diff options
| -rw-r--r-- | .gitattributes | 4 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | LICENSE.txt | 11 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | README.md | 2 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/50794-0.txt | 5215 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/50794-0.zip | bin | 93638 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/50794-h.zip | bin | 829041 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/50794-h/50794-h.htm | 5563 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/50794-h/images/colophon.jpg | bin | 6617 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/50794-h/images/cover.jpg | bin | 99745 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/50794-h/images/frontis.jpg | bin | 82803 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/50794-h/images/p1.jpg | bin | 80918 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/50794-h/images/p109.png | bin | 53749 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/50794-h/images/p135.jpg | bin | 83389 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/50794-h/images/p141.jpg | bin | 50977 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/50794-h/images/p15.jpg | bin | 76104 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/50794-h/images/p53.jpg | bin | 96295 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/50794-h/images/p61.jpg | bin | 78782 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/50794-h/images/title.jpg | bin | 33873 -> 0 bytes |
18 files changed, 17 insertions, 10778 deletions
diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..35ad86a --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #50794 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/50794) diff --git a/old/50794-0.txt b/old/50794-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index b79908c..0000000 --- a/old/50794-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,5215 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Haunted Ship, by Kate Tucker - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: The Haunted Ship - -Author: Kate Tucker - -Illustrator: Ethel Taylor - -Release Date: December 30, 2015 [EBook #50794] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HAUNTED SHIP *** - - - - -Produced by Stephen Hutcheson, Dave Morgan, Rod Crawford -and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at -http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - - - - -THE HAUNTED SHIP - - - THE MACMILLAN COMPANY - NEW YORK · BOSTON · CHICAGO · DALLAS - ATLANTA · SAN FRANCISCO - - MACMILLAN & CO., LIMITED - LONDON · BOMBAY · CALCUTTA - MELBOURNE - - THE MACMILLAN COMPANY - OF CANADA, LIMITED - TORONTO - - - - -[Illustration: _Ann could feel the dory rise and plunge._] - - - - -THE HAUNTED SHIP - - by - KATE TUCKER - - _Illustrated by_-- - ETHEL TAYLOR - - NEW YORK - THE MACMILLAN COMPANY - 1929 - - - - - COPYRIGHT, 1929, - BY THE MACMILLAN COMPANY. - - Set up and electrotyped. - Published March, 1929. - - All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction - in whole or in part in any form. - - - SET UP BY BROWN BROTHERS LINOTYPERS - PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA - BY THE FERRIS PRINTING COMPANY - - - - -CONTENTS - - -CHAPTER PAGE - - I. JO BAILEY AND THREE SEYMOURS 1 - - II. THE WRECKED SCHOONER 15 - - III. HOW THE BOAT CAME ASHORE 29 - - IV. IN THE GOOD GREENWOOD 43 - - V. ON THE WRECK 66 - - VI. GOING LOBSTERING 81 - - VII. PAINTING THE DEER 100 - - VIII. A MAN WITH A LANTERN 109 - - IX. A DAY OF MYSTERIES 124 - - X. THE FIRE IN THE WOODS 141 - - XI. THROUGH THE PORTHOLE 150 - - XII. THE FIGUREHEAD’S SECRET 159 - - XIII. A REASON FOR EVERYTHING 171 - - - - -ILLUSTRATIONS - - - Ann could feel the dory rise and plunge _Frontispiece_ - - PAGE - - In the lookout tree they mounted guard in turn 53 - - With one beautiful jump he vanished 61 - - The harness showered down in dozens of little - straps 135 - - - - -THE HAUNTED SHIP - - - - -[Illustration] - -THE HAUNTED SHIP - -CHAPTER I - -_JO BAILEY AND THREE SEYMOURS_ - - -“Hey, Jerry, get along there, you fool horse!” - -Jo Bailey flipped the reins over the back of the lumbering nag. Not -that there was any hurry, but he was so eager to see what the Seymours -would be like. They were coming from Boston to spend the summer at the -Bailey house and Jo was on his way down to the station at Pine Ledge to -meet their train. - -The past winter had been a lonely one for Jo and his father, who lived -up on a hill by the sea, far from the village. Some of the time the -snowdrifts had been seven feet deep, but Jo didn’t expect these city -people to understand what that meant; they could not realize what the -Maine people called “a shut-in winter.” The Seymours were coming after -the grass had grown green and the fields sprouted up through the brown -moist earth, and they would be going home before the cold winds came -down from the north woods, the cold that closed so surely and fiercely -about the Baileys in their white house on the hill above the sea and -shut them in so tightly that they could see nothing but the sea and the -great stretches of snow for a long four months at a time. - -Spring changed the whole world for Jo Bailey, and spring was here now; -winter had gone. The soft dirt road sucked up under Jerry’s clumping -feet and brooks ran in merry freshets through their deep gutters on -either side of the road. So Jo swung the old plow horse into place -beside the little station platform and whistled while he waited. The -year’s fun would begin to-day. In the early spring he had helped his -father plant, but that work was done and so was school, and he had long -and pleasant days before him, when his chores could be finished before -breakfast. - -Jo never had seen the Seymour family and to-day he was going to find -out what they were like. There were three of them coming with their -father and mother and if they were as nice as their father they’d be -all right. Mr. Seymour was a painter who had discovered the Bailey -house last year while he was wandering along the Maine coast on -a sketching trip. He had said that the Bailey farm was the most -beautiful place he ever had seen. - -Of course Jo liked hearing that, and he felt proud at knowing that an -artist from Boston found the old farm so lovely, though exactly what -the painter saw in the big ocean pounding against the foot of the -tall broken cliff, the stretch of smooth meadow running down over the -slope of the hill, and the dense pine woods reaching back for miles -and miles, Jo couldn’t understand any better than the Seymours could -comprehend his winter. - -The Seymours were about his own age, Jo was thinking as he sat on a box -on the station platform, whistling and waiting. The oldest was a girl, -Ann, Mr. Seymour had told him last summer, and Jo was skeptical as to -what he might expect from her. A little bit of a fraidcat, probably, -always dressing up and particular about her clothes; but he could bear -it, if only the boy was spry. “Spry” was a word that meant a great deal -in Maine; in Jo’s opinion if a boy was “spry” he was all that a boy -should be. - -While Jo waited at the station, Ann Seymour was sitting impatiently -in the train, looking forward to just such a place as Jo’s meadow to -stretch her long legs in a good run. School and basket ball were very -well in winter but she had grown as tired as Jo of the cold, and as -soon as April weather brought out the buds on Boston Common, Ann grew -restless and began to talk about Maine. - -Ann was fourteen, just like Jo Bailey; her brother Ben was twelve, and -Helen was ten. She was decidedly the baby of the family and one of the -reasons for their all coming to Pine Ledge so early in the season. -She had been dreadfully ill during the past year and Mr. Seymour had -thought of Pine Ledge farm as the best place for Helen when they first -talked about a summer vacation. So the plans were made and he had told -the children about Jo--how he had no mother, and, because of this, they -must share their own mother with him; how he lived bravely in the snow -all winter and walked through the drifts to school; and how he knew all -about the woods and the rocks and tides and went fishing, up-river and -out to sea. He made Jo sound interesting, and the Seymours were waiting -to see him quite as impatiently as he was waiting for them. - -“Will there be Indians at Pine Ledge?” Helen’s round blue eyes were -like saucers as she peered out of the car window into the woods and -fields through which the train was sliding so rapidly. “Will there be -real live Indians with feathers and paint on them?” - -“Don’t be such a silly,” said Ben. He secretly hoped there were Indians -but he wouldn’t have admitted it to any one. “Indians moved away from -this country years ago, years and years ago, all except a few tame -Indians. But perhaps there are bears out in those woods. Bears live -where green bushes grow so thick. They hide in the bushes and jump out -when you’re not looking.” - -He was delighted to see Helen shiver in frightened excitement. It made -him feel rather trembly, too, to think of bears as big as men that -jumped out and growled. - -“Have they big teeth?” asked Helen, as she pressed her small nose -against the window glass, looking hard for a glimpse of a bear. - -“I guess they have teeth! And round ears and claws and fur.” - -“Oh-h-h! I don’t want to met any bears.” Helen’s nose was pressed into -a flat white spot in her desire to look deeper into the woods. - -“Jo Bailey won’t let them touch you, will he, father?” said Ann -reassuringly. - -She turned to her father, who sat absorbed in watching the country -flowing past his window. She knew how he loved the green fields and the -woods, all the lovely shapes of things and the way they were placed on -the green earth, for he painted them on wide, long canvases. Sometimes -the things he painted didn’t look as Ann thought they ought to, but she -always found him ready to explain why he made them so different from -the way they had appeared to her eyes. People who knew about painting -said that his work had unusually fine quality and Ann believed that -soon he would be very famous and then there would be a great deal more -money to spend than they had now. She would be able to go west and -start a ranch with hundreds of horses and cowboys riding them. That was -the dream of her life. - -Ben didn’t care much about having more money. He was satisfied to sit -and watch his father at work. Often Mr. Seymour gave him an old piece -of stretched canvas to paint on while he sat so quietly there beside -him. Ben liked to splash in the paint and try to do something himself. - -In spite of being a boy he was not nearly as strong as Ann, although -he was only two years younger. She could tumble him over easily, but -she was unusually strong for her age. It was hard for Ann to remember -always not to be too rough with Ben and Helen. She was not quite aware -of how she was looking forward to being with Jo Bailey, for her father -had said, “Jo’s as sturdy as they make ’em.” Jo, Ann knew, would be -able to do everything she could and then do more. And Jo would tell -them about bears and Indians, for though, like Ben, she knew perfectly -well that no Indians or bears would be in the Pine Ledge woods, she -liked to imagine that there might be some. - -“Dad,” she said to Mr. Seymour, and he turned his keen smiling eyes -toward her. “Jo will know whether bears come into his woods, won’t he? -Tell Helen that Jo will take care of her.” - -“I shouldn’t wonder,” answered Mr. Seymour, “but he will speak for -himself in about one minute from now, for here we are.” - -What a scurrying for coats and bags as the train pulled up before the -square wooden box that was Pine Ledge station! They all climbed down -the high steps to the platform, Helen without hat or coat because, as -usual, she had been too excited to get them on until the last moment -had come. - -So this was Jo, waiting for them beside a fat old plow horse and a -roomy brown wagon that Ann learned to call the buckboard. Jo was much -bigger than Ann had thought he would be, and freckles were spattered -on his tanned face. He wore a very faded pair of clean overalls and -the collar of his blue shirt stood out like a second pair of ears. He -grinned a wide shy grin and his heavy boots scraped awkwardly on the -platform as he walked across to meet them. - -Helen couldn’t wait. She ran across to him before the others were -fairly out of the train. “Where are the Indians and the bears? Please -show them to me right away.” - -“Bears?” answered Jo, laughing in spite of his bashfulness. “Bears-- -Well, I guess I can find you places where they have been, later in the -summer, around the berry patches, but they don’t linger here in the -springtime. And the Injuns were scared away years ago. People ain’t -scalped up here any more.” - -All the Seymours were around him by this time. “We shall have to do -without the Indians,” said Mrs. Seymour gayly. “Really, I prefer not to -be scalped.” - -Jo laughed again as he went to help with the baggage; a feeling -of satisfaction and contentment filled him. These new people were -friendly. He was going to like them. - -“I’ll take those, Mr. Seymour.” And over Jo’s square shoulders went the -strapped shawls, the extra coats, and with three valises in each hand -the boy strode down to the buckboard. - -Ben’s mouth dropped open in astonishment as he watched. - -“Isn’t that too heavy a load?” Mr. Seymour protested; but Jo called -back, “Not a mite heavier than milk pails.” - -“How strong you are!” exclaimed Ann. - -After Mr. Seymour had gathered up his share of the remaining luggage -two bags remained. Ben looked at them. He had not supposed that he -could lift them from the platform but he had watched Jo with admiring -eyes, and now when Ann stooped for the bags he suddenly brushed her -aside and grabbed the two valises. - -“I’ll do that,” he said, and he struggled after his father and Jo, the -two bags trailing from his lean frail arms. - -Jo piled baggage and Seymours into the two-seated wagon, although how -he managed to stow them all away Ann couldn’t imagine until she saw him -do it. The buckboard seemed elastic, and Jerry, the big lumbering old -horse, traveled along as though he had no load at all. - -“Want to sit on the little front seat with me?” Jo asked Ann. Jo had -decided at first glance that he liked this thin tall ruddy girl with -her bobbed hair. She didn’t seem like the girls he had known; she was -more like a boy with her frank smile and clear eyes. No frills or -fancies about her, no sly nudgings or giggles that might mean anything, -no holding hands. No pretending not to understand his own sensible -frankness, no trying to make him remember that she was a girl. She sat -beside him as he drove, her bright eyes darting this way and that, -letting nothing escape her sight, excitedly seeking out the things that -Jo had known every day of his life. Jo knew that if he had gone to -Boston he would have felt the same way about things that were different -from those at home. - -Funny thing--he had expected to like the boy best, but even this early -Jo saw that he was going to have the most fun with the girl whom he had -dreaded meeting. - -They seemed to enjoy their drive so much that Jo took them the long way -around, through the village. There the houses were grouped together, -crouching down like a flock of little chickens about the tall church -that looked like a guardian white hen. All around the outskirts green -hillocks rose, framing the village into a cuddling nest. This was -planned, Jo explained, to protect the houses in winter, when the gales -brought the snow out of the north and buried the roads beyond the -pine-covered mounds. - -“The wind blows like all get out,” he chattered. “And the folks are -glad to be together so that they can reach the store and the church, -and the children can go to school. The wind blows so hard that it -passes right over the top of this valley, playing leapfrog over the -hills.” - -“Where do you go to school?” Mrs. Seymour asked from the back seat. - -Jo turned to answer her. “I come down here.” - -“You mean you come down here to live in winter?” - -“No, we don’t want to leave the homestead. Jerry brings me in good -weather, and when he can’t get through I go on snowshoes to the nearest -neighbors and the school dray picks me up there.” - -“You walk? All that distance?” Even Mr. Seymour was astonished. - -“It ain’t so far. Only four or five miles.” - -Ann was tremendously impressed. “You come all that distance every day?” - -“Lots of the fellows do it, and the girls, too. Everybody goes to -school even if they do live out on a farm.” Jo was very matter-of-fact -about it. He never had thought of pitying himself, nor thought of -admiring himself, either. - -Ann liked the way the small white houses nestled together with the -church steeple standing over them. The steeple reminded her of a -lighthouse piercing up into the blue sky. Above it the scudding bits -of cloud were flying by like little sailboats she had once seen racing -across Boston Bay. - -After they had passed through the village Jo turned into a winding -road which grew wilder and more unkempt as Jerry plodded along. Puffs -of dust rose behind the wheels and the hot sun on the pines made the -air heavy with fragrance. Finally the road plunged down into a ravine -where the air was cool and the sound of running water could be heard. -The pines met overhead and made a soft rustling noise more quiet than -silence. - -“The river runs under the road here,” explained Jo. “Then it goes down -into the sea. The sea is just beyond those trees,” and he pointed -through the pines with his whipstock. - -From the ravine once again they climbed into the sunlight, mounting -up over cliffs and rocks, until the sea suddenly spread out endlessly -before them. From here they could look back and see the mouth of the -river as it foamed out of the pines into the broader expanse of water. -Gray shingled huts were clustered on the banks just out of reach of the -swishing rush of tide, and bent figures of men, tiny, and yellow in -their oilskins, could be seen moving in and out of the boats drawn on -the shore. - -“Lobstermen,” said Jo before Ann had a chance to ask him. “They bring -their boats in there. We have our boat down in the cove, my father and -I. Do you know anything about lobstering?” And he turned to her with -his eyes twinkling. Well enough he knew she did not. - -Ann laughed aloud with him. “I’ve seen them in the fish market. And -I’ve eaten them. But I don’t know a thing about catching them.” She -looked at him inquiringly. “Is it fun?” - -“I’ll take you out with me sometime, if you will promise not to be -seasick.” - -“I can’t promise that, because I don’t know and of course I couldn’t -help it if I had to be seasick, but I shouldn’t care--I can be sure of -that!” - -“Take me, too,” Helen demanded from the rear seat. - -“All right.” Jo nodded and turned to Ben. “And you, if you would like -to come.” - -“I’ll come if I can help row.” Ben was still feeling strong after his -battle with the bags. He wanted to do everything that Jo did. - -Jo understood. “You could, but we don’t have to row any more. The boat -has a motor. But you can help to pull the lobster pots up; that’s hard -work and Miss Ann wouldn’t like to get herself all over wet.” - -“Don’t call me Miss Ann,” the girl cried impatiently. “It makes me feel -grown up and I hate it! I’m Ann. My gracious, I’ve done nothing but -talk of you as Jo ever since my father planned to come up here this -summer. I feel as if I’d known you for years.” - -“All right,” said Jo. Secretly he was delighted, but he did not quite -know how to show it and was not quite sure that he cared to let them -see. “You will get all messed up with the bait and the water, but -perhaps you won’t mind. There’s the house just yonder,” and he pointed -around the bend of the road. - -“Where?” they all shouted. And there it was, outlined against the dark -of the forest behind it. It was a small one-storied frame house like -those in the village, with the roof at the back sloping almost down -to the ground, a white hen with her wings outstretched to cover these -children from the city. - -The house stood at the extreme edge of a broad meadow that ran from the -woods to the high bluff at the foot of which lay a rocky beach; black -woods behind and then the smooth stretch of pasture and beyond it the -ocean. - -The sun had already set, leaving an afterglow that was dimming rapidly, -and the Seymours suddenly felt tired and glad that they were to reach -shelter before dark. The air grew colder with the setting of the sun -and the glimmer of a lamp in the window was welcome. - -Even Jo seemed anxious to get home and he urged Jerry into a trot. “Hey -up, Jerry,” he chirped, and slapped the reins over the smooth round -back. Jerry pricked up his ears and blew his breath quickly through his -nostrils. He obeyed as if he had meant to hurry without being told. - -Everything grew tense in the peaceful twilight, as if a storm were -creeping across the smooth sea to burst in fury against the cliff. Ann -glanced at Jo’s face and found that his chin was set tightly and his -eyes looked straight ahead. He didn’t look frightened, but Ann knew -that he had no wish to be caught on this particular bit of road after -the night had fallen. - -Up over the bluff the wagon rattled, Jerry’s feet making a clump-clump -in the stillness. Across and down the slight hill they went. - - - - -[Illustration] - -CHAPTER II - -_THE WRECKED SCHOONER_ - - -The great boat lay almost against the road. As the buckboard sped by -she loomed above it in the gathering dusk, menacing and mountainous. -Her broken bowsprit swung over the wagon and creaked in the breeze -that had just sprung up. Directly below the bowsprit was a carved -figurehead, larger than life and clearly outlined against the dull gray -of the ship. Sea and rain had washed away the figure’s paint and worn -the wood bone-white. It represented a demon nailed to the battered -prow, its wide ugly grin and blank eyes peering almost into Ann’s face -as the buckboard passed beneath. Ann was on the side of the wagon which -was closer and could have touched the face if she had reached out her -hand to do so. Helen gave a little shriek of fright at sight of the -thing and Ann felt the cry echoing in her brain as if she had been the -one who called out. - -Instinctively she dodged back against Jo, and felt that his muscles -were tense against the tightened reins in his hands. - -Jerry needed no urging; with his back flattened down he ran, swinging -his heavy feet swiftly as he mounted the hill toward the house. Ann -glanced up from the strong brown hands holding the reins and saw that -Jo was staring straight ahead as though he had not looked at the -figurehead as he went by and was determined not to turn and look back -at it afterward. - -They were past, but as they went up the hill the evening wind suddenly -grew stronger and sighed through the weatherworn boards that covered -the schooner’s hull, and the rattling of their loose ends was like the -sound of clapping hands. - -What was this old boat, and why did it impress them so? And yet Ann did -not feel like asking Jo about it. She wished that her father would say -something to quiet this fear that had come over her so suddenly. She -never before had felt