Motor Boat Boys Down the Coast; or, Through Storm and Stress to Florida

There being no other way, the boys presently unanimously agreed to face the music. Besides, their previous success at riding the heaving billows of the ocean began to give them confidence.

"If we go around Florida, and bring up in the Gulf, we're likely to do a lot of this outside business," remarked George, as bravely as though he never knew what fear meant.

"Yes," put in Nick, also valiant when settled on solid ground, "and I suppose we've just got to get used to the thing. Who's afraid, anyhow? Settle it just as you think best, Jack. We rely on your judgment every time. That's why we elected you to be commodore of the fleet."

"Hear! hear!" murmured Josh, pretending to applaud the noble sentiment feebly with his finger-tips.

Once the plan of campaign was settled, they all felt better. For some time they had known that this problem must come up for solution sooner or later, and truth to tell, it had been rather a load on their minds. There is a positive relief in knowing the worst. Means for meeting the difficulty can then be discussed; and as a rule most obstacles lose much of their terror when held up to the light.

The little insect pests came around in such numbers that it was quickly decided a night ashore would not be comfortable. Nick was the only one who rebelled.

"Why, I'd put up with ten million skeeters before I'd voluntarily choose to try and compose myself to sleep in that narrow rocking coffin," he declared.

"Now, I like that," complained George, always up in arms when his beloved craft was spoken of in an uncomplimentary manner. "Look a gift horse in the mouth, if you like; but the sleeping accommodations aboard are good enough for me. And to show you that I don't bear any malice, Nick, I'm going to help you fix up a berth on shore here."

Nick might have backed out, only he dared not after that, and sly George, who really delighted in the prospect of having plenty of room to turn over in, knew it, which was the main reason for his offer of assistance.

So when the time came for retiring Nick was left ashore with a little tent constructed of cheese cloth, which was believed to be so closely woven that even the smallest insect pest could not pass through.

Nick had tried his best to coax Josh to share his accommodations; but the lanky one was content with his comfortable quarters aboard. Even Jimmy shook his head when the fat boy showed him how splendid it would be to lie there, and get all the night air that was stirring.

"Excuse me, Nick," Jimmy had said, "sure, I'd like to accommodate ye, but it seems to me there's a quare smell in the air that makes me think of bears. P'raps they do come down here out of the canebrake beyant. And I'd feel safer aboard the boat."

"Now, you think you're going to scare me, don't you?" demanded the stout boy, pugnaciously, his stubborn nature having been aroused, "but all the same you ain't. I c'n see through a knothole in a fence. The rest of you are afraid, that's what! All right, it's good there's one brave feller in the bunch. But, George, you've just got to loan me your gun again."

"More razorback pork for dinner tomorrow, fellows," laughed George.

"Oh! well, if you try to throw every obstacle in my way, why of course – " began Nick, eagerly seizing upon the slightest excuse to hedge; when George, fearful that he might have to share the cramped quarters aboard the Wireless after all with his team mate, quickly exclaimed:

"You can have the gun, and welcome, Nick; only be careful how you shoot. One of those charges at close range would go through the flimsy planking of my boat like a bullet. Here, take the gun. And if there's anything else I can do to make you comfortable, let me know. I'm the most obliging fellow you ever met."

Nick looked at him out of the corner of his eye, as though he strongly suspected the genuine character of this generosity. Still, he felt that he could not in decency draw back now, so he took the shotgun and tucked it away beside his blanket.

Considerably to the satisfaction of the entire club, the night passed without any wild alarm. If there were bears in the neighborhood, as Jimmy had wickedly suggested, they at least had the decency to keep aloof from the camp. Perhaps they showed their wisdom in so doing when Nick was on guard. That, at least, was what he boasted, when Jack and the rest came ashore and aroused him from a sound sleep.

The fact of the matter was that Nick had never once awakened during the entire night. A dozen bears might have prowled around the camp, sniffing at anything left lying around loose, and in all probability he would never have been any the wiser, provided they did not tumble his tent down about his ears.

