wa'al, I wouldn't like to call it jest that," Captain Eph shouted,"unless you're willin' to say a pile of rocks makes an island. This 'ereis Carys' Ledge light. Now do you know where you are?"

  "No better than I did before. Am I headin' right?"

  "It sounds so; but this 'ere channel is mighty narrow, an' unless youcome in jest so, the chances are that your boat will be knocked topieces. Is she a motor craft?"

  "Yes, sir."

  "Then slow down till you can see the openin' in the rocks, an' onceyou're headin' right, slap the power to her. Hello, you Sammy!"

  "Ay, ay!" came from somewhere near the tower.

  "Bring down that coil of rope, an' I'm thinkin' this 'ere lad'll need itbefore he makes a landin'!"

  At that moment the bow of the boat came into view amid the fog, andCaptain Eph shouted:

  "Port! Port a bit, an' keep her in the channel! Hurry your stumps,Sammy, for we're like to have a nasty mess here."

  Mr. Peters did not arrive on the scene a second too soon, for at thevery instant he gained the keeper's side the little craft was thrown bya heavy wave against the jagged rocks, and the splintering of wood toldthat much damage had been done.

  "Look out for this 'ere rope, an' have your wits about you!" Captain Ephcried as, hurriedly taking the coil from Sammy's hands, he flung withwonderful accuracy of aim the flakes across the shattered boat which wasbeing carried by the swell against the rocks the other side of thenarrow channel.

  Now it was possible for the keeper and his assistant to see that thesole occupant of the disabled craft was a small boy, apparently not morethan ten or twelve years of age, whose face told eloquently of themental and physical suffering he had endured.

  The lad sprang forward to seize the rope; but at that instant the boatwas flung against the rocks, throwing him headlong, and but for thefirst assistant keeper he must have been carried out of the little coveby the receding waves.

  Mr. Peters, understanding that if the boy's life was to be saved promptaction was necessary, leaped into the boiling waters as he flung one armover the rope Captain Eph was holding.

  The impetus of his leap was sufficient to send him through the waterfaster than the partially destroyed boat was being carried, and,grasping the stem with one hand and the rope with the other, he shouted:

  "Haul in, Cap'n, the best you know how, for I can't hold on here overlylong!"

  By this time Uncle Zenas had arrived at the scene, and, thanks to hisassistance, the little craft with her crew of one was pulled so far intoward the rocks that the keeper and the cook had no difficulty inrunning her bow on the ways, after which, as Mr. Peters scrambled out ofthe water looking like a very large, half-drowned cat, the boy was takenfrom the boat by Captain Eph.

  "There, there, don't try to talk," the keeper said in a fatherly tone."Anybody with half an eye can see that you're clean done up, an' we'llhave plenty of time for your story, seein's we ain't likely to bebothered with visitors till the inspector overhauls us."

  It seemed as if all the lad's strength deserted him when there was nolonger any question as to his safety, for before Captain Eph ceased, themuscles of the little body suddenly relaxed as if the wings of the deathangel had touched them.

  "I vow an' declare if the poor little tot hasn't gone an' fainted awaylike a woman," the old keeper said as he hurried toward the tower,leaving to Uncle Zenas and Mr. Peters the task of pulling the shatteredboat up beyond reach of the tide. "I reckon he'd stuck it out as long ashe had strength, an' then went all to pieces."

  When the two assistants entered the kitchen Captain Eph, havingundressed the lad, was rubbing him vigorously with warm towels, and Mr.Peters cried in astonishment:

  "Hello! What's goin' on now? Ain't afraid he's been drownded, are you,Cap'n?"

  "What with the fog an' the spray, I allow he has come pretty nigh that,an' this 'ere treatment won't do him any harm. Besides, I don't knowwhat else to do, for there's nothin' in the rules an' regerlations totell what ought'er be done when folks have fainted dead away. Anyhow, heseems to be pullin' 'round all right," the old man added as the ladopened his eyes slowly.

  In a twinkling Uncle Zenas had a cup of hot coffee to the littlefellow's mouth, and he was forced to drink, for the cook, in hiseagerness to take some part in the rescue, was literally pouring it downhis throat.