anything like this strange impression that the -schooner was more than just a plain ordinary boat cast up on a narrow -strip of beach. - -As though Mr. Seymour had read her mind he asked Jo, “Where did that -schooner come from? She wasn’t here last summer when I was down.” - -“No, sir.” Jo had trouble in making his stiff lips move. “She came in -on a blizzard the winter past and stove up on the pond rocks.” - -“Whose boat was she? What is her name?” - -“She had no cargo on board,” said Jo slowly, as if he did not wish to -say anything about it. “She had no log either. And the waves were so -heavy that her name plate was gone and never came ashore.” - -“But wasn’t there somebody on board to tell you who she was?” - -“A man had no chance to live in the sea the day she came in,” explained -Jo. “Four of the crew were washed ashore the next day, but they carried -no papers and nobody claimed them. None of the folks wanted to bury -them down in the village churchyard so pop and I put them up back of -the barn where grandpop lies. It didn’t seem right not to give them a -bit of ground to lie in, even though we didn’t know what brought them -in here.” - -Mrs. Seymour exclaimed indignantly, “I never heard of anything so -inhuman! Do you really mean that the people in the village refused to -bury those poor shipwrecked sailors in the cemetery? Jo! Not here in a -civilized land?” - -“You couldn’t blame the folks,” apologized Jo. - -But evidently Mrs. Seymour was quite positive that she could, and Ann -agreed with her most thoroughly. - -Jerry had stopped running. He was going uphill and besides they were -almost home now, but Jo had time to say, “Nobody ever claimed the boat. -I guess nobody owns her. And not even the sea wants her you can make -that out by the way it threw her away up here by the road, just as if -it wanted to be free of her. Only the flood tides reach her now.” - -They had reached the house as Jo talked, and he jumped down from his -seat with his face still grim and set. And then everything changed, -for the house door was flung open with a flood of lamplight over the -doorstep and there stood Fred Bailey, Jo’s father. - -“Come right in,” he called, striding to meet them. “Don’t mind that -stuff, Mr. Seymour. We’ll take it in for you.” - -Ann liked Fred Bailey almost as much as she had liked Jo. As soon as -she saw him standing there, tall and thin and gangling in his rough -clothes, a fisherman and a farmer, all thoughts of the strange wrecked -ship were forgotten. Here was some one who made her feel at home, some -one who was strong and trustworthy and honest as the good brown earth -and the mighty cliffs. - -Mr. Seymour had rented the Bailey house and Jo and his father had moved -into the barn for the summer. So presently, when the baggage had been -brought in and when Mr. Bailey had shown Mrs. Seymour where things were -in the pantry and the kitchen and the woodshed and where the linen and -blankets were kept, he and Jo went off to their summer quarters leaving -the Seymours alone. - -Provisions had been sent from the village store and Ann and her mother -found the shelves well stocked with all kinds of food, with big barrels -of sugar, flour, and potatoes stored under the shelf in the pantry. -After they had studied the workings of the kerosene stove they cooked -the first meal over it, and Ann loved just such an opportunity to show -how much she knew about cooking. Ben was ready to admit that she could -boil potatoes expertly when she didn’t forget and let the water boil -away. As there was plenty of water this time, and as Mrs. Seymour knew -how to cook the steak deliciously in a hot pan, and as Fred Bailey had -left them a batch of soft yellow biscuits, the hungry travelers were -very well off indeed this evening. - -Mr. Seymour was already gloating over the work he meant to do this -summer. “That boat is a find I didn’t expect. I’ll start sketching her -the first thing in the morning. Just think of having a cottage with a -wrecked schooner right in the front yard.” - -“I don’t like that boat,” said Helen. Her lips twisted as though she -were going to cry. “It has such big round eyes that stare at you.” - -Her mother laughed. “You must have been sleepy when you passed the -boat. That was only the figure of a man cut out of wood. The eyes -didn’t belong to anybody who is actually alive.” - -“I don’t know about that, mother,” Ben said soberly. “I saw the eyes, -too, and I was wide-awake, for I pinched myself to make sure. Those -eyes made little holes right through me when they looked down at me. -They were looking at me, really, and not at Helen.” - -“They were looking at me!” Helen insisted. “And I don’t like that ship! -I want to go home to Boston.” - -Mr. Seymour looked at her in astonishment. “Come, come, my dear child, -you mustn’t let a thing like that frighten you. It is strange and -grotesque but that only makes it more interesting. I’ll tell you about -figureheads. The sailors think of the ship’s figurehead as a sort of -guardian spirit that watches over the boat and protects it during -storms. Even if it were alive it wouldn’t hurt you because it was -created only to protect. But it isn’t alive, Helen, it is made out of -wood. I’ll go with all of you to-morrow and let you touch it and then -you will never be afraid of it again.” - -“Do they always put figureheads on big boats, father?” asked Ann. She -would not have been willing to admit that she, too, had those eyes upon -her and had thought they seemed very much alive. - -“No, not always,” Mr. Seymour explained. “Sometimes the portion over -the cutwater of a ship is finished off with scrollwork, gilded and -painted. Modern steamers don’t have them now, very often, but the -deep-sea men who are on a sailing vessel months at a time like to feel -that they have a figurehead to watch and care for them while they are -asleep. The owners decide what it will be, and give directions to the -builders. That is, if they name a boat after a man they will carve -a statue of him for the bow, or else they will choose a saint or an -old-time god, like Neptune, who was once supposed to rule over the -sea. Sometimes they will have a mermaid, because mermaids are gay and -dancing and will make the ship travel more swiftly; no sea could drown -a mermaid. When a sailing ship makes a safe passage through storm and -peril and brings the sailors home happy and well, they are very likely -to believe that the figurehead has had as much to do with it as the -captain with his real knowledge of navigation and charts.” - -“It is a mascot, then?” said Ben. - -“Yes, a sort of mascot,” his father assented. “And some of the old -figureheads are beautifully made, real works of art. When he retired, -many a sea captain took the figurehead from his ship and nailed it over -the door of his home, for he felt a real affection for it. Perhaps he -thought that since Neptune had taken such good care of the ship at sea -he was entitled to the same enjoyment and rest ashore that the captain -had earned.” - -Mr. Seymour seemed to feel that everything was clear now, but Ann was -not satisfied. - -“This ship did not get home safely,” she said in a half whisper. - -“No, it didn’t,” her father assented. He was perfectly frank in -admitting that even the best of figureheads failed when storms were too -heavy or when sailors made mistakes in calculating the force of wind -and currents. “But that would not be the fault of the figurehead. I am -sure we shall learn that the captain lost track of where he was and -came in too close to shore.” - -Ann’s doubts showed in her face. “But the crew and cargo have -disappeared.” - -“You mustn’t be superstitious, Ann. There is always a logical -explanation for everything that seems strange and unnatural. There -must be a good reason why that boat had no cargo and probably we shall -learn all about her this summer before we go back to Boston. Some of -the people about here may know more than they care to admit and have -purposely kept it secret from Jo and Mr. Bailey.” - -“Wouldn’t it be fun if we could find out all about her!” Her father’s -calm confidence had reassured Ann; her father must be right and she -didn’t want to be silly and timid. Never before had she felt the least -bit afraid of anything. - -Ben had been thinking. “Just exactly what does it mean to be -superstitious, dad?” he asked. - -“If you try to make yourself believe that the wooden figure out there -is alive, or if you are willing to accept any one else’s belief in such -nonsense, you will be superstitious and not intelligent. For instance, -you may think you see something, or hear something, and not be able to -explain what it is immediately. If instead of working to learn a true -explanation you remember the incident as it first impressed you----” - -“Like thinking a mouse at night is a burglar,” Ann interrupted. - -“That is it exactly,” said Mr. Seymour. “Take that figurehead of a -demon on the boat; we passed by it just at twilight when it couldn’t be -seen as plainly as in full sunlight, and because the face was leaning -toward us, with shadows moving over it, it gave you the impression that -the thing was alive and watching you. To-morrow when the sun comes out -you will go back to look at it and see that it is only a wooden statue, -while if we should go home to-night, as Helen wishes, you children -would remember it all your lives as something evil. And in that case -you would be permitting yourselves to grow superstitious instead of -taking this as an opportunity for the exercise of honest thinking and -intelligent observation.” - -“Is Jo superstitious?” asked Ben abruptly. - -“Jo is too sensible to be superstitious,” answered his father. - -“But Jo is afraid of that boat! I saw his face when we went past. And -even Jerry was afraid. He ran.” - -Mr. Seymour glanced quickly across the table to where his wife sat -between Ann and Helen. Ann saw the look that passed between him and -her mother and realized that they both were worried. They did not want -Helen and Ben to go on thinking about the boat, nor did they want the -children to know that they, too, had felt the strangeness of that gray -broken boat and that grinning face. - -Ann believed with her father that this was nothing more than an old -wooden sailing vessel thrown on the shore by a great storm. Where had -it come from, and for what port was it bound? Where were the families -who were waiting for their men to come home to them? Were there -children who thought that their father would come back in a few weeks, -now that good weather had made the seas safe? Were there mothers who -believed that their sailor sons would soon be home? How anxious they -must be, waiting all this time since last winter. Something ought to -be done about letting them know the truth. It was tragic, and it was -romantic, too. - -And if there was a mystery attached to the ship that mystery could be -explained by a detective or by any one else who had the courage and -determination to find out what was at the bottom of this strangeness. -Her father had said there was a reason for everything that was queer -and uncanny. If only she were brave enough to face that grinning -demon! Should she be sensible, or should she let herself be weak and -unintelligent? Intelligent, that was what father wanted them all to be, -it was his favorite expression, “Be intelligent.” - -The others began to chatter about other things while they were -finishing supper and washing the dishes afterward, but although -Ann took part in the work and the jokes and laughter and all the -anticipations of a great time to-morrow, she could think in the back of -her mind of nothing but the ship. If Jo would help them, she and Ben -would try to find out all about the wreck. It would be much more fun -than hunting imaginary Indians and bears in the woods. - -After supper had been cleared away and the sweet old kitchen put in -order, all the Seymours trooped through every room in the house, -patting the wide soft feather beds that stood so high from the floor -that a little flight of steps was needed to climb into them. - -“A tiny stepladder beside my bed!” exclaimed Helen. “What fun! I love -this house.” - -The unaccustomedness of the quaint old furniture, the wide floor boards -polished with age, the small-paned windows, the bulky mahogany chests -of drawers that smiled so kindly as they waited for the children’s -clothes to be unpacked, all these things crowded the ship out of -Helen’s mind. She went to bed perfectly happy. - -“Don’t you fall out,” called Ben from his room, “because if you should -you’d break your leg, probably, you’re so high.” - -“I couldn’t fall out,” Helen called back. “You wait until you try -your bed. It seemed high before I got in, but I sank away down and -down into a nest; I think I’ll pretend I am a baby swan to-night with -billows of my mother swan’s feathers all about me to keep me warm. I -never slept in such a funny bed, but I like it!” - -And then Helen’s voice trailed off into silence. - -In each room the Seymours found a lamp trimmed and filled ready for -use, with its glass chimney as spotlessly clear as the glass of a -lighthouse. - -“How kind the Baileys are!” exclaimed Mrs. Seymour gratefully. “I don’t -feel as if we were renting this house; Jo and his father seem like old -friends already.” - -This time it was Ann and her father who exchanged a quick glance, a -flash of understanding and satisfaction. Impulsively Ann threw her -arms around her mother’s neck and kissed her. Her mother should have a -chance to rest here, if Ann’s help could make it possible, dear mother -who still looked so pale and tired after the long weeks of nursing -Helen and bringing her back to health. - -“I knew that you’d like the Baileys,” said Mr. Seymour. - -“Jo is an unusually nice boy, isn’t he, father?” Ann had already grown -attached to him. - -“He certainly is,” Mr. Seymour agreed heartily. “And I know that you -will like him even better as you become better acquainted. His father -couldn’t get along without Jo. He does a man’s work on the farm and -helps bring in the lobsters every morning.” - -“I’m going to be just like him,” Ben called from his bed in the next -room. Jo’s sturdy strength and the simple unconscious way the boy used -it had fired Ben’s imagination. - -“Nothing could make me happier than to have you as well and strong as -he is, when we go away next fall,” answered Mr. Seymour. - -With supper and the lamplight and the homely charm of the old house, -the atmosphere of uncanny strangeness had vanished, but after Ann had -blown out her lamp, just before she was ready to climb the steps to her -bed, she went to the window and peered through the darkness toward the -wrecked ship. - -And as she looked a flickering light passed across the deck. - -She must be mistaken. It was a firefly. No, there it was again, as -though a man walked carrying a swinging lantern with its wick no bigger -than a candle flame. He passed the bow, and the glow swung across the -figure of the demon. - -Was it Jo or his father? That was Ann’s first thought, but she wanted -to make sure. From a second window in her room, across a corner, she -could see the windows of the barn which the Baileys had made into a -living room, and she leaned far out to see clearly. Jo was there. He -was talking to some one at the back of the room. - -If Jo and his father were talking together, who could be prowling -around the boat? She crossed the room to look again at the schooner. -And as she watched, the bright pin prick of light disappeared; the -lantern had been carried behind some opaque object that hid it. - -“What’s up, Ann?” Ben stirred restlessly in the adjoining room. “It -will be morning before you get to bed.” - -“Oh, I was looking out of the window. The stars are so bright in Maine!” - -“Ann! What do you think about that ship? I feel as if ghosts lived on -her.” - -Ann climbed her little flight of steps and slid down between upper -sheet and feathers. - -“Nonsense,” she called to Ben. “Ghosts don’t carry lanterns.” - -“What?” Ben’s voice sounded much more awake. “What did you say, Ann?” - -“I said I don’t believe in ghosts.” - -Ann slid farther into her feather nest and promptly went to sleep. - - - - -CHAPTER III - -_HOW THE BOAT CAME ASHORE_ - - -Vaguely Ann heard a bell ringing. She thought that she was lobstering -with Jo and that Jo was pulling up a bell in one of the heavy lobster -pots. They were bobbing about on waves as high as mountains. - -“It is seven o’clock! No farmer stays in bed late, you know.” - -It was Mrs. Seymour’s voice. - -How could her mother have come away out to sea? Ann sat up in bed, -not awake yet. And then she saw the sun pouring in through the open -windows. Her mother was standing in the hall between Ann’s room and -Ben’s, swinging an old ship’s bell that she must have found somewhere -in the house. - -“In one minute, mother!” - -How queer to wash in a huge bowl in her room instead of in a bathroom! -And how lovely to dry oneself while standing on a braided mat before -the washstand with the sun pouring down on one’s back and legs! -Bloomers and middy had miraculously appeared from her baggage; some -fairy had been at work while Ann was sleeping. - -The smell of breakfast tweaked her hungry nose and she scurried madly -with her dressing, for Ben and Helen would eat everything in sight if -they felt half as starved as she did. - -The kitchen seemed altogether different in the daytime. It had grown -smaller without the flickering shadows from the lamps. The ceiling was -low and Mr. Seymour bumped his head as he came through the doorway; he -would have to remember to stoop. - -The big kitchen stove hummed merrily with the sweet smell of wood smoke -seeping up through the lids, a delicate fragrant thread of gray that -curled and disappeared. Mrs. Seymour explained that Mr. Bailey built -the fire for her; he had come early to show her how to make it. Just as -she spoke he appeared in the doorway again with a foaming milk pail in -his hand. His face was unsmiling but his blue eyes were alight. - -“So much milk for us?” inquired Mrs. Seymour. - -“Drink it down, free as water,” he answered. “That’s what puts the -color in children’s cheeks. Get your milk pans ready.” - -“Hello,” said Ann. “Isn’t this a fine morning?” - -“Morning? Morning?” said Mr. Bailey. “This be the middle of the -forenoon.” - -Ann saw that his eyes were laughing at her although his face never -moved a muscle. “What time is morning up here?” she demanded. - -“Oh--about half past three, these days. That’s dawn.” - -“Do we have to get up at half past three?” cried Ben. - -“Well, you do if you want to keep up with Jo,” answered his father. - -“Where’s Jo now?” Ben asked, getting up from his chair. - -“He’s hoein’ corn,” said Mr. Bailey. “Got two rows done already. He’s -not one to lie in bed, not Jo.” - -“May I hoe with him? I’d like to, really.” - -Fred Bailey looked at Ben’s mother. She nodded permission and Ben was -off like a shot. - -“Won’t you sit down and have a cup of coffee with us,” asked Mrs. -Seymour, “to celebrate our first morning?” - -“I don’t know but what I might,” said Fred Bailey. “Only don’t leave -that pail o’ milk out there by the door for a minute.” And he picked it -up and handed it to Ann. “It’ll be tipped over the second you take your -eyes off it.” - -“Your barn cats come over this far for milk?” inquired Mr. Seymour -laughing. “They can smell a good thing from a long distance.” - -“It ain’t no cats that dump it out on me,” said Fred soberly. “And I -think that I’d better warn you, first thing. It’s the spirits, the -spirits from the ship. They pester me almost to death, dumping out the -milk from pails, and they tear up the packages left beside the door. -You don’t want to leave nothin’ about.” - -“You think that ship is haunted?” Mrs. Seymour poured out a big cup of -coffee. - -Helen had gone already and Ann hoped that neither of her parents would -notice that she had stayed. She made as little noise as possible with -the milk pans and then came and sat down quietly. She saw her mother’s -eye wander toward her but she smiled pleadingly, hoping that her mother -would know she could not be frightened by any story about ghosts. - -Fred was evidently glad to talk, once he had started on the subject. “I -shouldn’t wonder but what something was aboard that boat that shouldn’t -be there. I know this much--I’ve been bothered uncommon ever since she -came ashore, and not by human beings.” - -“How did she happen to be wrecked?” Mr. Seymour was as eager as Ann for -the story, now that he felt sure that a story existed. - -“She struck last winter in January,” began Fred, settling himself more -comfortably in his chair. “It was during the worst storm we’ve had in -these parts in the last hundred years.” - -“It must have been a howler,” commented Mr. Seymour. - -Mr. Bailey nodded soberly. “You’re right, I never saw nothin’ like it,” -he said. “The storm had been brewing for days and we could feel it -coming long before it struck us up here; there was warning enough in -the Boston paper. Then the sea grew flat and shining without a hint of -a whitecap on her. The wind was so strong it just pressed right down -and smothered the waves, and it blew straight off the land. It never -let up blowing off the land all through the storm, and that was one of -the queer things that happened. - -“We had three days o’ wind, and then the snow broke, all to once, as -though the sky opened and shook all its stuffing right out on us. -With the coming o’ the snow the wind eased up a bit an’ let the water -churn on the top of the sea until it was as white as the falling snow. -Finally I couldn’t tell where the water ended and the snow began. - -“The wind driving the sleet was cruel. Whenever Jo or I ventured out it -cut our faces and made them raw and bleeding. At times the wind lifted -the house right off its stone foundations and shook it, and I feared it -would be blown clear over the bluff and set awash in the sea.” - -“How terrible!” exclaimed Mrs. Seymour. - -“It was all of that,” Fred agreed. “The second day of the snow I -thought the wind hove to a mite, it seemed more quiet. I went to the -window to see if the snow had let up. It had--but not in any way I ever -had seen it in all my fifty years of life on this bluff. It was as if a -path had been cut through the flying storm, straight and clear with the -wind sweeping through, so that I could see beyond the bluff over the -water. It was then I had my first glimpse of it, riding over the waves -and coming ashore dead against the gale. It was such a thing as no -mortal ever saw nowadays. I thought I was losing my wits to see a boat -coming toward me, riding in to shore against the wind and while the -tide was running out. I just couldn’t believe what my eyes were telling -me, for no boat that I ever heard tell of had struck on this section -of the coast. Nature built here so that they can’t come in, what with -Douglas Head stretching out to the north and making a current to sweep -wrecks farther down; they strike to the north or the south of us, but -never here.” - -“To see a ship coming in and be powerless to help it!” exclaimed Mr. -Seymour as Fred paused for a sip of coffee and a bite of doughnut. -“There was nothing that you could do?” - -“Not a thing. I was alone with Jo, and even if we had been able to -get out a small boat we couldn’t have done nothin’. She was coming in -too fast. So we bundled up, Jo and I, and went out to stand