Once more they started on their way. Jack continually consulted his charts. When connecting creeks had to be negotiated, in order to reach some channel beyond, it was absolutely necessary that the tide be taken at its flood, otherwise they were very apt to find themselves stuck in the mud.

Three full days did they keep this up, and then, having managed to surmount every difficulty, they reached the point where that outside run became a necessity, ere they could enter the Peedee River at Winyah Bay, and once more take up the inside route.

Another day was spent waiting for the conditions to become more favorable. Time was not any great factor in their cruise, but safety did enter very much into their calculations. They had passed through another stormy period and were quite satisfied to snuggle down to camp, to rest up after their arduous work of the last few days, wriggling their way through those tortuous creeks, and working the setting pole at times for hours, when the saving of the precious gasolene became an object.

"How's this for the right morning?" asked George, who was anxious to have the long and hazardous outside run over with.

"Looks good to me, so far," said Jack, "and I guess we'll get off right after we've had breakfast. We might wait longer and fare worse, you know, George."

"Oh! I'm ready for the run. It can't come any too soon to suit me," declared the skipper of the Wireless, "and I honestly believe I've got my engine in better shape than ever before."

"Thank goodness for that!" said Nick, who did not look any too happy.

And at seven o'clock, while the sun was hanging low in the east, they started off, with the longest outside run of the cruise confronting them; and all sorts of possibilities for trouble looming up on the horizon.

CHAPTER XXI.

FOG BOUND WHILE AT SEA

"How much further do we have to go, Jack?"

It was Herb calling out after this style. The three boats were close together, and steadily making progress over the heaving surface of the ocean. Off to the right lay the shore, plainly seen, though they did not dare approach too close, lest they get into that sickening ground swell, that rolled the narrow Wireless in a way to make those aboard dizzy.

"As near as I can judge we ought to see the mouth of Winyah Bay inside of the next half hour. It's different from an inlet, you understand, and wide enough to fool us, unless we take great care," replied the commodore, who had his marine glasses leveled at the shore about half the time, trying to pick up landmarks calculated to tell him where they were.

"Wow! that would be a tough proposition, now!" shouted Josh. "What if we did go past, why we'd just have to keep right along this way till we made Charleston."

"Don't you think of trying it," called Nick, from the Wireless, which was being held in leash by the now cautious skipper. "Why, this racking fever of anxiety would just kill us if it had to keep up much longer, and that's right, fellows, even if George here won't acknowledge the corn."

"Oh! shucks! it isn't half as bad as you make out, Nick. The trouble is, you're so plagued logy you can't keep the balance of the boat. These thoroughbreds are delicately constructed, you see, and have to be treated different from other boats."

"I should just guess, yes," complained poor Nick, in a dolorous tone. "A feller has to be thinking of the blessed old boat all the while, and forget his own aches and pains. Why, every muscle in my whole body is sore from the strain."

"I say, Jack, would ye moind turnin' the glass back yander and tellin' us what sort of thing that cloud is that hugs the wather so close? I've been watching the same some time now, and I do think it's comin' this way," Jimmy remarked, loud enough for the others to hear, so that immediately every eye was quickly turned in the quarter toward which the Irish lad had pointed.

Jack immediately felt a sudden thrill of alarm pass over him, even before he had focussed the glasses upon Jimmy's so-called "cloud." He suspected what it might prove to be, and the very thought of being caught out on the ocean by a fog gave him a decidedly unpleasant sensation.

"Say, that ain't a cloud, I bet you," declared Nick.

"Looks more like fog to me," Josh called out, "and as sure as you live, boys, it's creeping down this way and widening out like fun. Hey! Jack, ain't that fog?"

"It sure is," replied the one who held the glasses, as he lowered them and cast an anxious look in the direction of the shore, as though he would take a last survey before the land became blotted out.

This was one of the things Jack had feared. A sudden storm of course would have brought alarm in its train; but this silent yet gripping fog might be just as potent a force toward their undoing. Once it enveloped them, they were apt to grope along for hours, possibly working more and more out to see. And when a wind dissipated the fog, perhaps they could not see land!

