This news was not pleasant for them to hear, though every one realized that the speaker was not "drawing the long bow" when he made the a.s.sertion. Yes, they could almost note the rising of the dark ma.s.s. If it kept on as it was doing, inside of half an hour the heavens would be obscured above, and perhaps the forerunner of the gale be upon them.
b.u.mpus quickly started to pulling in the various fish lines he had been trailing along after the boat, in hopes of meeting up with a hungry fish that might be taken aboard, and not only afford a meal for the crowd, but give him a good chance to crow over his rival fisherman once more, "rub it in," as he called it.
Thad got out his charts, and the whole lot bent over, while he pointed out where they were just then, and the distant harbor he had hoped to reach.
"If it comes to the worst," ventured Allan, "there"s that lone island ahead of us, Sturgeon Island it"s called on the chart, and we might get in the lee of that."
CHAPTER XIV
THE SQUALL
"Sturgeon Island, did you say, Allan?" remarked Step Hen. "Sounds like it might be a good fishing place. If we happened to land there, perhaps b.u.mpus and Giraffe might manage to do some big stunts, pulling in sturgeon. Can anybody tell me what sort of a fish that is, anyway? I never saw one, or a fellow that caught one, either."
"Oh! they grow to big size, and are caught in the Great Lakes in this country. They take sturgeon eggs I believe to make this high-priced stuff they use in the tony clubs and call caviar, or something like that," observed b.u.mpus, who really did know considerable about fish and fishing, though of course he did not claim to be a fly fisherman, capable of casting seventy feet or more.
But the subject did not interest any of them just then. The way that bank of ominous clouds kept advancing higher and higher soon kept their attention riveted in that quarter.
"About how far away from our harbor are we, Thad?" asked Step Hen.
"Something like fifteen miles, I should say," came the reply.
Giraffe looked at the balky engine, and shook his head.
"Then we"d better make up our minds right here and now that we"ll never get to that place this day," he said, positively; and there was no one bold enough to accept of the plain challenge his tones conveyed.
"That means our only hope lies in Sturgeon Island, don"t it?" b.u.mpus asked.
"Looks that way," Thad told him.
"But that don"t seem so far on the map; you, just put your finger on the same, Thad; and if she"s close enough to do that, hadn"t we ought to see that island, ahead somewhere?"
"Suppose you take the gla.s.ses and look," suggested the pilot, who was busy with the engine that had stopped short again, and needed coaxing to take up its burden once more, "It"s rather hazy, you"ll notice, so that you couldn"t be sure of anything more than three miles away, I reckon; but tell us what lies de ahead, will you, b.u.mpus?"
A minute later, and the fat scout cried out in considerable excitement:
"I can see land ahead, sure I can, fellows!"
"That must be the island, then," rejoined Thad, busily engaged.
"Our only hope, so we had ought to call it our island," Davy went on to say, as he deliberately took the gla.s.ses from b.u.mpus, and glued the smaller end of the same to his own eyes.
Then in turn everybody but Thad had to have a chance to look; and in the end it was the consensus of opinion that b.u.mpus had spoken only the truth when he said there were positive evidences of some sort of land ahead.
"Oh! if you could only get that old junk-shop engine to working for half an hour, Thad, we"d have plenty of time to circle around to the leeward side of that island, and then we could get ash.o.r.e, no matter what happened to the Belle," b.u.mpus faltered, as he watched the skipper still working as rapidly as he could.
All at once the machinery started up again, when Thad gave the crank a whirl.
"Bully for you, Thad!" cried Davy, slapping the other heartily on the back; and then turning to look at the black clouds following after them, as though he would give fair warning that they meant to make a stiff fight for the opportunity of finding safety.
"Go slow!" warned the other; "don"t be too sure, because she"s limping already, and I"d hate to risk my reputation in saying that we could depend on that thing five minutes at a stretch," and from the way Thad said this it was evident that he had by now almost lost all faith in the motor.
"Looks like it might be a race between the storm, and our getting behind Sturgeon Island," said Giraffe, as he turned alternately from stem to stern of the boat, evidently trying to figure out what sort of chance they might have for winning out in the end.
But they knew that it all depended on the engine; if it worked as well as it was doing right now they could surely pa.s.s over the few miles that separated them from the island; and once in its lee it would not be so difficult to gain the sh.o.r.e. Neither the wild wind, nor the gathering waves could disturb them, so long as the storm continued to come out of the south-west, for they were now cruising along the northern sh.o.r.e of the great lake, where the Dominion of Canada held sway, and not Uncle Sam.