by on the -shore.” - -“Into that storm?” Anne demanded. She had drawn close to her mother’s -chair during the story and now she stood tense against it. She could -almost see the two figures, Fred so tall and Jo a little shorter, as -they ventured out into the wind that threatened to blow them into the -water. How the cutting sleet must have hurt, and how cold they must -have been as they stamped their feet on the ice-covered rocks and beat -their hands to keep from freezing! - -“Nothing else to do but try to save the men as they washed ashore, now -was there?” Fred asked gently, and Ann shook her head. She knew that if -she had been there she would have gone with them and borne the cold as -best she could. - -“We waited and watched,” Fred continued. “And all that time the narrow -path stayed in the storm, swept clear of the driving snow. And the boat -came nearer with no sails set and on even keel. When she struck she -cried like a living thing. - -“We couldn’t see a man aboard. We waited all day and when night closed -in I sent Jo down to the village for help, and I listened alone all -night for the cry of some one washed to the beach; but no one came. - -“When dawn broke Jo came back with ten or twelve men. They hadn’t known -a thing about the wreck in the village nor we shouldn’t, either, if it -hadn’t been for that path in the storm; the snow was falling too thick -for any one to see through it. Well, that morning the storm was over -and the sun burst out. And there she lay, almost as you see her now, -but farther out. The water was boiling all about her. The waves were -crashing in pretty high but we thought we could get one of the boats -launched at the mouth of the river and work it round to the ship. So we -left Jo to watch the bluff here and picked my dory to make the trip as -she shipped less water and rode the waves easier. We got her down the -river and around the point and after a couple of attempts we pulled -in under the schooner’s stern and three of us swung aboard while Les -Perkins and Pete Simonds held the dory. - -“When we got on the schooner’s deck we found that the sea had swept -her clean of anything that might have identified her. The name plates -looked as if a mighty hand had wrenched them loose and great cuts -showed in the bow and stern where they had been. There wasn’t a -sound but the pounding of the waves along her side. It made a queer -sussh-sussh that didn’t seem to come from where the water touched her. -We broke open the hatches and went down in her--two by two. Wasn’t a -man of us who dast go down there alone, for you never can tell what -you’re going to find in a wrecked ship’s cabin. We looked all about, -but no one was in the place and I don’t believe that any one was on -her when she struck. The crew’s quarters were in order but the cabin -appeared as if there had been a struggle there, though the sea might -have done it, tossing things about. Then we searched her careful but -found no log nor no papers. Some clothes were scattered here and there -but the pockets were empty and turned wrongside foremost. She had no -cargo and the fire was still a-going in the stove.” - -Mr. Bailey had another cup of coffee and drank it silently while the -Seymours waited for the rest of the story. - -“Well, that’s how she came in,” he said at last. - -“But what makes you think there are spirits on board?” asked Mr. -Seymour. “There must have been something more than you have told us, to -make you believe that.” - -“Yes, there is more to it,” admitted Fred, “but if I was to tell ye -you’d think me foolish.” - -“We’d never think that, I can assure you,” said Mrs. Seymour quickly. -“If we had been with you on the schooner probably we should be feeling -exactly as you do about her.” - -“Perhaps you might, and perhaps you might not. I would think that the -trouble was with me if it hadn’t been for the other men, but every one -of them down to the cove would back me up in what I say. And I might as -well tell you, because if I don’t some one else will, no doubt. - -“We had almost finished searching when I got a sort of feeling that -some one or something was peering at me. I kept looking around behind -me, and then I noticed that the other men were doing the same thing. -There was nothin’ there. We kind of looked at each other and laughed -at first. But soon it was all I could do to keep from running around -the next corner to catch whatever was behind it. We did our search -thorough, but I can tell you I was glad when Les Perkins pulled the -dory under the stern and I could drop into her. None of us hankered to -stay aboard that ship.” - -In spite of herself Ann shivered and was glad when her mother hugged -her reassuringly. - -“Two days after that,” Fred continued, “we picked up four men who -had been washed in by the sea. We are God-fearing people up here and -I couldn’t understand why the folks in the village wouldn’t put those -sailors in the churchyard, but some of the people were foolish and -said those men should not be put in consecrated ground, coming out of -the sea like that. I didn’t know quite what to do, and I suppose I -should have taken them out and put them back into the sea, the way most -sailormen are done by when they’re dead. But I didn’t decide to do that -way; I buried them with my own people, yonder in the field, and they -lie there marked by four bits of sandstone. - -“Jo and I have been back on the boat several times, for we felt we had -a duty by her, lying at our door as she does, but we can’t find a trace -of anything to identify her and we both had that feeling that something -there is wrong. Something was watching us all the time we were on her. -So I’ve given up trying to think where she came from or who sailed on -her, for such things a man like me is not supposed to know. Spirits -from the sea no doubt came on board during the storm and threw the crew -overside. But if those spirits are there now I don’t understand why the -sea don’t claim her and break her up. Sea seems to be shoving her back -on the land as though it wanted to be rid of her.” - -“That is a great story, Fred,” said Mr. Seymour. “And I can sympathize -with the way you felt; it must have taken a great deal of courage to go -back to her when you and Jo looked her over. And you have never seen -anything move on the boat?” - -Ann wanted to tell about the light she had seen there last night, but -that was her discovery and she so hoped to be the one to solve the -mystery! She said not a word about it. - -“Nary a sight of anything have we ever had,” Fred answered. - -“Very strange indeed,” said Mr. Seymour. “What about the coast guard? -Of course you reported the ship to them. Weren’t they able to discover -anything?” - -Ann knew already of the blue-uniformed men who patrolled the shores of -the United States on foot and in small boats, men who were stationed -at dangerous points to look for ships in distress and help them, men -who were always ready to risk their own lives in their efforts to bring -shipwrecked sailors ashore. - -“Yes, they came,” Fred answered. “They went aboard her, and they took -her measurements, her type and capacity, but they could find no record -of such a boat nor the report of any missing boat of her description. -And because there was no salvage on her and as she didn’t lie in such -a way as to be a menace to shipping they left her for the sea to break -up--and that’s going to take a long time, by the rate she’s going now.” - -“I’d like to go on her,” Mr. Seymour said. “Would you be willing to -take me?” - -“Any time,” Fred assented. “Any time you pick out as long as the sun -shines.” - -“What about now?” Mr. Seymour smiled into Fred’s steady blue eyes. - -“Just as good a time as any,” agreed Mr. Bailey, rising from his chair. - -Ann’s eyes were beseeching but she knew that her father would not be -willing to have her go, too, so she did not ask. He stopped an instant -as he passed her on his way to the door and gave her a pat of approval, -for he was perfectly aware of how much she wanted to see the boat. - -“If I find there is nothing on the ship,” he said, “you can play there -to your heart’s content.” - -Fred heard, and he shook his head dubiously. But he said nothing more. -The two went out together and down the meadow toward the schooner. - -Ann watched them, and as she stood in the doorway she noticed that -the figurehead on the bow had completely lost its twilight menace, as -her father had foretold. This morning it looked exactly as it was, a -battered wooden statue almost too badly carved to resemble anything. -The arms that she had thought were stretched above its head now seemed -to be wings and the expression of the face was almost peaceful. - -She watched the men as they climbed on deck and then she turned back to -the cheerful cottage and her work. - -“What brave men these fishermen are!” said Mrs. Seymour. “And they -don’t seem to realize it, particularly. It is all in the day’s work. -Think of Jo’s walking five miles through heavy snow to bring help!” - -Ann nodded. In her enthusiasm she stopped sweeping and leaned on her -broom while she talked. “I’d like to have been here with them. Mother, -I think I’d have found something on that boat!” - -Her mother laughed. “Perhaps. You surely would have seen if anything -had been there. But Mr. Bailey’s eyes are keen, too.” - -“Y-e-s,” admitted Ann. “Aren’t he and Jo nice people! It is much more -exciting here than going to school and walking across the Common. Don’t -you think that I could stay here next winter and not go back to town?” - -Her mother laughed again. “It is rather early to talk of next winter. -School is a bit more important than adventures for you until you are a -few years older.” - -“I know that you are right,” Ann apologized. “Only I think that I will -study to be a farmer.” - -“Very well,” agreed her mother. “But don’t grow up too fast, my darling -Ann. Promise me you won’t.” - -Ann’s broom began to work fast. “If I have to grow up,” Ann said, as -she swept under tables and chairs, “you can be sure that I am not going -to sit around playing bridge with a lot of dressed-up people. No! -I’m going to wear overalls and buy a ranch. I might take Jo in as a -partner, but I haven’t decided on that yet, and I haven’t asked him.” - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -_IN THE GOOD GREENWOOD_ - - -Mr. Seymour returned from the boat and reported that he had found -nothing unusual aboard her. He had not experienced the feeling of being -watched by some uncanny creature, which Fred had described so vividly. -And Fred acknowledged that while Mr. Seymour was with him he had found -the boat a different place, free from any unhealthy suggestion. - -So Helen, Ben, and Ann were told that they might scramble about her as -they pleased, provided, of course, that they were careful not to fall -down the open hatches or slip over the sides where the rails had been -broken. - -Ann was disappointed in her father’s report although she knew that -if he had found the boat unsafe she would have had no opportunity to -investigate for herself. She tried to be sensible and forget that a -mystery had ever been attached to the ship. But it was evident to her -mind that there must have been something. As Jo said, “Where there’s so -much smoke there must be some fire.” She had felt it so strongly last -night--were those shivers caused by nothing at all? - -Jo, at least, was not convinced by Mr. Seymour’s report. He refused to -join the Seymour children in a hunt over the boat that afternoon and -consequently Ann and Ben were forced to wait until they could get a -ladder before they could get up the high steep side of the schooner. It -meant that they were not to go on the boat for some time to come, for -Mr. Seymour made no suggestions as to how they were to go about getting -up to the deck and Mr. Bailey seemed not to understand their hints that -one of his ladders would be useful if he were willing to lend it. - -Each night Ann looked out of her window, hoping to see that light -flickering over the deck. It had not appeared again and she did not say -a word about it to Jo and Ben. She wanted to be sure that she really -had seen it and not imagined it while excited by that first glimpse of -the ship with its guardian demon. And so she watched faithfully every -night before she climbed into her high bed. - -In the meantime she put her energy into helping her mother with the -housework, into hoeing the garden and hunting new thrills in the woods. - -In the garden she did her stint shoulder to shoulder with Jo and Ben. -Fred Bailey had given each of them a section of the vegetable garden -for his own and had promised them a commission on all the vegetables -sold. Ann had already planned what she would do with her money; she -knew before any green had shown above the ground. She intended to put -it into the bank as the beginning of her fund for the purchase of her -western ranch. - -Ben, of course, was going to spend his for paint and brushes. - -Each of them had his own patch of potatoes, beans, and corn, a section -of the main planting allotted to his special care. And they put the -seeds in the ground themselves, with the experienced Jo as instructor. -It was difficult to believe that those small hard kernels would grow -into green plants. - -One morning Ben reached the garden ahead of Ann and suddenly turned -and shouted to her to hurry. “The beans are coming through! I suppose -they’re beans, because that’s where we planted beans. Don’t they look -funny!” - -Funny they did look, great curling stems that thrust through the soil -like crooked fingers, cracking and heaving the ground all around them. -In the rows where the children had planted them the earth hummocked up -and hundreds of plants were forcing their way up into the sunlight. - -She knew they must be coming soon but the sight of them was a greater -surprise than any Christmas Day Ann ever had known. To think that the -little hard beans that she had dropped and covered with fine earth had -been growing and putting out such curly twisted sprouts that had shot -up overnight! The dear baby things! She knelt down to touch them but -Jo’s voice stopped her. He had walked while she ran forward in reply to -Ben’s call. - -“I wouldn’t do that,” he suggested mildly. “The morning dew is on them -and nobody touches beans while they’re wet. It turns them black when -they get bigger.” - -“But there are no beans yet,” Ann protested, looking up at Jo over -her shoulder. “I don’t see how I could hurt them if I touched them -delicately, just to find out whether they feel as strong as they look.” - -“It doesn’t make any difference how young they are,” Jo answered. “It -won’t seem to hurt them when you touch them, but when the beans form on -the plants you have handled nobody will be able to eat them. They’ll be -black and spotted; rusted, the farmers call it. Of course sometimes you -can’t help beans rusting when there’s too much rain.” - -“What makes them rust?” asked Ben. “You wouldn’t imagine that the -grown-up plants would remember anything that happened to them when they -were babies.” - -“I don’t know why,” and Jo shook his head. “I wish I did know more -about it. I don’t know any reasons, but there must be some. I only know -that things happen, not why.” - -“Well, I know this much,” said Ann decidedly. “When I go back to school -this fall I shall find out, and then I’ll write to tell you, Jo.” - -“That would be fine. I’d like that,” Jo said shyly. - -Ben had gone over to the rows of corn and potatoes, and he came back -with a perplexed expression on his face. “Where are they?” he asked. -“Do you suppose that some animal has eaten them? We shall have nothing -but beans in our gardens, or can we plant more corn and potatoes?” - -Jo threw back his head and laughed heartily. - -“What did you expect?” he asked. “Did you think that everything came -through at the same time? The potatoes ought to sprout within a day -or two, but corn is slow. It often takes three weeks. The weather has -hardly been hot enough to start it yet. You need hot weather to make -corn grow. Beans are about the quickest things.” - -“Gee, what a lot you know!” said Ben admiringly. “I didn’t know there -was so much to learn about a real garden. I thought that a farmer put -his seeds in the ground and they came up, and then after a while he -picked his vegetables and sold them.” - -“Lots of people think that,” said Jo in a stiff tone of voice as he -began to hoe his morning row. “That is why so many city people make -jokes about farmers, and think they don’t know anything. Most farmers -know very little about the city, but they understand their job of -getting food for the city people to eat. I should like to see some of -those sneering city fellows plow an acre of ground under the hot sun. -A man walks pretty near thirty miles doing such a stretch, and he has -to hold his plow nearly a foot in the ground while he does his walking, -so as to turn over a six or twelve inch furrow. It takes a pretty good -man to do that.” - -“I never laughed at farmers, Jo,” Ann protested mildly. “It is only -that I never knew anything about farming.” - -“That’s all right,” answered Jo, smiling at her. “I wasn’t thinking -about any of you folks. I was calling to mind some of these summer -tourists who come through camping by the wayside. We don’t get pestered -by them because we’re too far from the main highway, but the farmers -nearer the village go well-nigh crazy trying to protect their gardens -and fruit from stealing. Why, last summer Les Perkins had all of his -pears just ready for picking and shipping to Boston. It took him three -years to grow those pears for a perfect crop all free from worms and -spots. He had sort of hoped to make something of them at last. He got -to his trees one day in time to see a dozen city folks piling into a -first-class car, all loaded up with pears. Not only that, but they had -shaken the trees and the fruit was all stripped off. What they hadn’t -stolen was too bruised to sell.” - -“They ought to have been arrested for that!” Ann exclaimed breathlessly. - -“Yes.” Jo laughed half-heartedly. “Catch ’em if you can. I caught one -of them stealing Pete Simonds’ raspberries. He had a bunch of kids with -him. I heard him tell ’em to pick the ripe ones and throw the green -ones away. They were stripping the bushes. I told them to get out, but -the man only laughed and said that all berries were common property.” - -“What did you do then?” asked Ben eagerly. - -Jo was rather shamefaced. “Well, I shouldn’t have done it. But the way -the man said it made me mad, so I hauled off and gave him a punch in -the jaw. He looked so funny, the way he sprawled with raspberries all -over him! He was a good-sized feller, and he got up on his feet and -came after me ugly, but he saw Pete coming on the run and I can tell -you he legged it for his car with all the kids streaming after him. He -knew just as well as I did that he was stealing.” - -“Well,” said Ben slowly, “if any one stole my beans I’d punch him in -the jaw, too. After a farmer has planted seeds on his own land the crop -is his exactly as much as the vegetables in my mother’s kitchen are -hers after she has brought them home from the market.” - -“There ought to be policemen to watch city people,” said Ann. “They -ought to be made afraid to steal, if they are not the kind of persons -who would be ashamed to take what isn’t theirs.” - -“There don’t seem to be many of that last kind,” said Jo. - -“It makes me feel rather queer,” said Ann. “I don’t like to think that -you have learned to have such a bad opinion of people who live in the -city.” - -“Tell us some more about farming, Jo,” begged Ben. “What happens to -beans after they have sprouted and begun to be plants?” He looked -fondly at his row with their yellow-green stems. - -“Oh, we’ll have plenty of work from now on,” began Jo. “We’ll have to -hunt for cutworms right away. See--here is one now.” He uncovered a -small gray worm about an inch long and crushed it with his hoe. - -“Let’s see!” said Ben excitedly, and he and Ann began to examine their -own allotments. - -“They work at night and dig in under the soil when the sun comes out,” -Jo explained. “They bite the young plant off just where it goes into -the ground. Whenever you find a plant lying on the ground you know that -a cutworm has eaten it off and he is hiding under the dirt a few inches -away. You’ll have to dig each one up and kill it before he does any -more damage. He would come back again and again and finally eat off the -whole row.” - -“I’ve found one!” Ben cried. “I hate them! Why do they have to come?” -he asked as he stamped on it. - -“I guess they have to eat like the rest of us,” answered Jo. “But if we -didn’t watch there would be more cutworms than beans in the world. They -sure were invented to pester us farmers.” - -“They are almost as bad as the tourists,” and Ann laughed. - -“Well, in a way we don’t mind them so much as we do tourists. We expect -the cutworms.” - -“I don’t believe the tourists would enjoy being cut in two,” said Ann. - -So the days went happily by, full of new experiences for the Seymours. -Whenever the short rains came the children sat before the open fire in -the living room, or, as Jo called it, the parlor, while Mrs. Seymour -read to them, or while Jo told stories of the country near Pine Ledge; -for Jo was always included in the circle. - -Ann never grew tired of watching the sea. While the others watched the -fire she often sat by the window, listening, of course, but with her -eyes fixed on the ocean. How the waves shone in the sun, and how they -tumbled and grew dark when the squalls rushed over them! At such times -she wondered about what had happened on the schooner cast up on the -shore, lying on its side almost at her very feet. Fred believed what -he had felt while he was on her, and Jo so evidently had a horror of -everything connected with the wreck; there was her father’s testimony -that nothing was wrong there. And as a climax to that, there was what -her own eyes had seen, the moving light. - -Mr. Seymour was working hard and getting a great deal done. His -sketches grew rapidly under his hands. Already he had a number of -canvases leaning against the walls of the living room and he had asked -Jo if he might paint his portrait. - -Then one day a heavy northeaster broke and gave promise of lasting two -days at the very least. It was a good time for indoor work and Jo was -called into service as a model. He did not know the story of Robin -Hood, so Mrs. Seymour read it aloud while he sat for Mr. Seymour. The -others had heard it many times, but they were never tired of those -adventures in the glade and the good greenwood and they listened as -eagerly as did Jo. - -Then came clear days that were the best of all, for after their gardens -had been hoed, Maude, the cow, milked and put to pasture, and the -chickens watered and fed, they followed Jo’s lead into the dense pine -woods, where they held forth as Robin Hood and his band. - -Jo was, of course, Robin Hood, for he knew all the trails through the -merry greenwood and could find clear fresh springs no matter in which -direction they tramped. Ben was Allan-a-Dale, although he couldn’t sing -very well. In fact, after he had proved to know only one tune and had -sung that one a great many times, the entire band requested him to stop -it. - -“Allan-a-Dale was a minstrel and he was supposed to sing,” Ben -protested. - -But