Jack immediately determined to risk minor dangers by turning in more toward the shore. If he could only listen for the beating of the rollers on the beach, it would be possible to tell when they came to the open bay by the sudden cessation of this sound.

"What are you changing the course for?" demanded George, suspiciously, a minute later, though he followed suit readily enough, determined not to get far away from the other more stable boats.

"We'd better get in nearer shore, so we can hear the sound of the surf," Jack replied.

"Oh! I see, you hope to keep tabs on our course by ear, when the eye fails us; is that it, Jack?" asked Herb.

"That's one reason," Jack called back. "Perhaps we may be able to tell when we're opposite the mouth of the bay, if we listen carefully. But in another five minutes that fog will be down on us, boys, by the way it creeps on, faster than we are going."

"How about signals?" asked George.

"Every boat has a horn of some sort, and you remember what the different blasts mean. The Tramp is a single toot, the Comfort two in quick succession, while your Wireless is denoted by three sharp ones, George. Four will mean that we must turn a little more to starboard, and five, draw closer together for a confab. Got all that, now?"

"All right here, Jack," assented Herb.

"And ditto with us," declared George.

"Well, be watchful and ready for anything, for here comes the wet blanket to cover us," observed Jack.

It was a nasty fog, as thick as pea soup, as George called out a little later. First the outlines of the shore were blotted out as though by an impenetrable curtain. Then even the boats, close as they were, began to go, until it was no longer possible to distinguish them from the sea of gray vapor around.

Naturally the boys felt exceedingly nervous every minute of the time. Jack had reduced speed, for he did not wish to run past the mouth of Winyah Bay, if such a thing could be prevented by due caution.

An hour crept along. It seemed like three times that length of time to every one of the listening lads. All this while they had managed to catch that low throbbing sound from the shore. Sometimes it would be very faint, and require careful work in order to locate it; then again the beat of the waves on the sandy strand came quite distinctly.

Somehow, as long as they could catch this reassuring sound, they seemed to feel renewed confidence. And yet the strain was terrible. The day was passing, and if night came on, to find them still groping their way in this incertain manner down the South Carolina coast, the prospect would seem gloomy indeed.

No one seemed to care to eat much. Even Nick, for the time being, had gone back on that wonderful appetite of his, and actually turned up his nose when George got out the bag that contained hard tack and cheese, asking the fat boy if he cared to have a "snack" to fortify him against what might yet be in store for them.

"Excuse me," said Nick, loftily. "There are times to eat, but according to my way of thinking this ain't one of 'em. When a feller has to do a lot of high thinking he'd be wise to keep his mind clear and let grub alone."

Truth to tell, Nick was feeling rather squeamish. The swell rolled the narrow boat more than had been the case when they kept further out; and besides, such were his fears that they affected his nerves, and also his stomach.

"All right," said George, who did not happen to be in the same condition, "I'm not a big feeder, but it's always wise to keep up your strength. And talking about letting grub alone, when you once get ashore again the way you'll pitch in must make our supplies look sad. I know you, Nick; you can't fool me."

Nick disdained to make any reply. He even turned his back on the skipper when George started to munch biscuit and cheese.

"What time is it?" asked George, after a while, upon seeing the fat boy look at his little nickel watch, for the tenth time at least.

"Just three o'clock!" groaned Nick, sadly replacing his timepiece and looking longingly toward the west, where he knew solid ground lay, if only they could ever set feet upon it once more.

"And we started out on the sea by eight," remarked George. "Say, that's something worth while; and when we get to talking it over we'll have reason to be proud of the way these bully little boats have served us. Eight hours on the ocean; just think of that, will you?"

The others were close enough to hear what was said, for it was quite still, as the motors were running at a reduced speed.

"Perhaps it may be eighty before we're done!" called Josh, on the right.

"I do believe we're going to bring up on the coast of Ould Ireland before we're through with this job!" Jimmy was saying, from some unseen place on the port side of the Wireless, which happened to be occupying the middle berth at the time.

At that the rest broke out into a laugh, though truth to tell there was not any too much mirth about the same.

