"Sure, the rimedy is worse nor the disease!" he complained.
"That"s all right," said Jack; "just stand the pain for a little. It"s an insurance against blood poisoning. Many a hunter has lost his life from little cuts no worse than yours, when they were caused by the claws of a wild beast. My father would not let me come out unless I carried this."
"What is it, Jack?" asked Herb, curiously.
"A strong tincture of permanganate of potash," was the reply. "Just remember that, will you; and it"s got to be powerful enough to hurt like fun; eh, Jimmie?"
"Indade it did, that," was the immediate response; while the Irish boy screwed up his good humored face in a knot.
Jack went back to his fishing, for he had already managed to take one pretty good specimen of the Lake Superior speckled trout that would have weighed nearly four pounds; and was eager for more.
All the while he sat there, employing every device he knew of to tempt the finny denizens of the depths to bite, he kept one eye to windward.
That low bank of clouds interested him; for it seemed to presage a storm.
Since everything possible had been attended to in order to ward off any evil effects of a gale, Jack did not stop fishing until he had succeeded in catching a fine mess, that would please the heart of Buster.
Josh was preparing the fish as fast as they were caught. Indeed, he dispatched Nick several times to see if there were any more forthcoming; when the sportsman would toss ash.o.r.e his latest catch, and the cook"s a.s.sistant hurry back with the prize, his hungry eyes fairly glistening with antic.i.p.ation.
Of course it was a royally good supper that followed. Josh cooked the trout in the same capable manner he had served the lake white fish; and every fellow declared they had never tasted anything more delicious.
Still, there was plenty for all, and to spare. Even Nick had to shut his eyes with a deep sigh, because he had reached the extreme limit of his capacity; and a pan of trout remained untouched.
The growling of the thunder now became more p.r.o.nounced. Across the heavens the zigzag lightning shot, in a way that was as terrible as it was fascinating. Supper done, the boys cl.u.s.tered near the fire, talking, and watching the coming of the gale. Again and again had Jack and George gone around, to see that every tent peg was clinched in the ground.
"They"re going to hold, unless the wind tears the blessed things to flinders!" Jack had announced; and at the same time he had seen to it that the boats were protected by the friendly point of land from the giant waves that would soon be sweeping in from the sea beyond.
Already were they rising in majestic grandeur that was awe inspiring.
The storm was about to swoop down upon the sh.o.r.e line, and hurl the rising sea against the mighty rocky barrier, as it had done for countless ages past without success.
"Oh! ain"t I just glad I"m not out there!" exclaimed Nick, as he shudderingly surveyed the darkening picture of warring elements.
"But look there, fellows; what d"ye call that?" cried Herb, as he pointed a quivering finger at some object that had suddenly come in sight from the east.
It was a little motor boat, wallowing in the rising sea, and doomed to certain destruction unless able to make shelter immediately. And with the waves dashing wildly against the rocks, those aboard would never see the small opening through which the motor boat boys had come to their present snug harbor!
"It"s the _Flash_!" shouted Jack; "and unless we manage to show them the way in, it"s good-bye to Clarence and Bully Joe! We must do it, fellows.
Come on!"
CHAPTER XV
HELPING AN ENEMY
Jack kept his wits about him.
He had s.n.a.t.c.hed up something as he ran to the very point where he might best be seen through the flying spray. It was the conch sh.e.l.l which, with its apex sawed off, made a horn or trumpet that could be heard a mile away, under even the most discouraging conditions.
Reaching the point for which he had been aiming Jack immediately started sending a hoa.r.s.e blast out over that tumultuous sea. The others waved their hats, and made suggestive motions toward the small inlet, to show that a boat could enter the cove where the stream of water emptied into the Big Lake.
"They see us!" shrilled Nick, dancing up and down in his excitement; for in this moment all past animosity was forgotten, because human lives seemed in jeopardy--the lives of those who had gone to school, and played baseball with them, in the days that were past.