Helen, who was taking the part of Ellen, had a good reason for -wishing that Ben would be quiet and she did not hesitate to tell him. -“I want to watch the birds, and you scare them away. Can’t you just -pretend to sing? It would be very much nicer.” - -[Illustration: _In the lookout tree they mounted guard in turn._] - -As the band contained only one woman besides Ellen, Ann finally -consented to be Maid Marian, although she much preferred to be Friar -Tuck. - -“You’re a girl,” Ben said decidedly. “And a girl can’t be Friar Tuck.” - -“What difference does that make?” protested Ann. “I can swing a stave -as well as you do; better.” - -“I know you can,” said Jo. “But Maid Marian is far more important than -Friar Tuck. Robin Hood couldn’t have done a thing without her. She went -everywhere the band did and thought things out for them, but Friar Tuck -didn’t do much except eat and drink.” - -“It is such a nice name,” mourned Ann. But Maid Marian she decided to -be. - -The band discovered a place high up in the wood that was exactly suited -to be their glade. It was a wide bare spot covered with pine needles, -and along its edges a few walnut trees were scattered, one of which -the boys could climb easily. This was the lookout tree, and after Ann -learned how to get up it they mounted guard in turn. From its branches -one could see far away across the green forest to the village, a -cluster of white dots. On the other side the watcher looked over the -home meadow and the house to the sea beyond. From such a high perch -the expanse of water seemed much greater and the house and meadow very -small in contrast. - -“What ho, what ho,” Ben called the first time Ann settled herself among -the branches. “Sister Ann, do you see anybody coming?” - -“Pooh!” exclaimed little Helen contemptuously. “That’s Bluebeard! -That’s not Robin Hood.” - -“So it is,” admitted Ben. “What ho, what ho, Maid Marian, doth an enemy -draw nigh?” - -“I see only one,” Ann answered as a small blue figure that was Fred -Bailey crossed the meadow far away, “but he holds at a distance and is -seemingly unaware of our hiding place.” - -No band is complete without its longbows and staves. Jo quickly filled -this lack. He made staves by cutting branches from the straight alder -bushes that grew in the brook, peeling them until they were white and -shining. They whipped lithely in the air with a clear whistling sound. -Jo gathered them up every evening and kept them in the running water of -the brook, so that they would not dry out and become brittle. - -At first he was puzzled as to how he could make longbows that were -strong as well as limber, but soon he thought of the young willows. -These he cut and bent into a regular bow-shape without destroying the -springiness of the wood. And for bowstrings they used old fishing line. - -There was no problem concerning life in the greenwood that Jo could -not solve; the making of proper arrows, for instance. He built a small -fire after scraping away the dry pine needles and sprinkling the ground -with fresh moist earth, and cut some thin lead into strips. These he -fastened to the points of the short arrows he had made, so that the -tips would have weight to carry them straight to the mark. Of course -each member of the band took great care not to shoot his fellow members -and only one person was allowed to practice at a time, so that the -arrows would be easy to locate after they had been shot. - -At first the band made forays into the wood in pairs, Jo and Ann, then -Ben and Helen, so that the glade might not be left unprotected. Under -this arrangement Jo was always worried when it was his turn to stay in -the shelter. He knew that Ben was unfamiliar with big woods and might -get lost. So the band was called for conference and it was decided that -the entire band should foray together. Meeting enemies in full strength -they stood a better chance of beating them, and before starting out -they carefully concealed all the trails to the glade and knew that no -enemy could uncover them. - -“To-day I shall get me a fine buck,” Ben said as he swung his longbow -over his shoulder and seized his stave. “I hanker much for fresh meat.” - -“I’ll show you where the deer come to drink,” Robin Hood offered. -“Methinks if Allan be a good shot he can easily bring down a couple for -our goodly dinner. I saw tracks by the river a month or so ago.” - -“Really?” exclaimed Ben. “Gee! I’d like to see a deer!” - -The trip to the river was all downhill and they scrambled through -the prickly barberries and juniper like true outlaws, courageously -ignoring the thorns that pricked and tore. Great ledges of gray rock, -covered with lichens and holding small hemlocks and spruces in their -cracks, opposed their way and they were obliged to climb up the rocks -on one side and slide down over the steep slope beyond. Helen had the -most trouble because her legs were shorter, but after Jo and Ann had -pulled her down once or twice she lost her fear. With the aid of her -stave she sat down on the top of the rock and coasted, landing upright -on her feet in the soft underbrush at the bottom. It wasn’t very good -for her bloomers, but they were made of stout cloth and managed to hold -together. - -As they drew near to the wide pool where the river spread out over the -low land Jo motioned for them to step quietly. He took the lead and -crept slowly foot by foot, crouching low in the underbrush. Finally -they came on a narrow trail through which they could just pass with the -bushes touching their shoulders. Ann noticed how Jo avoided touching -the branches so that they should not move any more than necessary and -she tried to imitate him. It was not easy. He twisted his shoulders -this way and that, all the time moving forward slowly. Ben went along -with his hands on his knees, bent forward, while Helen was so short -that she had no difficulty at all. - -At last Jo looked back over his shoulder, put his finger on his lips -and beckoned for them to come beside him. He pointed to a mark in the -soft ground before him. It was the imprint of a small cloven hoof and -even Ann’s inexperienced eye could see that it was fresh. - -“He’s been down here this morning,” Jo whispered. “I wish we had been -around--he’s a big fellow all right.” - -“Isn’t he here now?” whispered Ann. “How do you know that he isn’t?” - -“We’ll find out,” Jo answered. “He may be sleeping under the bushes, -but they don’t stay in this neighborhood generally; too many people in -the daytime, passing, and deer are nervous, nowadays. They like it best -back on the hills where there is more protection.” - -As he spoke he turned at right angles from the trail and plunged -silently into the undergrowth. The bushes closed about him and it was -all Ann could do to follow. Suddenly he stopped. - -He did not so much as whisper. Silently he motioned for them to come -forward quickly. - -They looked to where his finger pointed. - -Under a group of pines a few feet away a huge buck deer lay asleep, -with the sun through the trees splotching his dark coat and turning -it into shimmering velvet. His horns were short and looked like dull -leather; Jo told them afterward that was because he had not yet made -his full year’s growth. - -As the band watched he leaped from the ground, fully awake in the -instant that he scented danger. He leaped almost as if his feet had -not touched the earth and he bounded lightly into a jungle of thorns -and scrub oak. And with that one beautiful jump he vanished. - -“Well, Allan,” Jo turned toward Ben’s wide-eyed face with a laugh. “Why -didn’t you shoot him?” - -“Shoot him-- Try to kill him? I couldn’t kill anything as lovely as -that, ever. I want to draw him, paint him, just as he jumped in the -sun, with the light on his skin and the green all around. Oh,” he cried -excitedly, “do you suppose that father could see a deer so that he -could show me how to make a picture that was halfway good?” - -“If Mr. Seymour would really like to see one, we can come out some -morning at dawn and if we are quiet perhaps we can see a deer as he -comes down to drink. It is great fun to lie in the bushes when they -don’t know any one is watching; they walk about and drink.” - -“We’ll go home and ask him now,” said Ann with determination. “It is -just too wonderful, and I know he’ll want to come, perhaps to-morrow.” - -“And I want to tell mother about it,” said Helen. - -“All right,” agreed Jo. “We’ll follow the river out to the road. That -will be easier than going back over those high ledges.” - -[Illustration: _With one beautiful jump he vanished._] - -The trail led down to a smooth swamp pond filled with such clear water -that the children could see the long grass moving at the bottom. A -short distance from the edge little heaps of leaves, straw, and twigs -rose here and there above the surface of the water. Jo said they were -houses that the muskrats had built to live in last winter. - -“They build just before the cold weather sets in,” he said. “It is -great sport to come every day and see how the houses grow. Sometimes -the muskrats don’t bother very much with building, and the winters that -follow are open and warm, generally. But when old Mr. Muskrat builds -high, wide, and handsome, look out for thick ice and deep heavy snow.” - -“How curious!” said Ann. “How do you suppose they know what the weather -is going to be?” - -The band walked along beside the swamp until it narrowed into a running -river again. - -“Gulls like the pond, too,” Jo said. “Especially when a storm is -blowing up. When the wind begins to be too strong the gulls sweep into -the cove and watch for the fish that are beating into the mouth of the -river. They hang up there in the air and laugh as if they liked the -storm. They laugh out loud and shriek and have a great time. When they -get tired and pretty well fed they let the wind carry them back here -to the pond, where they settle in droves on the sheltered water. They -wait until the storm blows over. Next nor’easter that blows up, I’ll -remember to show them to you. You can see them easily from the kitchen.” - -He was leading the band and they were drawing nearer to the road. -Suddenly he stopped short, so short that Ann, who was next, bumped into -him. - -“Hello!” he said. “What’s this?” - -At his feet were the charred embers of a fire. They were still -smoldering and, as he brushed the ashes aside with his foot, the coals -gleamed brightly. - -“Who do you suppose did that?” he exclaimed indignantly. “None of the -folks around here would ever leave a fire burning in the woods. Why, it -might spread and burn off the whole territory. Once a fire got started -up through the pines nothing could stop it.” - -Ann looked down at the wicked gleam. She never would have dreamed -that it was wicked if Jo hadn’t told her it was, but what he had said -made her regard the fire from a very different standpoint. To her -imagination the live embers glowed and flickered like the lantern she -had seen on the wrecked ship. - -She grew vaguely excited, for if no native of Pine Ledge could have -left that fire, then some stranger must be prowling around the -neighborhood, some one who didn’t want to be seen. Perhaps the very -person who lighted this fire to cook his breakfast was the same -invisible person who carried the swinging lantern across the deck, that -first night. - -The keen-minded Jo saw her excitement. “What’s up?” he asked. “Is -something the matter?” - -Ann hesitated. “Perhaps I am imagining, but I think I know of some one -who might have built this fire.” - -So she told them about that tiny pin point of lantern light. - -Jo listened silently until she had finished, although Ann could see -that he, too, was growing excited. - -“I shouldn’t wonder if you were right,” he said at last. “It looks to -me as if some one who has no business here is hanging about. But if we -tell the other folks about it they will say that it is nonsense; they -think that we are too young to know much of what we are talking about. -I think we had better keep a good lookout, and if we actually discover -anything we can tell them then. This is a job for Robin Hood’s men all -right.” - -Jo threw up his head and squared his shoulders. - -“What ho, merry men!” he shouted. “How many will follow me in fathoming -the mystery of the wrecked ship?” - -“I will follow,” Ann said quickly. - -“I want to be in on it, too,” Ben cried breathlessly. - -“Me, too,” Helen chimed in a voice that was a bit frightened but -nevertheless determined. “I want to help hunt for ghosts.” - -“Then we are united?” Jo asked. - -“Aye, aye,” shouted Ben. “Lead on.” - -Before they started on their way again they dipped water from the river -in their cupped hands and threw it hissing upon the live coals until -the fire was out. As an extra precaution, for the fire might have gone -deep into the pine needles beneath, Jo raked away the leaves and twigs -and needles until he had made a wide circle of bareness. - - - - -CHAPTER V - -_ON THE WRECK_ - - -Robin Hood and his band did not let the grass grow under their feet, -after they had once decided to thoroughly investigate the mystery of -the wrecked schooner. Ann, herself, felt much stronger and braver now -that she had allies. She was quite willing to admit that she had been -squeamish about going aboard and examining the ship alone or with no -one but Ben and Helen. Although Mr. Seymour had reported the boat to be -uninhabited and perfectly safe, Ann, nevertheless, had wondered whether -perhaps the ghosts might not have been on a vacation the day her father -went aboard with Mr. Bailey. - -The band chose to begin their undertaking early in the afternoon of -the day following their discovery of the fire in the woods. The sun -was bright and therefore the demon on the bow was quite unlifelike and -battered. - -Jo bent his back, for a step, and Ann was the first to climb up to -the sloping deck. After she had scrambled to safety she let down her -hands to help Ben and then Helen, and then she lent a hand to Jo as he -braced his feet against the wooden side and walked as a fly might until -he could catch the gunwale and swing himself over the rail. - -“It is a very big boat,” ventured Helen, whispering, as she looked -over the wide deck with its shining weathered gray boards. “It is much -bigger than it looks from the house.” - -“Now, right here,” Jo interposed, “let’s make up our minds to one -thing. Nobody is to whisper and nobody is to scream, no matter what -happens. A whisper will frighten a person even when there is nothing -to be afraid of, and if anybody screams in my ear I know I shall jump -right out of my skin.” - -“I don’t see how you have the courage to come back, Jo,” said Ben -admiringly. - -“I’m not so terribly courageous,” admitted Jo candidly. “If it hadn’t -been for Ann’s thinking that the fire had something to do with the ship -I shouldn’t be here now, I know that much!” - -“Where shall we go first?” Ann asked, and then, because she thought she -might have seemed unsympathetic, she added, “I don’t believe we shall -find anything wrong to-day. If men are really hanging about the boat -they couldn’t come here in the open daylight, for they’d be sure to be -seen.” - -“We’ll go down to the captain’s quarters first,” Jo decided. “And then -we’ll work forward into the crew’s sleeping place, and later look down -in the hold. The whole place was bare and empty when my father and -yours came to look her over.” - -As they walked along the deck Ben kept close to the railing, as if he -thought he could jump over it in case anything happened. And as he -walked he ran his hand along the side, for the sea had worn the rails -until they felt like silk under his fingers. Suddenly he stopped by a -splintered break in the top rail and picked something from its outside -edge. - -“See what I’ve found,” he exclaimed as he glanced at what he held in -his hand. “Oh,” he said in a tone of disappointment, “it is nothing but -a piece of old cloth.” - -He started to throw it away but Jo caught his arm. - -“Let’s see it,” Jo said, and took the torn piece of blue woolen from -Ben’s hand. “Hum,” he grunted thoughtfully as he turned it over and -felt of it carefully. - -“What is it, Jo?” asked Ann. “Does it mean something?” - -“That I don’t rightly know,” Jo answered slowly. “It is just ordinary -blue wool, but I know that not one of the fishermen around here wears -anything like it. The really interesting thing about it, seems to me, -is that it hasn’t been out in the weather any time. I should say it had -never been rained on, nor the sun had a chance to bleach it. See, it -hasn’t begun to fade.” - -“You are right,” said Ann. She took the soft material in her hands. -“This couldn’t have been torn from the clothing of any of the men who -came to investigate, because that was so long ago that cloth torn from -their suits would have worn away, such a little piece as this, with -threads sticking out where it was torn off.” - -“What sort of suit did your father wear the day he came here with my -father?” inquired Jo. - -“It was gray. He didn’t bring any dark suits with him, I’m sure,” -answered Ann. - -“And that isn’t the kind of cloth his blue suits are made of,” asserted -Ben. “This is so thick; he wouldn’t wear that fuzzy thing.” - -Jo put the bit of cloth into a pocket and carefully tucked it down into -a safe corner; then he examined the splintered rail where their clue -had been found. - -“See,” he explained while the others hung over the edge to look, “the -cloth caught on the outside of this splinter, as though the man who -wore it slid down the side, holding on to the rail with his hands -before he jumped free.” - -“Well, ghosts don’t wear thick blue woolen clothes,” said Ann. “We can -be sure that real people have been here.” - -“I call this a pretty promising find of Ben’s,” said Jo, as he led the -way toward the open hatch. “It makes me feel very different about this -boat.” - -Sliding down the companion-ladder they landed in the tiny passage from -which the captain’s cubbyhole and the mate’s opened on either side. -The captain’s stateroom was slightly larger than the mate’s, and his -berth ran under the open porthole in which the thick glass had been -shattered. The berth was piled with moldering blankets; apparently no -one had touched them since the wreck. Beside the berth, wedged between -it and the wall, a table stood with its only drawer pulled open, -showing that it was empty. - -“The log should have been there,” explained Jo, “in that drawer. But it -had been taken away before ever our men got to the wreck. And over here -on this wall is the closet where the captain kept his clothes; they -were hanging in it when we were here last.” - -Ann unhinged the latch and swung the door open. Two suits hung from the -hooks. She felt them to discover whether anything was in the pockets, -and she found the cloth damp and sticky. The closet smelled of the sea. - -There was a familiar feel to the cloth under her fingers. “I believe -that this coat is made of the same cloth as the piece Ben found.” - -Jo and Ben came quickly to her side. “The cloth of this suit is better -quality,” pronounced Jo, “and the coat isn’t torn anywhere. Most -deep-sea men wear clothes like that and so the torn piece doesn’t mean -much except that the man who wore it is a sailor, most likely.” - -Helen was very much interested in the little cubbyhole. “I should like -this room for a doll house,” she said, and she stayed in it while the -others went across the passage to the mate’s stateroom. - -They found things there in the same condition; empty drawers, moldy -blankets and a closet damp with brine. - -Suddenly Helen called from the other cabin. “Come quick, Jo!” - -They tumbled over each other in their efforts to reach her, and they -found her pointing to the blankets on the berth. - -“Some one has been sleeping there!” she said breathlessly. - -They had not looked closely at the berth when they had been in the -cabin and now they saw that the tousled heavy blankets were matted -flat, just as they would be if a man had slept on them and had not -troubled to shake them when he rose. - -“Whoever he was, he didn’t choose a comfortable place,” said Ben, -looking up at the broken port. “The rain must beat in here every time -there is a storm.” - -Ann turned to speak to Jo; she thought that he was directly behind her, -for she heard him move. But when she looked he was not there. He was -standing before the table, running his hand behind the drawer. If he -hadn’t been close beside her, who had? Neither Ben nor Helen was near -enough to be the person whose presence she had felt. Ann shook herself -slightly. She mustn’t be so foolish and nervous; she hadn’t supposed -she was capable of imagining things that weren’t there. The others were -so bravely forgetting that they once had thought that the ship might -be haunted, and she, the oldest of the Seymours, mustn’t be a coward. - -Jo left the drawer and came over to the berth again. - -“We’ll shift these blankets,” he said, “stir them up a little. And then -next time we come we can tell whether some one has been sleeping on -them again.” - -A second time Ann heard a slight stir behind her, and this time Jo -heard it, too. He stooped with the edge of the blankets in his hands, -as though he were frozen. Then he dropped the blankets and leaped from -the doorway into the hall. Ann ran after him, and so did Ben and Helen. - -“Whoever it was has gone up the ladder,” said Jo, evidently trying to -make his voice sound natural. His lips were set in a straight line. - -“Was somebody here?” asked Ben in surprise. He had not felt the -presence nor heard the sound that had been so plain to Ann and Jo. - -“Somebody came back of us,” Jo told him. “You heard him move, didn’t -you, Ann?” He seemed to wish to be reassured. - -“I heard it twice,” said Ann. Her fingers were cold and she tucked them -into the palms of her hands. She was chilly all over. - -“Shouldn’t wonder if it might not be the wind coming in through the -porthole of the mate’s cabin,” suggested Ben. “Wind often makes a queer -noise.” - -“You may be right,” said Jo slowly. “We’ll look.” - -He led the way into the smaller cabin again. The porthole was closed -tightly and it was unbroken. - -“I think I will go up on deck,” said Helen abruptly. - -“We will all go,” said Jo. “We’ve seen about everything down here, I -should think.” - -Once more on deck in full sunlight everybody felt more comfortable, for -it is a spooky business to hunt through the empty cabins of a haunted -ship and there are plenty of grown-ups who never would have gone there -at all. - -From the deck they peered into the blackness of the hold, but they -could see nothing without the flashlight that Ben promised to bring -next time. Down in the depths bright little glimmers showed here and -there from the opened seams in the side of the schooner, but there was -not enough light to reveal any possible secrets hidden in the hold. -A ladder led down into the darkness, but after Jo had tested it and -descended a few steps he reported that some of the rungs were broken; -it was too unsafe to go down unless one could see the exact condition -of every step before he trusted his weight to it. - -He paused a few seconds before he climbed into the light again, and he -bent his head to listen. - -“The water is in here,” he called. “I guess it keeps pretty high up; I -can hear it swish a little.” - -“If the water is so high, no one could hide down