"Say, I haven't heard anything for nearly five minutes now, Jack!" called Herb, who, it seemed, was paying strict attention to business, and not bothering about whether he got anything to eat or not, or what would happen in case they headed out into the vast expanse of salt water that stretched across to Africa.

"Same here, Herb," echoed Jack.

"Do you think we've been heading out too far, and is that the reason, Jack?"

"I've got my compass right before me and, if anything, we've been edging in just a little bit more than at any other time," came Jack's answer.

"Then what?" asked the Comfort's skipper, eagerly.

"Perhaps the bay has opened up, and the shore line is miles away from us!" was the cheering way Jack put it.

"Good for you, commodore!" called Josh.

"Oh! I hope that's so!" wailed Nick.

"But how are we going to find out?" queried Herb.

"By changing our course directly into the west, and taking the bull by the horns," Jack replied, boldly. "We can creep along, you know, and if we've made a mistake, why, it's easy to turn around and bear away again. But somehow, I've got a pretty strong notion things are going to work out all right for us, fellows."

"Hurrah! that's the kind of talk!" cried Nick, beginning to perk up a little, and wonder if after all George might not be right when he said that they owed it to themselves as a duty to eat, whether hungry or not, in order to conserve their strength for any emergency.

"Are you turning now, Jack?" asked George.

"Yes; keep close by and try to pattern after what I do. Here goes, then, fellows."

"Hit her up; who cares for expenses?" cried Josh, who had been taking it comfortably right along, and seemed almost free from care.

By exercising more or less caution, they managed to change their course without losing each other in the fog. This was accomplished by calling out from time to time, or even sounding the signals on the horns.

In this fashion then they began to creep along. Only for that compass which Jack had before him, they might as well have been heading out to sea, for all any one could say.

"Me to get a compass as soon as we strike Charleston!" declared Herb.

"Yes, and George must do the same," Jack declared, from somewhere in the opaque mist. "Supposing we were separated in some way; you two fellows would be badly off with no means for locating east from west, or north from south."

"Jack, darlint!" they heard Jimmy cry out just then.

"What is it?" asked the skipper of the Tramp.

"I do be thinkin' I saw a break in the beastly ould fog beyont us; yis, an' by the powers, it's a braze that fans me cheek at this identical minute!"

"He's right, fellows!" shouted George.

"Then that means good-bye to the nasty old fog, which will be a riddance of bad rubbish!" called the overjoyed Nick, reaching out and possessing himself of the cracker bag, so as to be ready to do his duty by his system.

"The breeze is dead ahead, boys," said Jack. "And in that event the fog will be swept to sea. Watch now, and you'll see something worth while."

Jack evidently knew what he was talking about, for in less than five minutes it seemed as though some wizard must have waved his magical wand, for suddenly they shot out of the thick pea-soup atmosphere and into the bright sunshine.

They were indeed in a big bay, with land on three sides. The sun, now half way and more down the western sky, shone in an unclouded field, and the water danced in the fresh shore breeze.

Then every fellow shouted and waved his hat, such was the relief that passed over them at the successful termination of the long outside dash.

"Don't any one of you ever dare to run my bully engine down, after it has stood by me so nobly," George was saying, as they started at a faster clip up still further into Winyah Bay, into which the Peedee River empties.

No one was disposed to cast the slightest reflection on the cranky motor of the speed boat; for just then they were feeling at peace with all the world, and quite ready to forgive their worst enemies.

That night they camped on the shore of a creek that emptied into the bay, ready to take up their southern journey with the coming of the morrow.

CHAPTER XXII.

SAVANNAH AT LAST

After that came some more hard inside work. There were times when even the sanguine Jack began to fear that they would never reach Charleston; for even at high tide they found the connecting creeks in many instances little more than shallow ponds, and before they could break through, considerable pushing and dragging had to be done.

But where there is a will there usually appears to be a way; and by slow degrees they drew nearer the city on the coast.

"With good luck, fellows, we ought to make it tomorrow," Jack announced, one evening, after he had been closely examining his charts again by the light of the cheery camp fire.

"Do you really mean it, Jack, darlint?" demanded Jimmy, with the air of one who had almost given up hope.