So they watched it anxiously, and every time it missed an explosion b.u.mpus would utter a grunt or a groan; only to catch new inspiration and hope when he found that it was a false alarm, and that they were still going right along.
Thad was doing everything he knew how to encourage the engine to keep up the good work; but he had already made up his mind to be surprised at nothing. There was a possibility that it might keep working fairly well as long as they wanted, in order to find safety in the shelter of the island; and then again it was apt to let down at any minute.
Thad, however, was not the one to show the white feather. He knew that there were several of his chums who might not be const.i.tuted just the same as he and Allan, and Giraffe--b.u.mpus and Davy and Step Hen; and his seeming cheerfulness was partly a.s.sumed in order to buoy their drooping spirits up; as scout-master Thad felt that he had many duties to perform, and one of these was to instill a feeling of confidence in the b.r.e.a.s.t.s of his comrades.
"I can see a white streak on the water away back there!" announced Giraffe, presently.
"That"s where you"ve got the advantage of the rest of us, with your long neck, and that way of stretching the same," complained Step Hen; and determined to meet the other on his own grounds he clambered to the top of the cabin, where he could use the gla.s.ses he had taken from the hand of Giraffe.
"It"s the first blow of the squall, as sure as anything," he immediately reported; which news made b.u.mpus turn pale; for he had not forgotten what he experienced on that other occasion.
"Coming racing after us, like hot cakes!" added Giraffe. "Hadn"t we better get them life preservers out, and fastened on under our arms, Thad? Then, if so be the old tub did take a notion to turn turtle, we"d have some show for our money."
"Make him stop talking that way, Thad, won"t you?" urged b.u.mpus; "he just does it to make me have a bad feeling down here," and he rubbed his projecting stomach mournfully as he spoke.
"No, I"m sorry to tell you he isn"t saying anything too strong, b.u.mpus,"
the skipper of the Chippeway Belle a.s.sured him; and after that poor b.u.mpus had nothing more to say; only he clutched the cork and canvas life preserver which was handed out to him, and with trembling hands proceeded to adjust the same under his arms; though it was a very snug fit, even if Giraffe had given him the largest in the lot under the seats.
"If anything happens, remember," said Thad, in all seriousness, as he watched the rapid way in which that ominous white line on the water was racing after them; "all of you try your best to land on the island.
We"re getting closer all the while to the same, and there seems to be some sh.o.r.e for us to crawl up, because, with the rocks I can see little patches of gravelly beach. Keep your eyes fixed on that, and do everything you can to get there in case of a wreck."
"Wreck!" muttered b.u.mpus, as though talking to himself, as he often did when in trouble. "Didn"t I dream I was on a ship that went to pieces in storm; and first thing I knew I had to swim for it, and me knowing so little about doing that. Oh! I hope nothing happens, and that we ran swing around back of that bully old island soon!"
"So say we all of us, b.u.mpus," Giraffe echoed; and he did not mean to draw the attention of the others to the shaky condition of the fat scout, because, if the truth were told, every one of the six boys would be found to be quivering with the dreadful suspense, while waiting for that forerunner of the squall to strike them.
The engine still continued to keep them moving, although to the excited imagination of some of the boys they seemed to be almost standing still.
"What do you think of it now, Thad?" asked Step Hen, with the manner of one who hoped for good tidings, yet feared the worst.
"I don"t just like the looks of that first rush of wind," replied the pilot; "of course if we pull through that we may be able to hold out, and gradually force a way around the island. I"m trying to head as near as I dare, because if once we"re forced past, there"s nothing left for us, you understand?"
Yes, they could grasp that point well enough, and Step Hen even besought the one at the wheel to work in a little closer.
"Better take the chances of being thrown on the island than to be carried past by a fluke of the wind!" he declared, and Thad believed so much the same way that he did change their course slightly.
The boys had brought out what most they wanted to save in case of a wreck. One carried his clothes bag, with the blanket fastened to the same; another had the double-barreled shotgun; while Giraffe made sure to see that his fishing tackle was safely tucked in with his belongings, which he had made up into as small a compa.s.s as possible.
As for b.u.mpus, he had gathered everything he owned, and looked as though he might be a walking peddler trying to dispose of his wares to the country people. On the other hand there was Step Hen who did not appear to care an atom about his clothes and his blanket; but he had managed to wrap something around the owl, and was all the while gripping the bird tightly; though b.u.mpus said he was silly to risk his own life, when all he had to do was to cut the cord he had put around the cloth, unfasten the chain that gripped the bird"s leg, and give him a toss into the air, when Jim would look out for himself.