  "Why don't you go an' fix up my bed so's we can put him in it, Sammy?What good do you suppose it does to stand 'round here first on one footan' then on the other as if you was a brazen image?" Captain Ephdemanded fiercely of his first assistant, and the latter ran up thespiral stairway, hurriedly, muttering something about the folly oftreating a case such as the one in hand, before first studying the"rules and regerlations" to learn whether the Board had made anyprovisions for similar emergencies.

  Thanks to the ministrations of Captain Eph and Uncle Zenas, thehalf-drowned and wholly numbed lad was partially restored to a normalcondition; but when he tried to speak the old keeper said sharply:

  "There's no need of any tongue-waggin' yet a while. You're goin' intermy bed, an' stay there till you begin to feel somethin' like yourself,though I don't reckon it would do any harm if you told us how long you'dbeen alone in the boat."

  "Last night, and y
esterday, and all the night before that," the lad saidwith a sigh, and then, as his eyes filled with tears, Captain Ephgathered him in his arms, saying to Uncle Zenas as he began to ascendthe staircase:

  "I reckon it won't do any harm if you warm the blankets of my bed. Thispoor little shaver's teeth are chatterin' yet; but after he's heated upa bit, an' gets the sleep that's due him, he'll be a different lookin'lad."

  Mr. Peters had had much the same thought, for he now appeared in thedoorway with an armful of bed-clothes, and once more a "mess" offish-cakes was burned to a cinder as Uncle Zenas gave all his attentionto making the little stranger comfortable.

  Ten minutes later the keeper and his first assistant descended to thekitchen once more, and Captain Eph said in a whisper as he looked aroundto see what the possibilities for breakfast might be:

  "I vow an' declare if that poor little shaver's eyes didn't shut beforewe'd got him well tucked up in bed. I don't understand how he stood therough usage, for he ain't much more'n a baby, an' if my suspicions areright, he's been through what would pull down a tolerable strong man."

  "What do you make of it?" Uncle Zenas asked while he hovered helplesslyaround the stove, as if entirely at a loss to know what he could servefor breakfast after spoiling so many prime fish-cakes.

  "There's no need of our strainin' our brains over it, 'cause it won't bea great while before he'll be able to tell the whole story," Captain Ephreplied as he poured for himself a cup of coffee.

  "But what are you goin' to do with him?" Mr. Peters asked as he followedthe example of his superior officer.

  "Do with him?" Captain Eph repeated as if in surprise. "What else can wedo but keep him here till the inspector comes, unless it so be, whichain't likely, that a craft of some kind fetches up off the ledge?"

  "What does rule 56 of the regerlations say?" Mr. Peters asked in a lowtone, as if afraid the involuntary visitor might overhear the words."Ain't it set down there that light keepers' dwellings shall not be usedas pilot stations, nor as boardin' or lodgin' houses?"

  "Yes, I reckon that's part of what it says; but tacked on to that 'ererule is the words 'except by special authority,' an' I'm countin' ongettin' that for our little shaver, if it so be somebody don't comeafter him before then."

  "But 'cordin' to the way I look at it, we're goin' clean agin theregerlations when we make a boardin' or a lodgin' house out 'er this'ere tower before gettin' the special authority," Mr. Peters said withthe air of one who has studied the subject thoroughly, and Captain Ephturned upon his first assistant suddenly, still holding the cup ofcoffee in his hand:

  "I'm the keeper of this 'ere light, ain't I?"

  "You are for a fact," Mr. Peters replied meekly.

  "Well, that bein' the case, Sammy, after I've entered in the watch bookan account of his comin' here, an' set down the fact that I count onkeepin' the lad till somebody comes to claim him, I reckon it's nobody'sbusiness but mine an' the United States Government's. He's here, an'here he stays, unless the inspector says he must be turned adrift, inwhich case I'll go with him."

  Having thus settled the matter so far as he and the Government wereconcerned, Captain Eph began to drink his coffee in as leisurely amanner as if the lantern had already been cared for according to the"rules an' regerlations."