there,” said Helen -decidedly. “They would get all wet.” - -“It wouldn’t be much over their knees,” Jo answered. “That’s about -where the first cracked seam comes. Any water that got in above that -would run out with the tide. But it wouldn’t be pleasant to stay down -there long, you can bet on that.” - -The band found the crew’s quarters very much as they found the cabins, -except that the sailors’ clothing had been tossed on to the floor. -Dungarees, boots, slickers, and coats were all thrown everywhere and -great spots of green mildew showed on them. - -“I think that some one should have carried these clothes home and worn -them,” said Ben. - -“Yes, it seems a dreadful waste,” said Ann. “Has every one in Pine -Ledge more than enough warm suits and coats?” - -Jo laughed sarcastically at Ann’s question. “They could have used the -things, all right,” he said, “and by the law of salvage anybody has a -right to take what is found on beaches or in an abandoned boat, if it -is not claimed by its original owner. But nobody in these parts has any -use for a thing from this boat. I don’t believe that any man in the -village would touch these clothes; you couldn’t make anybody wear one -of these oilskins out into a storm, not for love nor money. They all -think there is a curse on this boat and they believe the curse would -settle on them if they so much as wore a southwester that came off of -her.” - -Ann and Jo had been listening almost unconsciously for the return of -the sound that had startled them. They were keyed up to a high pitch -and their nerves were taut. While they searched the crew’s quarters Ann -had to fight to keep herself at the work in hand. She constantly had -the feeling that some one was watching; she wanted to turn her head -quickly and look over her shoulder. She looked at Jo, and instinctively -she knew that he was struggling against the same desire. - -Then she remembered again that Mr. Bailey had told her father and -mother about this curious impression; it was the feeling of eyes -upon them that made him and all the other fishermen shun this boat. -Evidently it hadn’t been their own fearful and timorous imaginations, -as her father believed. Something or some one must be on board. She -couldn’t have had this feeling so strongly unless there were some -foundation for it. - -“There is nothing here,” Jo finally said. “We might as well finish up -with the kitchen galley now. That is the only place left.” - -Ann was glad to be able to turn around at last. She spun quickly, but-- -Of course nothing stood in the broken sagging doorway. She was being -silly! - -Once more on deck, the feeling evaporated. The four adventurers stood -in the warm sun a moment or two and then plunged into the gloom of -the kitchen galley. Over in one corner the rusted stove stood awry, -its doors gaping open. Ben lifted the lids. Within the stove the -thick ashes of many fires lay undisturbed, although a little ash had -scattered over the kitchen floor when the boat tilted. All around the -walls of the little room shelves climbed up to the ceiling and from -them tin cans had rolled helter-skelter. There was not one left on a -shelf. - -Already the sun had sunk low in the west. It was down behind the pines -on the hill, and in a few minutes it would be gone. - -“It is time to go home,” said Helen. “I’m not going to stay any longer.” - -“I think that we are late for supper already,” and from the tones of -his voice Ann could tell that Ben had been as anxious as she for some -word that would take them over the side of the schooner without having -seemed to hurry away. - -Ann could not help remembering how that figurehead had leered in the -dusk of the evening of their arrival; it hadn’t seemed half as menacing -since that time, but to be on the schooner as night fell was more than -she was willing to endure unnecessarily. - -Jo glanced around the galley as though to prove to himself that he -wouldn’t be afraid to stay longer. Suddenly he stopped and threw his -head up. - -“Listen!” he said in a low tense voice. - -They all heard it this time and Helen crept close into Ann’s protecting -arm. This was not an evasive faint sound like the other; it was a -regular soft sussh-sussh that seemed at first to come from the deck. -Jo stole to the door on tiptoe but the deck was as bare and empty as -when they had entered the galley. - -The noise did not stop. Sussh-sussh-sussh-sussh. It seemed farther away -now, up near the bow and the figurehead. It was stilled for a moment -and then it began again, near the captain’s cabin. They heard a faint -scratching, as though something had slid along the floor somewhere, and -then again the sussh-sussh growing fainter. - -“Come on,” Jo spoke hoarsely through pale tight lips. “Now’s our chance -to get off.” - -The doughty band ran in full retreat to the side of the ship. Jo swung -each of them overside in his strong arms and he was the last to leave -the wreck. He dropped beside them in the sand. - -None of them stopped to look up into the face of the figurehead that -towered over them as they ran by. With wings of the wind in their feet -they sped up the meadow toward the lights where their suppers were -waiting for them. - -At supper Mrs. Seymour noticed Helen’s pale tired face. She had grown -to expect a certain sort of tiredness in all of the children at night, -and this was very different. She looked from one to another of them. - -“How did you like playing on the ship?” she asked casually. - -“How did you know that we were there?” asked Ann. - -“I saw you climbing up and once in a while I saw you on deck,” -explained Mrs. Seymour. - -To Ann there was something very reassuring in the thought that all the -time they had been on the schooner their mother had been keeping an -eye on them; they had been perfectly safe, even when Ann was feeling -nervous and fidgety and wanting to look over her shoulder. That was -that, thought Ann, “And I’ll never let myself feel the least bit afraid -again, when I am on the wreck.” - -She could not know that Mrs. Seymour had spent an anxious afternoon. -She trusted her husband’s judgment, but sometimes mothers know things -without being told, while fathers have to hear reasonable explanations -before they can understand the very same things that mothers have known -by instinct. - -“We had such a lot of fun on the wreck, mother,” said Ann. - -“Yes,” said Helen pluckily, “we had lots of fun. You won’t tell us not -to go there, will you, mother? Please!” - -Ben looked at both the girls as if he wished to remind them of -the band’s pledge of secrecy. But he need not have worried. Ann’s -determination to solve the mystery unaided by the help of older people -was even stouter than his, and Helen had always proved a trustworthy -young thing who never gave a secret away. - -Ann knew that her mother wanted to hear more about the afternoon; she -must explain a part of what they were doing. “The band has taken -an oath, a strict oath to keep secret everything connected with the -wreck--you’ll understand, won’t you, that is why we can’t talk about it -more? If you ask us to tell you, of course we will, but we are planning -a surprise.” - -“I don’t think you need to worry about the ship, Emily,” said Mr. -Seymour. “Helen played too hard to-day, that’s all that is wrong. -To-morrow she will be as brown and rosy as ever.” - -So Mrs. Seymour said nothing more and the whole family talked about -other things. - -Later in the evening Jo came over and the band gathered around the fire -in the living room for a conference while Mr. and Mrs. Seymour read in -the kitchen. - -“What do you suppose it was that we heard?” Ben asked in a whisper; -sometimes his mother had been known to hear more than she should. Not -that the band wished to deceive, but they had started on an exciting -adventure and they meant to put it through alone. - -“I know it was not made by ghosts,” asserted Ann. “Nor by that wicked -demon, either. He’s nailed too tight to the bow.” - -“I don’t believe that I want to go on the wreck again to-morrow,” said -Helen. “It makes me feel too tired.” - -“We won’t go on again, not any of us,” Jo said. “I’ve been thinking -over the situation while I had my supper. We’ll keep a sharp lookout -for the man who built that fire; sort of hang around the woods, we -will, and watch the ship, too, but from the outside. If anybody or -anything climbs over the side we’re bound to see it.” - -“I’m going to watch for that lantern,” said Ann. - -Jo nodded wisely. “If we can find out who it is that carries the -lantern we shall know what made the noise; that’s how it looks to me.” - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -_GOING LOBSTERING_ - - -“Hist-sst! Ann! Wake up!” - -It was Ben’s voice that woke Ann, and his hand on her shoulder. She -thought it was the middle of the night, it was so dark, and her second -thought was of the wreck. Had anything happened there? They had watched -for days and never seen a sign of life on it. - -“Jo just called me,” whispered Ben. “He wants to know whether we would -like to go after lobsters with him. He says it is going to be a fine -day and not too rough for landlubbers like us.” - -Would she like to go? Well, rather! Jo had promised that he would take -them some fine day when the swell on the water was not too heavy. The -Baileys, either Jo or his father, made a daily trip out through their -lobster string, which was set beyond the pond rocks and Douglas Head in -the wide expanse of the sea. Jo had decided that Helen had better not -go as she was still so frail that if she grew dizzy and ill out there -probably she would have to go to bed for the rest of the day. And as -she would be grief-stricken if she knew that she was being left behind -the others arranged to go some day without letting her know anything -about it. - -Ann’s room was just light enough for her to see her way without -lighting a lamp. She had not realized that the night faded so slowly -just before the sun rose, for she never had been up so early in all her -life. The small clock on the chest of drawers pointed to half past one. -She could hear Ben moving about in his room, scurrying into his clothes -with a sound like the little scramblings of a squirrel. - -They found Jo waiting for them by the kitchen steps with a lighted -lantern in his hand. - -“Probably we won’t need this after we get across the meadow and strike -the road,” explained Jo, “but now it will be easier going with a light -to shine and show up the bumps. Dawn is coming pretty fast now.” - -He struck off down the sloping meadow, going across it diagonally in -such a way as to give the wreck a wide berth. Ann realized that he -deliberately chose the rougher ground of the field in preference to -walking along the road, merely because of that ship waiting to draw -their thoughts into her shadows. Ann had no desire to peer into the -grinning face of the demon in the half-light of the pale dawn. She -still had a vivid recollection of its leer the first time she had seen -it in the gathering shadows of dusk. And dawn is exactly like the dusk -in its power to make things look different from the way they really -are. - -“I’m glad we’re not going past the boat,” Ben murmured heartily in her -ear, and she nodded in sympathy. - -The cove lay at the mouth of the swamp river and was only a short walk -from the road at the end of the meadow. Jo swung into a swift pace -as waiting for Ben and Ann had made him later than usual. He always -timed himself with the sunrise and should have his dory in the water -and well started before the sun hopped up over the horizon. The others -kept beside him only by running now and then with short quick steps, -and when they caught him Jo would spurt ahead and the race would start -again. - -“Ben Seymour couldn’t have paced this,” Ben cried breathlessly. “But -Allan-a-Dale can. Chasing bucks in the wood is fine for strengthening -the wind.” - -It was true. In the past few weeks Ben had filled out considerably and -he had grown an inch as well. Ann looked down at her own strong brown -lean hands; they had changed since she first undertook to handle a hoe. -The healed blisters still showed on her palms but they had long ago -ceased to hurt. And so the three of them frisked away in the early dawn -like three young colts turned loose in the meadows. - -The gray shacks of the fishermen, clustered at the mouth of the river, -seemed not much larger near at hand than they looked from the bluff. -They all were built with only one story, the shingled roofs coming -almost down to the ground on either side. Small square doors led into -the dark interiors and the windows were nothing but little openings cut -in the walls. - -A narrow winding lane led from the dirt road down through the ravine -bordered by thick brush and the same variety of dark pines that stood -about the swamp pond above. After the track reached the pebbly beach -it was paved with crushed clamshells that glistened in the early light -like a pale ribbon over the dark oval pebbles. - -As soon as the lane met the shacks it twined gracefully in and out -among them all, so that although the shacks seemed from a distance to -stand together, pressed up in a heap, the lane managed to come directly -to the door of each one of them. Suddenly from a regular workaday world -Ann felt that she had been transplanted into a tiny village out of some -fairy tale, whose inhabitants were yellow gnomes with big sou’wester -hats pulled over their heads. Under the reversed brim of each gnome’s -yellow oiled hat a pair of keen blue eyes, laughing as Fred Bailey’s -eyes laughed, peered out at the children. Every face was brown, seamed, -and leathery. Always a small stubbed pipe belched clouds of smoke about -each lobsterman’s head. All the men were built alike, square and solid, -and they all wore yellow. - -“How do you tell them apart?” Ann asked Jo. - -“Tell them apart?” Jo echoed Ann’s question; it sounded so foolish to -him that he barely took the trouble to make any answer. “Why, I’ve -known them since I was a baby in long clothes. Why shouldn’t I be able -to tell them apart?” - -Then, seeing that she was actually puzzled, he stopped teasing and -pointed them out to her; she had seen them all before. - -“I do suppose,” he said, “that in the dim light they look as much alike -as so many Chinamen. Don’t you recognize that one down by the boat in -the water? That’s Jed; he’s a mite shorter and rounder than the rest, -though I don’t suppose you’d notice it in broad daylight. Yes, I know -he looks very different with his slicker off. The one traveling along -with the basket--he’s Walt. He’s the youngest next to me. He’ll be -fifty-three this fall. That fellow coming toward us now, he’s Pete -Simonds; he’s quite a joker.” - -“Pete Simonds was one who went out to the ship with your father the day -after she was wrecked,” said Ann, remembering the name. - -“Sure,” said Jo. “They all were there. They all came up from the -village when I told them that a boat needed help. Why shouldn’t they?” - -Ann could not take her eyes from the figures pottering up and down the -shelving beach of pebbles, fitting their dories for the trip out to -sea. These were the men who had taken a small boat across the terrible -pounding waves to go to the help of sailors who had come from no one -knew where. They had risked their lives to try to do something for -others. While Fred Bailey was telling the story Ann had listened as -if some one were reading a thrilling tale out of a magazine or a book, -without half realizing it all had actually happened. But these were -real live men, and old men at that. She had seen them, often, going -along the road on their way to the cove, but she never had thought much -about their connection with the wreck. - -She looked more closely at Pete Simonds. As she came up beside him she -noticed how powerful he was in spite of the wrappings of his cumbersome -slicker. His great fingers were gnarled and looked like steel rods. -Under his sou’wester she could see frayed ends of his snow-white hair -and his eyes shone as cold ice shines when the winter sky is unclouded. - -“Hallelujah, Jo-ey,” he shouted as he came abreast of them, shifting -his bitten pipe to the other corner of his shaven lips. “Ain’t you a -mite late? A spry boy like you layin’ abed till afternoon! You oughter -be ashamed of yourself.” - -“It wasn’t his fault,” Ann spoke bravely into the unsmiling face. “We -delayed him. He promised to take us out in the boat with him this -morning and he had to wait for us. We’re the lazy ones, not Jo.” - -“Oho!” The big foghorn voice boomed out and Ann was sure he could be -heard in the village. “So it was you, young lady, he was waiting for. -Wal, now, I don’t blame him.” - -“Hush your noise,” ordered Jo, laughing. “This is Ann Seymour and Ben -Seymour who are staying up at the homestead this summer. They don’t -know that you’re pestering them just for fun.” - -“Why, o’ course she knows I was only a-funnin’. This young lady has -good sense, I can see that.” Pete clapped one huge hand down on Ann’s -shoulder. “I wouldn’t go for to hurt her feelings.” He looked into -Ann’s eyes. “Jo’s a good boy and a first-class skipper. You couldn’t -have picked a better captain among us.” - -Jo visibly swelled under the compliment after Pete had left them, and -Ann was happy to see him so pleased. - -“It was nice of Pete to say that about you,” she said softly. - -“You bet it was,” said Jo. “He is a close-mouthed old fellow but he -sure knows how to handle a boat. And his bark is a good deal worse -than his bite. He has been awfully kind to me. He taught me just about -everything I know, what with father being so busy often when I needed -help. But Pete never said anything to make me think he was pleased with -the way I was sailing the boat. I can remember when I was very small -and came down here to watch the men; Pete used to pull a pair of oars -in his boat and make a straight trip of over twenty miles a day and -think nothing of it.” - -“You said twenty miles?” asked Ben incredulously. - -“All of that,” asserted Jo. “He was the first fisherman to buy a motor -for his dory, when everybody thought he was a fool to do it. He used to -sit here on the beach for hours reading over the book of instructions -that came with the engine, and finally he put the parts together and -made the thing work without any help from anybody. It has made a heap -of difference, having engines in the boats. A man can take care of -pretty nigh eighty pots if he has a motor boat, when he used to be held -down to twenty, pulling oars.” - -Ann had peeped into a shack where a lantern glowed. It was stacked with -barrels of salt and open kegs of steeping fishbait; nets were festooned -on the walls, coiled ropes were thrown here and there, and a yellow -goblin was preparing for his morning’s voyage out to sea. The air was -filled with the pungent smell of tar. - -Jo opened the padlock of his own shack, reached into the darkness, and -pulled out a pair of oars. Then he shut the door after him, leaving the -lock dangling from the hinge. - -“We don’t clasp it,” he explained, “while we are out on the water; -otherwise our neighbors would think we didn’t trust our tackle open to -them.” - -“Why are you taking oars, if it is a motor boat that you use?” asked -Ann. - -“In case anything should happen to the engine. It’s safer.” - -“And why aren’t you taking all the rest of the things that the other -men are working with?” inquired Ben. - -“I thought it was likely to be fine to-day, so I stored the bait kegs -in the dory last night. We can get off right now.” - -With Ben’s help he shoved the light dory into the smooth water of the -river and helped Ann aboard, suggesting that she should sit in the bow -as she was heavier than Ben. The two boys in the back would balance the -dory evenly. - -“She would have been afloat if the tide had been up a mite,” apologized -Jo; “but sometimes the water runs out on the ebb a bit faster than we -calculate and that drops the boats a mite high up the beach.” - -Ben had climbed in over the gunwale without minding his wet feet. -Sea water would dry without giving him a cold. He really had enjoyed -helping to push the dory afloat. - -Jo took his place by the engine; he could manage it and the tiller at -the same time. He spun the wheel of the motor once or twice, the engine -sputtered as the spark ignited the gasoline and then it caught in a -clear put-put. Then he seized the tiller cord and pointed the boat’s -nose steadily out toward the dark smoothly rolling waves of the sea -beyond the mouth of the river. They were off. - -Under Jo’s expert handling the boat took the first wave without effort. -With the second wave she rolled a little, but as Jo swung her more -toward the end of Douglas Head she moved steadily up and over the crest -of each running wave and slid gently down on the far side. - -From where she sat in the bow Ann could feel the dory rise and -plunge, run forward and rise to plunge again. The wind was fresh and -cool, blowing straight into her face and tossing her short hair all -topsy-turvy. The sky far over to the east had turned a blood-red with -flames of orange shooting up through the center of the mass of color. -Suddenly the first sun ray shot out over the water and touched the -racing boat. The last of the darkness melted quickly away. - -“Oh, Ben! Isn’t it wonderful!” Ann exclaimed. - -But her brother was not so enthusiastic. “I am not sure that I like it -yet,” he admitted. “I have a queer feeling in my middle; all gone, like -dropping down in a fast elevator.” - -“That comes from the pancakes you ate last night,” said Jo -unsympathetically. “Don’t think about them and you will be all right in -a minute.” - -“I forgot,” said Ann, putting her hand in her pocket. “I brought these -crackers; it will be rather a long time before breakfast and I thought -that mother would say we must eat something.” - -“I ought to have thought of that,” apologized Jo, “but I never have -anything myself.” - -But though he did not feel the crying emptiness that was upsetting Ben, -Jo ate his share. Never had crackers tasted better to any of them. - -“That was a fine idea of yours, Ann,” said Ben. - -“Now,” advised Jo, “if you should sing you’d feel even better. I’ve -heard that some doctors cure patients by giving them something worse -than they have already.” - -“That cure might work,” admitted Ben, “but it seems hard to give you -and Ann a dose of the same medicine, and besides, I don’t need any, -now. What shall I sing?” - -“Oh, we wouldn’t suffer in silence,” said Jo. “We’ll sing, too. How’s -this one?” And he began: - - Oh, it’s bonny, bonny weather - For sailormen at sea, - He pulls his ropes and trims his sails, - And sings so merrily---- - -His fresh young voice rang out high and clear in the new warm sunlight. - -“Jo!” exclaimed Ann. “I never have heard you sing. I didn’t know you -could. Where did you learn that song?” - -“I sing only when I’m in the boat,” Jo answered laughingly. “It must -be the bobbing up and down that makes me want to do it, just like a -chippie bird swinging on the branch of a tree. My mother used to sing -me that song when I was little. She taught it to me.” - -“You were old enough to remember her?” Ann asked gently. - -“Yes,” he replied, speaking as gently as Ann had asked her question, “I -remember her very well. I was nine years old when she got through.” - -Ann had learned since she came to Pine Ledge that the fishermen