"Yes, they"re waving their hands!" declared Herb.
"And now they put about!" George added. "Careful there, Clarence! You nearly keeled over then on your beam ends. That was a narrow squeak! I"d hate to have the poor old _Flash_ meet such a fate, not to speak of her crew."
"It"s all right now, fellows!" cried Jack. "They"re heading for the inlet. Run over, and be ready to give any help needed. In times like this let"s forget that Clarence and Joe have always been up against us.
We"re all Americans now; and we must stick together!"
"Bully talk!" said Josh, hastening after George and Jack, leaving Nick to amble along in the rear.
Clarence knew how to handle his boat with considerable skill; and once he drew close in, he was able to see how the ground lay. Those on sh.o.r.e also directed him as best they could; and the net result was that the _Flash_ finally shot around the point, arriving in the little sheltered bay that a kind nature seemed to have provided for just such emergencies.
As Jack had more than once said, could they but look back hundreds of years, no doubt they would find that it had sheltered fleets of Indian canoes many a time, when the storm king rode the waves of the Great Lake.
When the _Flash_ had been moored safely, her crew came ash.o.r.e. Joe Brinker was looking a bit sullen, as though he did not much fancy the idea of accepting aid from these fellows, whom he had always looked upon as enemies. But Clarence walked straight up to Jack, holding out his hand.
"I say it"s mighty decent of you, Stormways, to throw us a line this way," he declared, with considerable feeling. "I admit I was badly rattled, and thought we were in for a wreck. Neither of us glimpsed this opening here, and we"d sure have swept by, if you hadn"t signalled. I"m sorry now I ever--"
"Let by-gones be forgotten while we"re here, Clarence," spoke up Jack.
"See, the storm is whooping things up out there now, and it"s just as well you"re not on the lake."
Clarence did look, and shuddered at what he saw; for it was not a pleasant spectacle, with the lightning flashes, and the heaving billows, seen through the flying spray that even reached them by the tents.
"Get busy, fellows!" George called. "Carry everything inside. Yes, take that pan of fish, and the coffee, Nick. I guess our callers are hungry, and will be glad of a bite. Quick now, for here she comes with a rush!"
Hardly had they found shelter, and the flaps of the tents been secured, when down the rain pelted, to the accompaniment of the most tremendous thunder crashes any of them had ever heard; while the fierce wind tried its best to tear the canvas shelters from over their heads.
But the work had been well done, and the tents stood, though wobbling more or less under the fierce onset of the wind.
Clarence and Joe had been taken in with Jack and George, while the other four occupied the second tent. Seated on the ground, the two newcomers proceeded to break their fast, and drink what remained of the coffee.
"Guess you wonder what kept us back so long?" remarked Clarence, after they had finished the meal, and while a little lull came in the tempest without.
Jack and George looked at each other and smiled.
"We might give a good think," remarked the latter; "seeing that I pushed the nose of my _Wireless_ boat so hard into Mud Lake that it took an hour and more for the other two to pull me off."
"Huh! that"s where you were lucky, then, George," continued the other.
"We didn"t have any chums to do the pulling act; and so we just had to flounder there for hours and hours. I reckon we must have spent the best part of two days sticking in the mud. Happened that nothing came along but some big steamers; and they wouldn"t stop to help a poor little motor boat off."
"Well, how did you get away finally?" asked Jack, interested.
"Worked our way out of it by ourselves; and we"re proud to tell it,"
Clarence proceeded. "I managed to climb up into a tree that hung over the boat, and threw down branches until we made a mattress that would bear our weight. Then we got out a block and tackle we carried, and fixed it in a way to get a strong pull. I kept the engine working for all she would go, while Joe bent to the tackle; and inch by inch we finally yanked the _Flash_ out of her mud berth."
"Good for you!" remarked George, with real emphasis. "Looking back, there"s always some satisfaction in remembering how you managed to get out of a bad hole by means of your own wits."