The Coming Wave; Or, The Hidden Treasure of High Rock, Oliver Optic [story read aloud TXT] 📗
- Author: Oliver Optic
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"I never was on this coast before, Mr. Hamilton, as I told you before we sailed from New York," said Captain Bounce, apologetically; "but if I had been here all my life, I couldn't find my way in a sailing vessel in such a fog as this."
"O, I don't blame you Captain Bounce," added Mr. Hamilton, who was the owner of the yacht.
"I have kept you off the rocks so far; and that was the best I could do."
"You have done all that anybody could do, Captain Bounce, and I have no fault to find with you. But the ladies are very uncomfortable;[Pg 210] they are wet, and everything in the cabin is wet with the moisture of this fog. We are very anxious to get to some good hotel, where we can remain till the fog has blown away," continued Mr. Hamilton.
"You can go into Rockhaven, sir," suggested Leopold.
The Hon. Mr. Hamilton smiled gloomily, and shrugged his shoulders, for he knew how limited were the accommodations in the old Cliff House.
"Your hotel would not hold us, Leopold," said Mr. Hamilton. "Our party consists of fifteen persons. We must get into Rockland, some how or other."
"We have a new hotel, Mr. Hamilton," interposed Leopold.
"What's that?"
"The Sea Cliff House. It is the Cliff House rebuilt and enlarged. We have fifty rooms now, besides new parlors and a new dining-room. The house has been furnished new, and my father means to keep a first-class hotel. He has raised the price to three dollars a day, so that he can afford to do so. We have some rooms built on purpose for you, sir."[Pg 211]
"Indeed! But your father always kept a good house, though it was not big enough."
"You won't find any better hotel in Rockland or Belfast than the Sea Cliff House, Mr. Hamilton," said Leopold, confidently.
"Then let us go there by all means," added the owner of the Orion. "Can you take the yacht into the harbor, Leopold?"
"I can sir."
"Are you sure?"
"Certainly I am."
"We don't want to be thrown on the rocks."
"I can go into the river with my eyes shut, any time, sir."
"Very well. Captain Bounce, here is your pilot."
"All right Mr. Hamilton. All his orders shall be obeyed," replied the sailing-master.
"Hoist the jib, then, if you please, and head her to the north-east," added Leopold.
"To the north-east!" exclaimed Captain Bounce. "You said the ledges were in that direction."
"I know they are; but I can tell just where to find them."[Pg 212]
"We are not anxious to find them," added the sailing-master.
"I am, for I take my bearings from them. Trust me as your best friend, Captain Bounce, and you shall throw over your mud-hook, in just an hour from now, in the river, off Rockhaven."
"All right; the owner says you are the pilot, and I haven't a word to say," replied the captain. "Forward there! Hoist the jib! At the helm!"
"Helm, sir!" replied the quarter-master.
"Keep her north-east."
"North-east, sir."
Leopold turned at that moment, and discovered a bundle of shawls and water-proofs emerging from the companion-way.
"Leopold Bennington! I'm glad to see you!" exclaimed the bundle, in a voice which the young pilot promptly identified as that of Miss Rosabel Hamilton.
"Thank you, Miss Hamilton. I'm happy to see you again," stammered Leopold, rushing up to the bundle, in which he could hardly make out the beautiful face and form of Rosabel.[Pg 213]
"You have come to get us out of an awful bad scrape. We have no fire in the cabin, and are wet through, and nearly frozen. I'm so glad we met you!"
"I'm glad to meet you too," said Leopold. "I'm sure I didn't expect to see you out in this fog. But I'm the pilot of this yacht now and if you will excuse me, I will go forward, and attend to my duty."
"Certainly. Don't let me keep you," answered Rosabel, in those sweet, silvery tones which made Leopold's heart jump. "I shall be so glad when we can see a good, warm fire!"
The young pilot did not like to leave her; but he felt the responsibility of the position he had assumed, and he hastened forward. The Orion was moving along through the water at the rate of about four knots an hour. Leopold walked out on the bowsprit as far as the jibstay, and there seated himself. Rosabel, apparently deeply interested in his movements, followed him as far as the forecastle.
"What are you going to do out there, Leopold?" she asked.
"I'm going to keep a lookout for the ledges,[Pg 214] which are ahead of us; and as I have to use my ears, I must ask you not to speak to me any more. Excuse me, but I might not hear the breakers soon enough, if I were talking," added the pilot.
Rosabel excused him, and returned to the cabin, for the cold fog made her shiver, even within her bundle of clothing. Leopold listened with all his might, and in less than half an hour he heard the surges on the ledges, faintly, at first, in the distance.
"Breakers ahead!" shouted Captain Bounce.
"I know it; trust your best friend and don't be alarmed," replied Leopold. "There is water enough here to float a seventy-four."
He allowed the Orion to proceed on her course, till he could hear very distinctly the breakers on the ledges, and was sure they were the High Rock ledges.
"Starboard the helm, and start your sheets," shouted the pilot.
"High time, I should say," growled Captain Bounce, as he gave the necessary orders, and the Orion fell off to her new course.
"Keep her north-west," added Leopold, as he just saw the ledges whitened with sea foam.[Pg 215]
He still retained his position on the bowsprit, with his attention fixed upon some point on the weather-bow.