never -spoke of any one as dying. They talked as though the person who had -left this world had finished a task and gone somewhere else. They had -“got through” with the present job of living and were resting. - -“My mother taught the district school before she was married,” Jo -continued. “She was very smart and she taught me a great deal during -the winter evenings. In lots of ways she was like your mother; kind, -you know, with never a cross word, and always understanding when I -tried to please her. She knew lots of songs and taught them to me. How -she used to laugh because I always got the tune right even when I was -so little that I could hardly say the words! One bit she used to sing -a lot and I liked it one of the best, but though I remember the tune I -have forgotten most of the words. I wish I knew them. Maybe you know -it, Ann. It started something like this: - - Maxwelton’s braes are bonnie, - Where early fa’s the dew----” - -“Oh, I know that,” said Ben. - -“Yes, we know the rest of that, Jo. It is ‘Annie Laurie,’ an old Scotch -song, and it goes on like this,” and Ann took up the song where Jo had -been interrupted. - -“That’s the one! That’s the one!” cried Jo happily. Then he stopped -suddenly. “Hey! Here’s my first buoy, and I came near running it down.” - -Ben peered after the block of green and yellow that Jo had just missed -striking. “However do you manage to come away out here and hit a little -block of wood floating in the middle of the ocean?” - -“That’s easy. I do it every morning,” Jo answered. “And I don’t -generally pass it by, as I was going to do to-day.” - -He turned the dory in a wide circle and just before reaching the buoy -he shut off his engine and coasted alongside. Seizing a short boat book -that lay beside him on the thwart he deftly caught the rope attached to -the buoy and began to haul it in. Yard after yard ran through his hands -until finally it began to pull harder, as if a heavy load were attached -to it. - -“Here she comes,” he said. - -The huge wooden crate swung up beside the boat. Jo opened the catch -at the top and threw up the swinging lid. Then he began to take out -the lobsters. They were green and shining, with big claws waving -frantically in their effort to catch Jo’s fingers. One, two, three, and -four he fished out of the crate. The last was a small one and he threw -it back into the water. - -“It is too short,” he said. “We are not allowed to bring them in as -small as that.” - -“Aren’t they good to eat?” asked Ann. - -“They’re the sweetest and the tenderest. But if the lobstermen began -selling them there soon wouldn’t be any left to grow up. Lobsters under -ten inches long aren’t allowed to be sold in the state of Maine.” - -“What a lot you know, Jo!” exclaimed Ben admiringly. - -Jo looked a little surprised. “That’s my business; of course I know -that, about boats and lobsters. There’s a plenty of things that you -know and I don’t.” - -He dropped the three big lobsters into a wooden box in the dory. “Now -hand me one of those bait bags, Ben, if you please; out of the keg -behind you.” - -He took the bag, wet and dripping, from Ben’s outstretched hand and -fastened it into the trap, taking out the half-empty one that had been -there. Then he closed the cover, hasped it, and let the trap slip -gently down, down, away from sight in the clear green water. - -“Now for the next,” he said as he spun the wheel, and the dory once -again pointed her course up the coast. - -Jo visited twenty of his pots that morning, replacing the bait in each -before he dropped it back into the water. Ann soon learned to fill -the little bait bags which he handed across to her as he pulled them -out of the pots and she always had them ready for him by the time the -next pot had been hauled to the surface. They had taken pity on Ben -and forbidden him to handle the bait, for the smell of the fish was a -little too much for his slight attack of seasickness. - -“I’m all right now,” he insisted. - -“Next time you come out you won’t feel the motion at all,” Jo promised. -“And you’ll forget all about this as soon as you step on shore. -Everybody gets a little sick the first time they go outside in a small -boat. Ann’s just tough, that’s the only reason she has escaped.” - -“Where do you get the fish for the bait, Jo?” asked Ann after she had -filled the twentieth bag and they were sweeping in toward the cove with -the morning’s catch. - -“The lobstermen get it. We would catch our own bait, but the farm work -takes so much of my father’s time and I’m not strong enough to handle -a trawl alone. So we buy from the men who go out after fish. You see, -to go lobstering the way most of the fishermen do would take all day. -First, they have to dig their clams down on the sand beach a mile to -the south; they use the clams to bait the fish trawls. After the trawls -are baited, they have to go out and catch the fish and bring them in. -Then the fish are used to catch the lobsters.” - -“Sort of ‘great fleas have little fleas to bite ’em,’” Ben quoted. - -“I guess you are almost well now, after that,” said Jo as he swung the -boat into the river. - -Just before landing he once more cut off his engine and let the dory -drift alongside a large wooden box afloat in the smoother protected -water of the river. “This is the storage box where we put our catch -until we gather enough to pay to ship them to Boston.” - -He opened the padlock on the cover and swung the big lid up, dumping -the day’s catch into it, eighteen in all, most of them fair-sized. Jo -felt that his morning’s work had been well worth while. - -They landed, pulling the dory after them until it was slightly out of -the water. Jo threw the iron anchor well up the beach, so that the tide -would not set the boat adrift as it rose to the flood. - -When she began to walk Ann discovered that she still felt the motion -of the boat and she swayed a bit as she went up the lane. She had real -“sea-legs” Jo told her and would soon be a regular deep-sea man. - -On the way back to the shack to replace the oars and snap the lock -on the door they passed a building Ann had not noticed in the early -morning. It was merely a built-in shed between two shacks, a sort of -lean-to in a sad state of repair. The door stood open so that she -could see the man working inside as she passed by. He was dressed in -rough clothing, a pair of dark trousers and a thin shirt opened at -the throat, and what surprised her most was the fact that he was not -wearing oilskins. He was much younger than any of the other men she had -seen that morning and this, too, astonished her, for Jo had said that -Walt was the youngest of the fishermen, while this man could not have -been as old as her own father. He wore no hat and his thick hair was -unkempt. She could see, even as she walked by, that he was unshaven and -looked like a tramp--a rather interesting tramp, however. - -“Who is that man?” she asked Jo. - -“Him? That’s Warren Bain.” Jo’s voice sounded contemptuous. - -“He doesn’t seem like the other fishermen.” Ann did not wish to show -her interest, especially as Jo did not seem eager to talk about the -stranger. But she was feeling inquisitive about him and she had already -learned that Jo talked more freely if he were not being questioned. - -“He’s a queer fellow,” Jo continued after a moment, as though it had -taken him a while to decide whether or not to gossip. “He don’t belong -to these parts. Came from Down East this spring and set out lobstering -from the cove here. We don’t quite take to his coming, because there -are more lobsters down his way than there are here and we feel that -it would be fairer for him to keep to his home grounds. Besides, he -ain’t been none too friendly with the men since he came, and he pries -into other folks’ private affairs a good deal. I haven’t got anything -against him, but I just don’t like his way.” - -As they passed the open door of the shed Warren Bain lifted his head -from his work and saw them. Then he moved slowly and lazily to the -doorway and watched them. He said nothing, although he looked Ann and -Ben over from head to foot. Ann was annoyed by his intense stare and -she resented the fact that he did not reply immediately to Jo’s curt -greeting. - -“Fine morning,” Jo had said when the man first noticed them. - -Finally Bain shifted his eyes a little from Ann and Ben and relaxed -against the side post of his shack, lounging comfortably. “Good -enough,” he said, and nodded his head to Jo. - -“You kids stayin’ up at the Baileys’?” he asked with a slow drawl. - -Trying not to be angry, Ann answered, “Yes. We are spending the summer -with Jo.” - -“Hum,” and Bain brought his piercing eyes back to Ann’s face. “Where do -you spend all o’ your spare time?” - -Jo interrupted Ann before she could answer such an astonishingly rude -question. “I don’t know that that is for you to worry about,” Jo said, -and though his words were discourteous, his voice was quietly polite. - -“Oh,” Warren Bain apologized, “I was just interested. I didn’t mean to -be pryin’. It really ain’t none of my business.” - -Ann thought that he was going to laugh at their indignation, but he did -not. He lounged against the door and watched them as they went away up -the lane. - -When she thought that they must be completely out of sight, Ann turned -excitedly to Jo. “You don’t suppose that he knows anything about -the wrecked schooner?” she whispered breathlessly, although the man -couldn’t hear, not possibly. “Perhaps he doesn’t want to have us play -on it and perhaps interfere with whatever he plans to do.” - -“Gee, Ann!” exclaimed Ben. “You have brains! I’ll bet that he knows -something! No man would have acted in such a strange way for no reason -at all.” - -“What do you think, Jo?” insisted Ann. - -Jo did not answer for another moment. He thought for a little space, -piecing together all the different things that had happened--especially -trying to tie them up with that lantern and the fire in the woods. - -“I think you are right, Ann,” he said at last. “I believe he does know -something, and we will watch him as well as the ship.” - - - - -CHAPTER VII - -_PAINTING THE DEER_ - - -Ann did not have to watch alone for the lantern that might again be -seen flickering and swaying across the deck of the schooner. The band -mounted guard in turn and watched so industriously that Mr. and Mrs. -Seymour began to wonder what the children hoped to see out in the night. - -Jo took upon himself the watch during the late hours, for he believed -that no one would be likely to venture aboard the wreck while lamps -still glowed from house windows so near. At least a man would not carry -a lantern there during the early hours of the night but would creep -about in the shadows or hang a covering over the portholes so that -whatever light was needed would be hidden. - -“I think that the reason you saw it that first night, Ann, was because -pop and I go to bed so early. Whoever it was got careless. He thought -we always were asleep by that hour and he didn’t know that you folks -were coming.” - -The evenings were long now; the sun did not set until after supper, and -it made the time of watching for a lantern very short. - -Mr. Seymour had been interested in hearing about the buck deer that -Robin Hood had tracked to its lair and he joined with the band in -several early forays. They picked their way stealthily through -underbrush that dripped with dew and waited silently by the swamp pond, -counting discomfort nothing if only they could sometime see a deer -drink. - -At last they were rewarded in the half-light of one clear dawn. A big -buck stepped gently out from the end of the narrow trail they had -followed that first day. He slowly approached the pond, cautious at -first. But Jo had chosen a hiding place where the breeze would not -betray their presence and the animal soon felt perfectly safe. First -he nosed about through the tender young marsh grass which grew close -to the water’s edge. He pulled a little of it, here and there, before -he raised his head. Whether he signaled that all was safe the human -beings could never know, although Jo said afterward that deer had ways -of warning their own kind, but when he had taken several mouthfuls of -grass he threw up his head and looked carefully about him, sniffing -into the light rustling breeze. - -Down the same trail by which he had entered, his doe came with mincing -steps to take her place beside him. The legs that carried her slim body -so easily seemed no thicker than the twigs of the trees through which -she came so swiftly and quietly, and her big soft ears pricked forward -over her gentle brown eyes. - -The children hardly dared to breathe and they spoke no louder than a -whisper even after the deer had vanished. - -“Oh, father!” sighed Ben. “How lovely they are! You will show me how to -draw them, won’t you?” - -So Allan-a-Dale resigned temporarily from Robin Hood’s band and became -the constant companion of his father. After his beans were hoed and his -potatoes hilled--for both corn and potatoes had sprouted rapidly and -gave promise of making an excellent crop--Ben took his canvas and easel -and went with his father to the swamp pond. Here they set up their -props and worked every day. - -Mr. Seymour showed Ben how to plan his picture, so that his drawing -would be balanced and the deer stand straight on their own four legs. - -“You will have to decide first of all, Ben, just how the deer balances -his weight on his feet while he is jumping, and then draw him so that -this point of balance comes as a straight right angle up from the line -where you are going to draw in your ground. That point of balance is -what makes people and animals stand upright, for otherwise they would -fall down. So when you draw pictures of them, you have to plan very -carefully to get an effect of stability in your drawing.” - -In beginning his own picture Mr. Seymour planned to paint the swamp -first, and then place the deer in position some morning after he had -had an opportunity to sketch them rapidly from life. He hoped to see -them again, poised on the edge of the water before him. Consequently he -busied himself in transferring the pond with its green motionless water -surrounded by the dark pine woods to a canvas that was twice the size -of the one that Ben was working on. - -Often the rest of the band gathered around the painters to watch the -growth of the two pictures, for they felt a personal interest and -responsibility because of their share in discovering the deer. Jo liked -to watch the brush in Mr. Seymour’s quick deft fingers and see how a -few strokes of color here and there made a splotch of green look like -a pine tree. Under his eyes Jo saw the swamp grow on the gray canvas. -It was the swamp, and yet it was not exactly like the swamp itself, for -Mr. Seymour had left out a great deal of underbrush and many of the -trees. When Jo asked him why, he explained: - -“When you look at that pond out there with the trees for a background, -it fills the entire space so far as you are concerned while you are -looking at it. That is the first thing you notice. Now what is the -second thing?” - -“Well, I guess,” Jo ventured, “that I notice next that the pine trees -are pointed up into the sky, all jagged, while down below the trees -come together and I can’t separate one from another. It is all a -darkness.” - -“Yes,” said Mr. Seymour, “but doesn’t that mean something more to you -than just a lot of pine trees growing together?” - -“I don’t exactly know what you mean,” Jo answered. “They are pine -trees, most of them, although I can see one or two foliage trees among -them--shouldn’t wonder but what they are swamp maples.” - -“You’re too definite, Jo.” And Mr. Seymour laughed. “I didn’t mean to -ask you to look for the other trees, because you can see them only when -you look carefully.” - -“I know what you mean, father, and you shouldn’t ask questions--it -takes too long. You should tell Jo right out.” Ann looked at her father -with her eyes twinkling. “You wanted Jo to say that the first thing he -saw in looking into a space filled with trees was the line they grew -in.” - -“Of course,” Jo agreed. “Everything grows in a line or a clump.” - -“That is just what I mean,” Mr. Seymour replied. “After you decide that -the space before you is filled with trees you next decide what the line -or pattern of the background of your picture is to be. After you decide -this, you can plan how to transfer the trees which fill the big space -into the much smaller space that is your canvas. You do it by following -the pattern which you see before you.” - -“But you can’t get all that swamp on a little canvas,” Jo protested. - -“Exactly,” said Mr. Seymour. “And that’s why I am leaving out so much. -By following the pattern of the pine trees for my background and the -twisting shore of the pond for my foreground, I can shrink the whole -swamp to the size of my canvas even though I leave out a great deal -that your eye sees growing there in the living wood. Now, while you are -looking and comparing so closely, watching picture and swamp at the -same time, the swamp, in contrast, seems magnificent. But next winter -when you see only the picture you will forget about these details that -mean so much to you now, and you will think the picture looks quite -like the swamp as you remember it.” - -“Gee!” Jo said sadly. “You’ve forgotten that I won’t be seeing the -picture next winter.” He scraped the toe of his boot disconsolately -against the loose pebbles. “You aren’t thinking of going home too soon?” - -“Not for ages!” exclaimed Ann. “And I’ll write to you every week after -we get back,” she promised. - -“We’ll sign our names to the same letter,” said Ben. - -“You won’t!” Ann assured him, in her most decided manner. “If I write a -letter I am going to be the only one to sign it. He will have to write -his own letters, won’t he, father?” - -“It looks as if he would have to.” Mr. Seymour laughed. “I know that -Jo would like to get more than one a week through the winter. How about -it, Jo?” - -“You bet I would,” answered Jo, his eyes shining. - -Ben was almost entirely interested in painting the animals. He was -trying to draw them from his recollection of the leaping buck. He -got the action very well, Mr. Seymour told him, but he would have to -practice more on the outlines, so that the leaping figure would look -more like a deer. - -“When I saw that deer,” Ben explained excitedly, “I felt as if I were -jumping in exactly the same way. That is why I am sure about how the -lines should go.” - -“With a little patience, Ben,” his father promised, “I feel certain -that you will be able to draw.” - -“And I shall be very famous?” - -“I can’t promise that. The famous--but of course you don’t mean -‘famous’; you aren’t using the right word and I can’t have you saying -it. You are trying to ask me whether you can do work that will satisfy -yourself, and that no one can prophesy. You will have to work hard. -Don’t think that you can be anything you wish by merely wishing it. And -besides, some of the greatest painters have only made a bare living -after studying and working all their lives long.” - -“I don’t care if I don’t make any money,” said Ben stoutly, “if I can -paint as much as I like.” - -“Paint costs money,” said Mr. Seymour rather sadly. “And an artist has -to feed himself and his family.” - -“Don’t you worry about that, Ben,” Ann protested. “When Jo and I get -our ranch started you can come and live with us--can’t he, Jo?” - -“Sure he can,” Jo assented readily. “And he can paint all the time; -there will be lots of animals out there, steers and horses. And we can -live on potatoes and beans.” - -Mr. Seymour seemed to think that this was very funny, for he laughed -heartily. - -“I’ll come to visit you once in a while,” said Helen. “But I am going -to marry a millionaire and live on candy and nuts.” - -“You’ll be glad to eat some of Jo’s beans, in that case,” said Ben -quite positively. He once had known what it was to eat too much candy. -“And if Jo lets me live there with him and with Ann, I’ll promise to do -my full share of hoeing.” - -“Father will come, too,” said Ann eagerly, “even though he will be the -greatest painter in America by that time. When our ranch is paying, -neither father nor mother nor Mr. Bailey will need to do any more work -for money.” - -“That’s a very kind promise,” said Mr. Seymour. “And I shall expect to -enjoy visiting you. Helen can bring some of her candy and nuts, for -they will make us a pleasant change from a steady diet of beans and -potatoes.” - -In the evenings Ben was tracing his deer drawings on a piece of -shellacked cardboard which he planned to cut into stencils, so that he -could stencil some new curtains for the Boston apartment, curtains with -deer leaping all along the bottom. - - - - -[Illustration] - -CHAPTER VIII - -_A MAN WITH A LANTERN_ - - -Meanwhile Jo made a ladder exactly long enough to reach from the -ground to the porthole of the captain’s cabin. He had reasoned that -the band would be safer outside the ship; he was afraid, and with good -reason, of being caught in a trap. But if some one were sleeping on the -blankets in the captain’s stateroom Jo could look in and see who was -there without disturbing the sleeper. The man could be caught unaware -before he had time to hide. - -Jo made his ladder by splitting a young green cedar. He selected a -straight slender tree, cut it down and trimmed the branches close to -the trunk. It looked like a beautiful pole with the bark still on it. -Then Jo struck the ax along the grain of the log, inserting wedges -in the open gashes. This split the tree evenly as he pounded the -wedges in. Then he pared the two pieces smooth and nailed flat bits of -boxboard across for rungs, making sure that every nail pointed down as -he drove it home. - -“When we put our weight on each rung,” he explained to the interested -band, “we shall drive the nails farther into the cedar instead of -working them loose. Lots of people don’t think of that and their weight -comes down in such direction that gradually the nails are pried out. -I don’t trust a ladder that I haven’t made myself. I’m always kind of -nervous when I’m up on it.” - -When the ladder was finished it looked bulky and heavy, as homemade -ladders always look, and Ann was astonished to find that she could lift -it easily. - -Jo explained that, too. “That’s because of the wood I chose. Cedar and -spruce and the pine that grows up North here are lighter than hemlock -or yellow pine. Yellow pine comes from down South, and you might as -well try to lift a stone. And hemlock is not much good for such work as -this, as it cracks too easily and once you drive a nail into it you can -never pull it out again. Hemlock is used for rough work only, because -it is most unreliable. It will crack when you least expect it and let -you fall.” - -“I should think oak would be the strongest,” said Ben. - -“Oak is about the best lumber that grows in these parts,” Jo agreed, -“but it is worth a lot of money and it is hard to get, these days. -So it is used for finish wood, that is, for furniture and expensive -flooring. And supposing we could get it, it weighs more than yellow -pine. I’ll bet you couldn’t lift a ladder made of oak, much less carry -it down to the wreck; I know I shouldn’t hanker after that job. It sure -is pretty wood, though; the grain runs so evenly.” - -“The grain is the darker lines through the boards, isn’t