"I sure do," replied the other. "As I make it out, this is Bull's Island we are on right now. If that's a fact, there's a fine inside passage all the way to Charleston Bay, behind several other islands, or at least one big one called Capers. Our troubles are over, so far as this part of the trip goes."

"That's bully good news you're giving us, Jack," remarked George; "and I hope it won't prove a delusion and a snare. I've had about as much of that push pole business as is good for my constitution, I guess."

"Yes, and look at me!" cried Nick, pulling a long face, though with only a great effort; "pretty near skin and bones, with all this worry and hard work; and to add insult to injury, put on half rations latterly. It's a shame, that's what."

"Rats!" scoffed the unbelieving George; "I'd like to wager now that you've gone and picked up ten pounds since starting on this cruise. By the way you put away the grub it ought to be nearer twenty."

"You don't mean to hurt my feelings, I know, George," said the fat boy, sweetly; "and, considering the source, I'll forgive you. But I warn you plainly, right now, that if I have to keep on being crew to your blooming old speed boat, I'm going to lay in a lot of rubber cushions at Charleston, so as to keep me from rubbing all the skin off my poor body when I have to sleep aboard here, and the boat wabbles with every teenty wave. Don't you say a word, for my mind's made up."

"Oh! get whatever you want in that line; it doesn't make a bit of difference to me. I never have needed cushions so far," George exploded, sarcastically.

"Huh! that's easy; because you've got me to bang up against!" exclaimed Nick.

"That's right, George; he's got one on you there," laughed Jack.

"And who'd want a finer cushion than our Nick?" remarked Herb.

"Nature knew what was needed, when he was padded and filled out so well," Josh managed to work in with; "and if ever I needed a bumper, I'd pick him out first thing."

"Get out!" snapped Nick; but all the same he grinned as though complimented.

On the following morning, then, they made an early start, for there was considerable of a distance to be covered ere they could reach the hospitable docks of Charleston by the sea.

Jack knew that their supply of gas was growing alarmingly low. Indeed, George had already been obliged to borrow from the Comfort, as that craft had the largest reservoir and could spare a little.

"It's going to be a close shave to get us there," he remarked, as they started.

"What if my tank goes empty again?" demanded George.

"I've been thinking of that," said Jack. "As a last resort then, we'll make camp, empty all we've got into one tank, and that boat can go after a new supply."

"That's the ticket!" cried Josh.

"It takes Jack to solve these maddening puzzles!" declared Nick, with a look of affection in the direction of the chum who never failed them.

"But still, I have hopes we'll all pull through," Jack continued, encouragingly.

"How'd it be for one of the boats to do the towing act?" suggested Herb.

"And that would mean the Comfort, because she's built more on the lines of a tow boat than either of the others," remarked George. "I enter a kick against anything of the kind. It's bad enough to be humiliated that way when a fellow's motor goes back on him; but in calm weather, and with the engine in the pink of condition, it just can't be thought of for a minute."

"Hey! what you trying to do again; throw me overboard?" demanded Nick, aggressively, as he floundered about when the Wireless came to a sudden and totally unexpected stop, just as George ceased speaking.

"His engine broke down again, that's what!" jeered Josh.

"Is that a fact, George?" asked Jack, provoked at the idea of delay.

"Oh! not quite so bad as that," replied George, peevishly; "I think I know what happened. I forgot something, that's all. Perhaps I can have it fixed in three shakes of a lamb's tail. You go on, and I'll catch up easy enough."

"Don't you dare to do it, fellows!" cried Nick. "That might mean for us to be marooned here a whole day, yes, mebbe a week. And most of the grub is aboard that old Comfort, you see."

"We'll wait a while and see how it comes out," remarked Jack. "Do you need any help, George?"

"Who, me? Not in the least. I tell you, I know what's ailing, and I'll get it to going all right in five minutes," George answered, stiffly, for the many freaks of his engine gave him unhappy spells; as Josh once declared, it was like a certain girl he knew, in that "when it was good, it was very, very good; and when it was bad, it was hor-rid!"