"That's it! Dip point!" said he, as he listened to the breakers. "Keep her nor'-nor'-west!"
Ten minutes later, he ordered the fog-horn to be blown, and a reply came off from the light-house on the point, at the mouth of the river. When the Orion was clear of the point, he directed the yacht to be close-hauled on the starboard tack, in order to beat into the river. The first reach brought her to the high cliff near the hotel, and after a "short leg," he fetched the anchorage off the wharf.
"Let go your jib-halyards!" shouted Leopold. "Hard down the helm! Let go the anchor!"
The Orion swung round to her cable, and the pilot went aft.
[Pg 216]
CHAPTER XII. AN EXTENSIVE ARRIVAL.During the run of the Orion, from the time that Leopold assumed the charge of her till the anchor buried itself in the mud of the river, the owner and the passengers remained in the cabin. They were all city people, and to them the fog was even more disagreeable than a heavy rain. It was cold and penetrating, and the pleasure-seekers found it impossible to remain on deck. They were actually shivering with cold, and perhaps for the first time in their lives realized what a blessing the sunshine is. But Captain Bounce was on deck, and, standing on the forecastle, he nervously watched the progress of the yacht. Doubtless he felt belittled at finding himself placed under the orders of a mere boy, even though the pilot was as polite as a French dancing-master.
Captain Bounce cannot see the Town. Page 218.
[Pg 217]When the Orion changed her course off the ledges, he caught a glimpse of the dangerous rocks, upon which he had heard the beating surf for a moment before. From that time he did not see anything which looked like a rock or a cliff. Even when the yacht swung around to her anchor, the shore could not be seen from her deck, so dense was the fog.
Captain Bounce had not much confidence in the skill of his pilot. He had not seen the rocks and cliffs which line the coast, and had no idea of the perils which had surrounded him. Whenever Leopold ordered a change in the course, he could just hear the murmuring sea breaking on the shore; but the old sea-dog expected the vessel would be thrown upon the rocks every moment. He was prepared to act upon an emergency of this kind, and had actually arranged in his own mind his plan of procedure, when the order to let go the jib-halyard indicated that the pilot intended to anchor.
Captain Bounce looked about him, but he could see nothing which looked like a town, a port, or a harbor. He was so obstinate in his[Pg 218] incredulity, that he was inclined to believe the young man in charge had given up the attempt to find Rockhaven as a bad job, and intended to anchor under the lee of some island. He obeyed the orders given him by the pilot, however. The chain cable ran out, and when its music had ceased, one of the church clocks in Rockhaven struck ten. Captain Bounce heard it distinctly, and of course the sound from a point high above him in the air overwhelmed him with positive proof that the young pilot knew what he was about.
"Ten o'clock!" shouted Leopold, walking up to the captain of the yacht. "We have been just five minutes short of an hour in coming up."
Leopold looked at his silver watch, which was the gift of Herr Schlager, and rather enjoyed the perplexity of the sailing-master.
"I don't see any town," said Captain Bounce, going to the rail, and gazing into the fog, in the direction from which the sounds of the church clock had come.
"You heard the clock on the Methodist church strike—didn't you?"[Pg 219]
"I heard that."
"Well, sir, we are in the river; and it is a crooked river, too. You can't take a boat and pull in a straight line in any direction without running on the rocks," added Leopold.
"I'm glad we are in a safe harbor," continued the old sea-dog, but in a tone which seemed to belie his words, for he was not quite willing to believe that the boy had piloted the vessel four or five miles, without even seeing the shore a single time.
"When did you leave New York, Captain Bounce?" asked Leopold.
"Three days ago. We had a fine run till we went into the fog yesterday morning. The wind was contrary, and in beating my way up I lost my reckoning. I have been dodging the breakers for twenty-four hours. I was afraid of a north-easterly storm; and if I had had no women on board, I should have come about, and run out to sea. As it was, I had to feel my way along."
"You are all right now," added Leopold, as he saw the owner and passengers coming up the companion-way.[Pg 220]
"You have brought us in—have you, Leopold?" said Mr. Hamilton.
"Yes, sir. You are in the river, off Rockhaven, though you can't see anything," replied the young pilot.
"You have done well; and you are fully entitled to your pilotage," added the ex-member of Congress.
"I don't pretend to be a pilot for pay," protested Leopold.
"You have brought the yacht into port, and here is your fee," said Mr. Hamilton, putting some bank bills into his hand.
"No, sir!" exclaimed Leopold; "I don't want any money for what I have done. I am not entitled to any pilot's fees."
"Yes you are, just as much entitled to them as though you had a warrant or a branch. Now go to your hotel, and have everything ready for us as quick as you can. We are wet and cold, and we want good fires," continued Mr. Hamilton.
"But this money—"
"Don't stop another moment, my boy," interrupted the rich merchant. "If your father's[Pg 221] hotel is as good as you say it is, we may stay there a week."
Under this imperative order, Leopold thrust the bills into his pocket, and leaped into the Rosabel. He had anchored the Orion off the wharf, in the deep water in the middle of the river, so that her boats could conveniently reach the landing-steps near the fish market. Hoisting his mainsail and jib, he stood down the river.
"Come and help us get on shore!" shouted Mr. Hamilton, as the Rosabel was disappearing in the fog. "We can't find the wharf."
"Ay, ay, sir," replied Leopold.
In
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