it?” asked -Ann. “We helped mother scrape the paint from some chairs last winter -and then we smoothed the wood with sandpaper so that the grain would -show. They were lovely when we had finished. They looked like satin.” - -“Sure,” said Jo. “And the grain comes from the way the tree grows. The -longer it takes a tree to grow the finer its grain. Oak is grained -straight with narrow lines, and yellow pine has a grain that looks like -broad bands of ribbon running through it and it shows much pinker in -color. The northern pine--white pine, we call it--is so soft that you -can’t see the grain; the boards are all the same color and are very -white and the wood is easier to cut with a saw than any hard wood.” - -“That is the strangest ladder I ever saw,” said Ben, looking at it -critically. - -Ann had thought the same thing although she had not cared to say it -to Jo. She believed in Jo and he must have had some reason for making -it as he had. He had kept his two long poles far apart and the rungs -were twice as long as in the ordinary ladder. Naturally it was a short -ladder because the porthole was not very high above their heads when -they stood below it on the beach, but why make it so very wide? - -“It is wide because I wanted it to be very steady and because, if it’s -wide enough, more’n one of us can look in the port at the same time.” - -“Gee! A big idea, Jo!” exclaimed Ben admiringly. - -“I think that three of us can get up on it. Let’s practice. We don’t -want to make much noise when we’re really using it against the side -of the wreck. Anybody inside the cabin could hear us like rats in the -wall.” - -So Jo placed the ladder under a small window in the barn. He climbed up -until his head was opposite the window and then Ben followed. Jo stood -as near one end of his rung as possible and Ben stood on the other end; -they had one foot each on the ladder while the other twined about the -pole. Then Ann came up between them. She was glad that she was thin and -lanky! - -“Pretty good,” said Jo. “I think that we can manage that.” - -In order to be ready for any emergency they carried the ladder down to -the road and hid it in the bushes that made a hedge between the road -and the meadow, directly opposite the wreck. - -They had not made their preparations a day too soon, for that very -night as Ann was ready to hop into bed she heard a tap against her -window, a secret tap, the signal of the band. She pulled back the -curtains and saw Jo standing outside in the moonlight. - -“Somebody is coming,” he said in low tones. “See there,” and he pointed -across the meadow. - -At first Ann could see nothing; then a small light flashed and -instantly disappeared. - -“I thought he wouldn’t bring a lantern again,” said Jo with quiet -satisfaction in his powers of deduction. “He has a flashlight this -time.” - -The gleam showed again and swung in a semicircle over the meadow. - -“He don’t know his way,” said Jo. “He has to watch pretty carefully -where he is going.” - -“I’ll get Ben,” Ann whispered excitedly. “Helen said that she didn’t -want to go to the boat at night--and I don’t believe that mother would -like to have her go even if she wished it. We’ll dress quickly and be -with you in a minute.” - -“All right,” agreed Jo. “Get a move on you. If we can reach the road -before the man gets there we will have a fine chance to see who he is -as he goes by. I’ll keep track of the light while you’re getting ready.” - -“Ben!” whispered Ann. “Are you awake? Robin Hood waits for his men--the -marauders are upon us.” - -“What’s that?” said Ben, sitting up in bed, and feeling his hair rise. - -“Some one is walking toward the wreck with a flashlight! Don’t talk out -loud; we don’t want to be told that we mustn’t go out!” - -“Is Jo ready to go?” - -“Yes. I’ll beat you at dressing.” Ann whisked back to her room. “And if -I’m ready first we’ll go without you!” - -“If you beat me you’ll be beating some one worth while,” answered Ben -as he swung out of bed and thrust his bare feet into his shoes without -bothering with stockings. But in spite of his omissions he finished -at the same time as Ann and reached her side as she climbed over her -window sill. - -“Where is he?” she asked Jo. - -“About halfway, I should judge. Time to see his light now.” - -Even as Jo spoke the light flashed yellow. - -“Just where I thought he would be,” whispered Jo exultantly. “Now -follow me and be quick and quiet, for you can bet he is watching and -listening or he wouldn’t be traveling so slowly. Keep in the shadows as -much as possible and remember he is less likely to see us when he has -the light. Light shows up things that are close by but it blinds pretty -well for distance.” - -Jo crouched low into the shadow of the ground so that he would not be -outlined against the white house in the moonlight. Lithe as a cat he -sped into the shadow of a tree a short distance away. - -“He won’t move on from there until the light shows,” Ben said to Ann. -“Wait until he runs again and then we will go together to the tree -where he is now.” - -The light flashed almost immediately. - -Ann could see Jo’s dark slim bulk speed on to a bush and shoulder to -shoulder she and Ben reached the shelter of his first hiding place. Jo -waited where he was and in the next flash his followers slid over to -his patch of darkness. - -There was shadow most of the way now and they quickly reached the -underbrush that bordered the road by the wreck. They were several -minutes ahead of the man with the flashlight. - -“Flatten down,” Jo warned softly. “He won’t expect anybody to track him -from this side, so there’s nothing to be scared of now. He’ll make for -the far side of the ship.” - -They could hear the sound of heavy boots walking cautiously along the -road. Nearer and nearer it came and Ann had to swallow hard. Although -she hoped that Jo was right when he said there was no danger while they -were lying in the bushes, she could not help fearing that the man must -hear them as plainly as they heard him. Ben’s arm trembled where it -pressed against her shoulder and she knew that he felt as she did. - -Jo lay a little ahead of them, where he could peep through an opening -that gave him a good view of the road. “Almost here now,” he warned -under his breath. “If he swings his light this way hide your face but -don’t move a muscle unless you have to.” - -The man was walking in the dark now. As he drew closer to the ship he -walked more quietly and more quickly, as if he were stalking something -in the night. Ann could see the shadows cast by his legs as he passed -in the moonlight and he almost touched Jo, but the boy lay as if -frozen. He did not even tremble and Ann knew that he would have kept -exactly as quiet if the big boots had trodden on him. - -The man went directly to the prow of the boat. Vaguely in the moonlight -the figure of the demon hung over him. The man looked up at it and Ann -heard him give a low chuckling laugh. “Well, old boy,” he said, “you -are one grand guard for the old boat and you keep her well protected -for me.” - -Then Ann thought that the torch must have slipped from his hands, for -it turned as he clutched it and the light went on. The reflection -flashed across the man’s face. - -“Warren Bain!” Ben breathed close to her ear. - -If Ann had not remembered Jo’s instructions she would have hushed Ben -impatiently. She felt certain that he had been heard. Warren Bain--for -it was he--shut off his light instantly and stood listening. Ben, -realizing that perhaps he had betrayed the band, pressed so close to -the ground that Ann almost expected to see him disappear into it. - -But Warren evidently was satisfied that whatever sound he had heard -came from the noises of the night. After a moment he started on his -business again. He slipped his flashlight into his coat pocket and -then leaped up into the dangling irons that were swaying from the bow. -Having mounted these he reached up and caught the top of the rail with -both hands and pulled himself up to the deck. For a minute he stood -erect, outlined against the bright sky, and then he strode forward and -vanished from sight. - -“He’s going to the cabin,” whispered Jo. “Now’s our chance to get the -ladder placed.” - -There was no need of concealment for the next moment or two, and the -ladder was beside them in the bushes. Jo raised it noiselessly against -the side of the wreck. - -Stealthily he mounted, peered through the window, and listened. Ann -thought of the buck deer, listening by the pond. Then Jo beckoned to -Ben. Quickly Ben climbed after him and placed himself in position where -the two boys balanced each other perfectly. Then Ann went up. - -The boys stood one rung above her and could peer into porthole one on -either side over her head. Ann found that from where she stood she -could just manage to see over the bottom edge of the round window. She -could dodge down quickly if Bain happened to glance toward the porthole. - -He was coming now. How different his steps sounded from the strange -sussh-sussh she had heard that other day when the band visited the -wreck. Bain walked lightly but he came steadily with abrupt steps that -sounded like those of a human being. The other sound, she felt sure -now, could not have been human. But what had made that curious noise? -Ann could not bring herself to believe in ghosts. - -As Bain entered the captain’s cabin he flashed his light into all the -corners and the band dodged out of the glow. The port was so high from -the floor that there was no danger of Bain’s seeing anything that was -not directly in front of the opening. - -In a minute they pulled back where they could see and all three watched -the man as he examined the cabin. He gave most attention to the table. -He pulled the drawer out, banging it on the floor and listening for -some sound that would indicate a secret compartment; then he took out -his pocketknife and ran the open blade around the joining of the wood. -It was evident that he found nothing. When he began to work he fixed -his torch in his belt in such a way as to allow the light to follow his -hands and let him see clearly what he was doing. Once in a while he -would stop and listen intently, and each time he took up his task again -he worked faster than before, as if he expected interruption. - -As he searched his dark face was very intent. But it did not appear -evil. He looked far more friendly to Ann to-night than when she had -seen him at the cove. But in spite of that she had no desire to let him -know that Robin Hood’s band were spying upon him. - -Under his hands one of the table legs suddenly loosened; apparently it -had been screwed together in the middle where the crack was hidden by a -line of decoration. The piece in Bain’s hands was hollow and from it he -took a roll of paper. He opened it and grunted with satisfaction as he -read. Then he slipped the paper into his pocket and replaced the table -leg carefully, taking great pains to screw it tight. - -He was searching for something more than the paper, for he crossed to -the closet and began to shake and finger the clothes hanging there. -When he found nothing in them he ran his hands up and down the closet -walls, tapping them at intervals. Evidently he found what he wanted; as -he latched the door he wore a pleased smile and as he turned away he -said, “Stay there, sweet babies, some one will come for you.” - -Such a funny thing to say! The words had no meaning for the three -listeners. - -Bain’s light flashed across the blankets in the berth. Ann could feel -Jo start in astonishment, and glancing toward him Ann saw that his -eyes, too, were riveted on the berth. She followed them and realized -that the blankets were matted down as they were before Jo had shaken -them that other day. Some one had been sleeping on them again; some one -who had come aboard in spite of their vigilance and walked about the -boat without a light. And it was not Warren Bain; that was perfectly -evident, for he had taken his flashlight out of his belt and was -running it slowly over the blankets. - -Suddenly Bain stopped. He was listening intently. Had he heard their -breathing or perhaps heard them moving against the side of the ship -above his head? Ann was quite prepared to slip from her precarious -perch and scamper away to the safe farmhouse. - -But no, he was not paying any attention to the porthole. Slowly he -turned his head and glanced back over his shoulder to the door. Ann -recognized the movement. So he was beginning to feel that strange -sensation, too. Ann strained her ears to hear the mysterious noise that -he must be hearing. - -From the deck above the three, near the top of the ladder, faintly came -the phantom sussh-sussh. Slowly it drew nearer and louder, then it came -from a spot farther away; always moving nearer or farther, it came with -the same rhythm, the first sussh heavy and scraping, the second lighter -and with more of a rasp. - -“Hold tight,” whispered Jo. “We’ll weather it through with Warren.” - -But Warren had no intention of weathering through any such meeting. -He reached his free hand into his coat pocket and brought out a heavy -automatic which he cocked. Shifting the flashlight into his left hand -he rushed out of the door and up the companionway. - -“Hurry,” ordered Jo. “Slide into the shadows under the boat. Jump, -Ben; I’m letting go of my side.” - -The boys dropped together and Ann stepped down to the ground. Jo barely -had time to take the ladder and cut under the stern of the boat. From -their hiding place they could hear Bain run across the deck and they -saw him swing out over the prow and drop. He switched off his flash as -he landed on the beach and crept into the underbrush where the children -had hidden to watch him go by. Then he was gone. - -The shuffling noise had ceased as the three left the wreck and went -home. - -When they were once more under Ann’s window Jo exclaimed, “There goes -Bain now! Out toward the swamp.” - -And a sudden pinprick of light showed beneath the dense growth of pine -on the edge of the wood. - -“He was not the one who left that fire,” said Ann with conviction. - -“How do you know?” asked Ben. - -“I don’t actually know,” admitted Ann, “but I feel sure.” - -“Jo, what do you think was in that roll of paper?” Ben asked. - -“Perhaps it was a few sheets from the lost log,” suggested Jo. “But if -it was that, a table leg was a funny place to keep it.” - -“You don’t suppose that Warren was the captain of the ship?” Ann -questioned. - -“I thought of that,” said Jo. “But if he was captain, what reason had -he for skulking aboard in that fashion? He would have full right to -occupy the ship.” - -“Besides,” said Ben, “Warren Bain searched for that paper; if he had -been the captain he would have remembered where he hid it.” - -“Perhaps,” agreed Ann. She was loath to believe that Bain was where he -had no business to be, for suddenly she had begun to like the man. In a -moment she had another idea. “Perhaps the captain stole something from -Warren and hid it, and Warren has been searching for it.” - -“That sounds more like it,” said Jo. “But if it were the log that he -took, had he any right to it? Logs aren’t included in a ship’s salvage.” - -“It sounded to me,” said Ann, “as if he found something that he didn’t -take away with him. Did you hear the strange thing that he said as he -came away from the closet?” - -“Yes!” exclaimed Ben. “‘Stay there until some one comes for you, -babies.’ Only of course it wasn’t babies--they’d have starved to death -before now.” - -Ann and Jo laughed at that. “I guess you’re right about that, Ben,” -said Jo. - -“And what do you think he is doing, back there in the woods?” said Ann. - -“Ask me another,” answered Jo. “I’m stumped about the whole thing.” - -And then he slipped away in the darkness and Ann and Ben crept silently -over the window sill. For the second time that night Ann undressed and -went to bed. - - - - -CHAPTER IX - -_A DAY OF MYSTERIES_ - - -“Ben,” Mrs. Seymour asked next morning at the breakfast table, “did you -bring home the cheese yesterday when you came back from the village?” - -“Yes, mother,” Ben answered. “I left it with the other packages on the -bench outside the kitchen door.” - -“You are sure that you didn’t leave it in the store?” Mrs. Seymour -was not questioning Ben’s statement, for she, too, was quite certain -that the cheese had been accounted for when Ben had dropped all his -marketing on the seat by the door and checked each purchase by the list -she had given him. - -“I know I brought it with me,” repeated Ben. “This chil’ loves cheese -too well to let himself forget anything as important as that. Didn’t -you find it out there?” - -Mrs. Seymour shook her head without answering. - -“Probably it dropped behind the bench, or perhaps it is in the -buckboard,” Mr. Seymour suggested. He knew that his wife must be -thinking of Fred Bailey’s warning against leaving any food outside the -door. This was the first time that the advice had been overlooked. - -Followed by Ann, he went out to look for the missing cheese. There -might be remnants left to indicate what had happened to it. But there -was not a trace to be found anywhere. He and Ann looked at each other -incredulously. As they stood there, not yet quite ready to put their -questions into words, they saw Mr. Bailey running toward them from the -back field, holding something in his outstretched hand. He was waving -frantically to them in most unusual excitement. As he came closer Ann -could see that what he carried was a package wrapped in torn paper. - -Ben, standing in the kitchen doorway, recognized this bundle and hailed -Mr. Bailey. “Hey!” he called. “Where did you find our cheese?” - -“So it be yours,” Fred gasped as he stopped before them, very short of -breath. “I thought it would be, but I wanted to make sure of it.” - -Ann saw that the man was pale beneath his tan and the laughter had fled -from his blue eyes. Whatever he might have to say now could have no -joke hidden behind it. - -“I left that cheese out on the bench and forgot it,” Ben explained. - -“I warned you folks not to leave food lyin’ around outdoors; I told you -that you mustn’t leave anything that would tempt spirits to come from -the sea and pester us,” said Mr. Bailey. “I don’t know as we shall -ever be free from them again,” he added despairingly. - -“I never heard that spirits were especially fond of cheese,” commented -Mr. Seymour. “Where did you find it, Fred?” he asked quietly. - -“Up by the stone wall in the back field,” Mr. Bailey half whispered, -staring at the package that he was holding. “Mr. Seymour, Mrs. Seymour, -marm, something terrible must have been going on this past night.” - -Ann was tremendously impressed by his attitude; he was so tense and -earnest. Never had she seen any grown person so moved and anxious. She -looked at Ben and saw that he shared her own feeling, while Helen’s -face was white with excitement. - -But the assurance of Mr. Seymour’s calm reply steadied the children and -they turned with relief to watch him while he spoke. “Why are you so -sure it was taken during the night? Why not in the afternoon? Much more -likely then, I think, for if it had been lying on this bench all the -afternoon and evening somebody would have noticed it and taken it into -the pantry.” - -Just then Jo came across from the barnyard and stood beside his father, -listening. Ann could tell from his drawn face and wide eyes that he was -as seriously upset as was Mr. Bailey. - -“I’ll admit that I’m puzzled,” said Mr. Seymour, “though your theory, -Bailey, is perfect nonsense. Who in the name of reason would have -carried off a great chunk of cheese?” - -“Not one of your hens, I suppose?” asked Mrs. Seymour. - -At that the children laughed, even Jo; the cheese was nearly as big as -a hen. The Seymours all liked cheese, plain and in rarebits, and as -they went to the village for groceries only twice a week Mrs. Seymour -had ordered what might have seemed an overgenerous supply. - -“What have you missed at other times?” asked Mr. Seymour. - -“Milk, first of all,” Fred answered. “I put a pail down in the yard and -turned my back on it a minute to go into the house and when I looked -at it again it was lowered a couple of inches. Next time, they tipped -a pail over and spilled the whole of it. And then they took a piece of -meat--walked off with Jo’s and my Sunday dinner.” - -“Who could have done it?” exclaimed Mrs. Seymour, and Ann felt a shiver -of excitement running down her spinal cord; her thought flashed back to -that shushing noise on the wreck. - -“Who done it?” echoed Mr. Bailey. “That grinnin’ sea demon on the prow -o’ that ship is who done it.” - -“Rubbish, Fred!” Mr. Seymour came out with his flat denial. But he -looked very grave. “I don’t like to believe there is a sneak thief in -the neighborhood; in fact, I can’t believe it.” - -And even gentle Mrs. Seymour was indignant. Her eyes shone with -sympathy as she said, “And these things are too unkind for any one to -have done them with the idea that he was playing a practical joke. Your -Sunday dinner! How mean!” - -“Practical jokes? Sneak thieves?” Mr. Bailey repeated scornfully. “I -told you what’s been troubling everything around here. It’s that devil -figurehead.” - -“Bailey! I never would have thought you capable of such superstition. -It comes from living alone so much, I suppose, and being so close to -the sea and the sky. Are you going to be frightened by the mischief of -some bold rascal of a woodchuck or stray dog? Put the cheese on the -kitchen table, Ben. Before we throw it away I want to examine it and -see whether there are marks of fingers or claws and teeth, to try to -get some clue to who or what has been handling it.” - -“Who or what about says the whole of it,” said Mr. Bailey as he turned -away to go back to his farm work. - -Ann thought that he looked very tired and anxious. Why had that ship -ever come to his shore to worry him? She wished more than ever that she -could do something to solve the mystery; she hoped still to accomplish -what she had promised herself to do, but she was so slow about it! - -“What are you going to do, Jo?” Ben called after him. - -“Goin’ down to the beach to get a load of small pebbles and sand--want -to come?” - -“Yes, of course I do,” answered Ben, forgetting that half of his time -lately had been given to painting. - -“And I’m coming, too,” called Ann. “Bring three shovels, Ben.” - -“Haven’t but two,” Jo called back, laughing. “You can drive.” - -So down to the beach they went, joggling over the ruts and rocks in the -two-wheeled cart as sensible Jerry plodded steadily along regardless of -the bumping cart behind his heels. - -A great change had come over Ben during these weeks at Pine Ledge. -Instead of the boy who had hardly known whether or not to help carry -the bags at the station that first day, he now took his place beside Jo -and shoveled with him, tossing the shovelfuls of beach sand into the -high cart and keeping pace with Jo. This pleased Ben very much, for -though he could not lift as heavy a load it was only because he was -younger and shorter than Jo; proportionally he was doing exactly the -same amount of work. He did not say anything about it, but Ann noticed, -and so did Jo, - -“Pretty good work,” he said approvingly. “You’re getting up a fine -muscle.” - -In the afternoon great thunderheads of clouds began to climb up -toward the sun and blacken the sky. The Seymours were up in a field -watching Mr. Bailey and Jo as they laid a platform of cement in the -milk house for which the beach gravel had been carried that morning. -Already squalls were sweeping in from the sea in dark and menacing -blots, and to the Baileys this did not promise to be merely a passing -thundershower but an all-night deluge. - -“See the gulls coming in,” said Jo. “They are beginning to notice the -storm, just like I said they would, even before the blow begins.” - -Ben and Ann looked to where Jo was pointing, and sure enough, a -scattering of gulls showed white as they clustered about the mouth of -the river, rising up on spread wings and crying spasmodically with a -plaintive note that sounded almost human. - -“They will ride with the wind that way until they get fed up,” Jo -explained, “and then shift back to the shelter of the swamp pond.” He -looked at the clouds with a speculative eye. “Along about sunset they -should be taking to the pond. We’ll watch carefully and see how they -act, for that will show us, very likely, how heavy the wind will blow -before morning.” - -To Ann and Ben the sky looked as though the storm would break in a -few minutes, for the clouds were black and massed, with a white misty -foam along their edges. But Jo’s prophecy was right. The clouds hung -steadfastly just over the top of the pine forest, as though fixed in -that one spot, moiling and running in layers over themselves but not -advancing. The Seymours kept glancing at the sky, for it made the -afternoon seem very strange and threatening. - -But Mr. Bailey’s thoughts could not have been on the approaching storm, -for suddenly he looked up at Ann, who was standing near by, watching -him as he smoothed the cement with gentle unhurried strokes of his -trowel. - -“I’ve been thinkin’ about what your father said this mornin’, kinder -turnin’ it over in my mind. And I don’t know but what he’s right about -that cheese; he was talkin’ to me after dinner an’ he says--an’ he -showed ’em to me--that there’s marks of dog teeth on the cheese. But -there ain’t any stray dog around here; there couldn’t be, without Jo or -me catchin’ sight of it now and then. Maybe it’s a wolf. They’ve been -known to come down from the backwoods, now and again. But that old sea -demon, I don’t like him at all. Ain’t got no use for him. We would all -be better off without him.” - -“I don’t like him,” Ann agreed most readily. “But what can you ever do -to get rid of him before the wreck breaks up?” - -“I’ve made up my mind to fix him,” Fred answered grimly. “I’ll chop him -off the boat and burn him up on the beach.” - -“Oh!” Ann danced gayly in anticipation. “Won’t that be fun! We’ll have -a bonfire and bake potatoes in it. And that will be the end of the old -grinning demon.” - -“And we’ll roast some of our own corn,” Ben chimed in. “Don’t you -suppose, Jo, that we could find a few ears that would be ripe enough?” - -“Shouldn’t wonder,” Jo answered. “Lobsters are mighty good cooked in -the open, too. After the rocks get hot you put the lobsters under a -pile of wet seaweed and steam them. We’d do it to-night only the storm -would open right on top of us.” - -Mr. Bailey squinted up at the western sky. The clouds were weaving in -and out above the tops of the pines. The dropping sun had now tinged -their white edges with a line of yellow fire. The squalls out at sea -had melted together into one great blot of dark shadow relieved here -and there by a bit of foam that showed startlingly white against the -somber blackness. - -“You two had better skite for the house now,” he said. “Jo and I will -hurry and finish this work before the rain comes, and get the critters -under cover. The thunder makes them run the pasture.” - -“The critters” were Jerry, the horse, waiting with the empty cart, and -Maude, the cow, feeding placidly in the pasture near by although she -had more than once looked up at the sky as though she understood what -was coming. - -“Let us take Maude and Jerry,” begged Ann. “We’ll get them into the -shed.” - -“All right,” Mr. Bailey consented. “Only get a move on you. After this -long dry spell the storm will be some blow, and don’t you forgit it.” - -Ben chose to bring in Maude, for he loved the slow-moving gentle -creature with her soft brown eyes that always seemed so interested in -him every time he appeared. - -Ann’s job was Jerry. He was as eager as she to get within the four -walls of his shelter. He went briskly down the cart path and into the -barnyard and stopped on the spot where the cart belonged, all without -the need of much guiding from Ann. It was there that Ann’s trouble -began. She didn’t know how to unharness him. She could not discover -which of the big buckles distributed about the harness would free him. -Even after she had unfastened the traces, as she had seen Jo do, Jerry -still stayed firmly fixed between the shafts. He turned his head and -looked at her with patient wonder as if he wanted to know why he was -being kept there. - -Ben, coming in with Maude walking sedately before him, proved to be of -little help. “Jerry sticks there because he is so fat,” he suggested. -“See, the shafts bulge out over his sides. We’ll have to pull him out.” - -But though Ben held the shafts while Ann pulled at Jerry’s head they -had no better success. Whenever Jerry moved forward an inch the cart -came, too. - -Ann knew how Mr. Bailey would laugh if he and Jo reached the barnyard -and found that she had been beaten by a buckle. Besides, she had -promised to get Jerry under cover, and into his stall he should go if -it were a possible thing; she was determined to get him there. She -would unbuckle every strap in his harness until she came to the ones -that held him to the cart. So she and Ben began with those nearest, -and some of them were so stiff that they couldn’t have been unfastened -since the harness was bought, goodness knew how many years ago. - -At last Jerry was free. He seemed to know when the right buckle came -undone. He stepped forward and looked at Ann and Ben with an expression -of mild disgust, then he braced himself and had one fine shake, the -harness showering down in dozens of little straps. Again he looked at -the children, as if to say, “Now see what you have done!” - -Without waiting he stalked away to his stall. - -Ann and Ben began to pick up the miscellaneous bits of harness as -fast as they could, but Jo came and caught them before they had quite -finished. He laughed until he was weak as he watched them on their -hands and knees picking up the little pieces. Even Jerry turned around -in his corner and stared with astonished eyes. - -“I’ll give you a good lesson to-morrow,” said Jo, “show you how to put -a set of harness together. The big buckle under his forelegs and the -two straps on the sides wrapped about the shafts were all that you -should have opened.” - -[Illustration: _The harness showered down in dozens of little straps._] - -“I didn’t know there were so many straps in the world!” exclaimed Ben. -“And look at Jerry over there. He is laughing at us, too.” - -“We don’t get many city hicks out here, do we, Jerry?” Jo took a sly -nudge as he rubbed the soft nose of the old horse, and Jerry opened his -mouth in a wide bored yawn. “That’s the way to treat ’em,” said Jo. -“Yawn again, a bigger one this time.” - -The Seymours rushed through their supper, for they were eager to see -the first real storm of the season beat against the cliffs. Fred had -promised that there would be gorgeous sights, to-night and all day -to-morrow, and they did not wish to miss a bit more than necessary. - -Mr. Seymour was eager to see the color of sea and sky and rocks and the -struggle of the wind against the water. Ben found the curling, twisting -sea fascinating to watch as the wind closed down beyond the pond rocks. -The gale seemed to have shut them into a wide semicircle, for the tops -of the tallest pines far against the sunset were swaying and bending -gently, while the house and the meadow still stood in the first soft -yellow twilight where not a breath of air moved. It was early yet, for -the Seymours had fallen into country ways and it was hardly six o’clock. - -Jo joined the group as they stood watching the sea. He touched Ann -lightly on the shoulder. “Come over here if you want to see the gulls -now,” he said, and Ann went with him to the corner on the kitchen side -of the house. - -Ben followed, for he wished to see the birds. Anything that had -movement interested him enormously, the flight of the gulls as well as -the sweeping onward of the crested waves. - -“How strangely the gulls act!” said Ann. - -Dozens of the great gray birds were poised over the spot where the -children knew that the swamp pond lay circled with great pines. Their -wings were outstretched as they rode the still air and they were -calling in a confused jumble of high-pitched chuckling cries. - -“They ought to light.” Jo’s face was puzzled. “Strange the way they -hang up there. Usually it looks as if they dropped straight down, out -of sight.” - -“Why do they come inland?” asked Ben. “To get out of the wind?” - -“Partly. But they know, same as I do, that the storm will blow the fish -up the river to seek quiet water.” - -“I don’t believe that they mean to settle on the pond to-night,” Ann -ventured after a while. - -“Strange,” said Jo again. “It would almost seem as though something -down there on the pond was keeping them off, but gulls don’t fret about -muskrats. I never have heard of a bobcat around these parts, but it -looks suspicious to see them act in that jumpy way.” - -“Perhaps it’s the same animal that took our cheese,” suggested Ann. - -“Perhaps,” agreed Jo. He dropped his eyes from the poised birds and ran -them thoughtfully along the fringe of the woods where the trees cut -sharply into the growing twilight. Suddenly he caught hold of Ben’s arm. - -“Look! See there!” - -“What?” Ben asked. “I don’t see anything. What do you mean?” - -“Right there alongside of that big pine. Don’t you see the smoke? Some -one has lighted that fire again. It must be just where we found the -embers.” - -As he spoke he began to run down over the meadow in the direction of -the spot from which the smoke rose. Ben and Ann could see it plainly, -now that their attention had been called to it, a thin wisp of smoke -curling above the top of one of the tallest pines. - -“Come on,” said Ann. “I’m going, too.” - -“Sure,” said Ben, and they started to run after Jo. - -“Where are you going?” called Mr. Seymour. “The rain will be here soon.” - -“Jo thinks there is a fire down in the swamp,” Ben answered, “and we -are going to help him put it out.” - -“Well, don’t stay too long. Remember that the rain will be of more use -than you are.” - -“I want to go with them,” said Helen. “Mayn’t I, father?” - -“Take care of her, Ann,” cautioned Mr. Seymour. - -And then the three Seymours ran down the hill to where Jo was waiting -for them in the shadow of the woods, for he had turned to see whether -they were following. He was standing in a spot that was hidden from the -entrance to the path into the woods. - -Vaguely Ann wished that Helen had not come; she was such a little girl. - - - - -[Illustration] - -CHAPTER X - -_THE FIRE IN THE WOODS_ - - -Just beyond lay the deer trail that had grown so familiar to them all. -A little fringe of undergrowth to be broken through with the utmost -caution, stooping low to avoid as many branches as possible, and then -they were on the trail in Indian file creeping stealthily toward the -swamp pond with Jo ahead. As they drew nearer they could smell the wood -smoke in the air. - -This was even more exciting than stalking deer, Ann thought, as she -went forward noiselessly, hardly daring to draw a full breath. - -Jo stopped for a whispered conference. - -“As we draw close,” he instructed, “we had better scatter, so the -noise won’t come always from the same direction if we step on twigs or -stumble. And that will give us all a chance to light out and make our -getaway if somebody is there by the fire. I’ll take the center. Ben and -Ann swing out on either side of me and Helen had best stay right here -behind me.” - -So the band took the formation that Robin Hood suggested and bore -down upon the fire in a wide semicircle, within sight of one another, -if one knew where to look and peered through the green leaves of the -underbrush. Through the scrub growth and briers, now, they could see -the glow of flames and hear a murmur of men’s voices speaking in low -tones. - -Jo dropped flat on his stomach and pulled Helen down beside him and the -others followed his example. Slowly they crept forward and came to the -edge of the little clearing on the edge of the pond. - -Two men were seated before the crackling sticks of a small fire. Ann -had never seen either of them before. They were dressed in dark blue -wool and she felt sure that the cloth was like the torn piece that Jo -carried constantly in his pocket. Were they sailors from the wreck? And -where had they been all the time since the boat came ashore last winter? - -The nearer man was big. His shaggy hair was tumbled and long on his -bare head and a heavy beard covered the lower part of his face. Ann -knew that he would be an ugly customer, and quieter than ever she lay -motionless under the bushes. The other man was small and lithely thin -like a weasel. He had a weasel’s tiny pale eyes that darted nervously -everywhere while he talked. He was very white with an unnatural pallor -and as the glow of the fire leaped up in his face Ann could see a long -newly healed scar that ran from one eye down across his cheek to his -small receding chin. - -The men were talking in low tones, the big man gruff and hoarse, the -smaller one in a screechy weak whine. At times their voices rose louder -as their argument became intense, and then dropped back into a low -rumble. Finally the small man looked up at the sky. - -“It’s going to be a terrible blow,” he said bitterly. - -“What of it?” demanded the big one. “The darker the night the easier it -will be to take care of that butting-in detective, and no one will be -the wiser. What’s the matter with you, Charlie? Your yeller streak is -comin’ forninst, now that the real job is ahead of us.” - -Charlie’s weasel eyes jumped furtively as he looked into the big man’s -face. “I ain’t no squealer,” he snapped. “You know that. I ain’t the -one to shy off when I can see my way clear. You found me ready enough -with my bit against the captain and the mate. But this guy you’re -planning for now is something different. You can’t knock off men like -him; it doesn’t do any good. Some one else steps into his place and -then they hunt you until they get you.” - -“I ain’t arguing that,” Tom answered soberly. “But who is going to -know what happens to one lone man? If he falls off the deck of that -wrecked schooner and hits his head against a rock as the sea washes him -about, who is going to connect us with the accident? That farmer will -bury him alongside the captain and the mate and blame nobody but the -boat itself, blame that figurehead, probably. And you and me will be -living like kings down in Boston.” - -“That sounds first-class,” the other sneered scornfully. “But I been -noticing that things aren’t going quite so much your way as you -expected they would.” - -“What do you mean?” growled Tom. - -“You haven’t found much as yet, have you? You’ve come this far with -your plans, and here you’ve stuck. Find the money, why don’t you? -What’s the use of getting rid of Bain before you get the money that’s -hidden?” - -“He might find it first,” answered the big man. - -Ann heard, but she was too astonished and excited to realize that the -secrets of the wreck were being revealed to her at last. The great -surprise that eclipsed all the others was the news that Warren Bain was -a detective. Had he known everything from first to last? - -But she must listen and learn all she could. This was no time to be -wondering about things; what was Charlie saying? She had missed part of -it already, but he ended with a sneering laugh, “And I noticed that you -ran as fast as I, the minute you heard that noise last night, on the -boat. You didn’t wait to see what made it, did you?” - -In reply the big man muttered something that sounded to Ann like -nothing but a savage roar. - -“I tell you,” said Charlie, “it was that blamed figurehead. Him and -the captain was friends; I seen them talking to each other on many an -evening.” - -“You did not! Maybe the cap’n talked but no wooden figure ever -answered. Come along now, you coward. I’ll admit that Bain scared me -off last night, but now I’m ready for him!” - -“Bain!” echoed Charlie. - -“It was, too, Bain. He was dragging something along the deck to make -that ssush-ssush to scare us.” - -“But it wasn’t Bain,” thought Ann, “because we were watching him.” - -The men had risen and begun to scatter the fire, kicking the burning -wood into the pond. The gulls rose even higher, screaming. - -Under cover of the noise that the men were making Jo and Helen began to -creep slowly backward into the denser shadows. Ann became aware of what -they were doing and she, too, made a successful retreat. She reached -the deer path and stood beside the others. - -Ben, however, was not so lucky. His foot slipped on a stone and he -crashed down into the underbrush. - -Instantly Charlie was after him, while Jo and Ann stood as if -paralyzed. There was nothing that they could do to help. Helen, in -agonizing fear and excitement, put both hands over her mouth so that no -sound could escape. - -“It’s a boy,” called Charlie. He had caught Ben’s arm and was pulling -him roughly toward the fire. - -Ann’s courage had come surging back, but Jo leaned toward her and put -his lips close to her ear; he seemed to know that she was going out to -Ben. “Hush! We can’t do a thing now. Wait!” - -Tom yanked Ben by his coat and turned his face toward the light. “What -kid is this? What are you doing here, spying on us?” - -Ann thought that she would have been frightened nearly out of her wits -if that black unshaven face had been so near hers, but Ben drew back as -far as he could and answered bravely. - -“I saw the smoke and came to put out the fire.” - -“Did you come alone?” demanded Tom, giving him a shake. “Don’t you dare -to lie to me!” - -“Yes, I am alone!” answered Ben. “Do you see anybody with me?” - -Ann felt her heart swell with pride. She caught Jo’s hand and squeezed -it and he answered with a like pressure. - -“What are you doing here?” asked Ben in his turn. He took care to shout -it as loudly as possible, knowing well that the men had tried to be -quiet. - -In reply Tom cuffed him sharply. “Be still, there.” The hard-muscled -seaman could hold the boy at arm’s length and Ben kicked and struggled -in vain. “What’ll we do with him?” - -“Let him go home,” said Charlie. - -“Go home and tell, and have a batch of farmers chasing down here to -look for us? Not on your life.” - -“What’s he got to tell? We aren’t doing any harm, two men sitting -peacefully in the woods.” - -“You don’t know how much he heard.” And again Tom shook Ben -vindictively. - -Ann had to clench her fingers; how she wished she had a gun! Those -men could be frightened easily. Their conversation had told her how -superstitious they were. Just one shot to scare them off and they would -run like deer. But there wasn’t any gun. The house was so far away. How -could she get word to her father? - -“Tie him up and leave him here. We can stop his noise.” - -But Tom never seemed to care to profit by Charlie’s suggestions. -“What’ll we tie him with? No; we’ll take him along to the boat. I want -to know where to put my hand on him, I do.” He lifted Ben and set him -on the ground again, although Ben made his legs limp as a child does -when it refuses to be led along by the hand. “Stand up there!” ordered -Tom. - -Evidently Ben thought he had better do as he was told. It was easier to -walk than to be dragged through the woods. - -“You march between me and Charlie, and step along now!” - -Silently the remaining three of the band waited in the shadows until a -moment or two after the bushes had stopped waving behind Charlie’s back -as he, the rear guard, disappeared. - -Helen turned and threw her arms around Ann, seeking comfort. “Ben’s -gone! What will they do to him?” she whispered, even in her distress -remembering to be quiet. - -Ann had no answer. She hugged Helen tight and patted her back as though -her little sister were a kitten, but her own anxiety looked toward the -sturdy, resourceful Jo. “Will they hurt him?” - -“Not if he does as they tell him.” Jo shook his head thoughtfully. “He -seemed to catch on to that and stopped kicking when he found it got -him nowhere. Probably they will take him down to the boat and tie him -somewhere there while they search for the money.” - -“What money is it?” asked Helen. - -“I don’t know any more’n you do. Seems like they thought Bain was -coming there to-night.” - -“Did you hear them say that Bain is a detective?” said Ann excitedly. -“Perhaps he’s there now and can save Ben!” - -“Maybe,” answered Jo. “But we can’t wait on the chance of that; we’ve -got to do something right now.” - -In the shelter of Ann’s arms Helen had stopped sobbing. “They mustn’t -hurt my brother Ben even though he does tease me all the time.” - -“What can we do?” Ann spoke with a small quaver in her voice although -she had grown calm in this real danger. - -“Don’t you worry too much,” Jo assured her stanchly. “Things always -seem worse than they are and we’ll get Ben, don’t you fear!” - -“If only the house wasn’t so far away,” said Ann despairingly. All -possible help seemed so remote. - -“It ain’t more’n a mile,” said Jo. “Now, Helen, you go just as fast as -you can to get pop and Mr. Seymour. Tell pop to bring his gun. And tell -them that Ann and I are going straight to the ship.” - -“Oh, Helen,” cried Ann, “run across the meadow and don’t mind wetting -your feet!” - -“Yes, I’ll go a short cut, right through the brook!” And Helen was off, -following the more direct path by the river, the path by which Jo had -taken them home the first day they saw the deer. - - - - -CHAPTER XI - -_THROUGH THE PORTHOLE_ - - -Jo and Ann dashed across the clearing and down the path that the men -had taken. There was no danger of their being heard, if the men had -kept up the pace at which they started. When the two reached the edge -of the woods they paused a moment or so, to see whether the coast was -clear, but there was not a sound or a trace to indicate that any one -had lately passed that way. - -Night had fallen by that time and Ann was glad of its shelter. She -would not have wished to cross the road and the narrow strip of beach -with an uncomfortable feeling of certainty that she was being watched -from some crack in the warped hull. - -“You stay here,” commanded Jo. “I’m going to take a look around.” - -Obediently Ann settled herself in the deeper darkness under the side -of the boat. There was a gentle rattle as Jo swung himself up into the -irons and then absolute silence, so far as any human sounds came to her -ears. It seemed as though she waited for ages, alone in the dark. There -was plenty of time to think and to worry. Helen must be nearly there -and it wouldn’t take long for father and Mr. Bailey to get started -after they heard the news of Ben’s capture. They must hurry, hurry! -Perhaps she ought to have gone for them, she could run so much faster -than Helen and she surely wasn’t being of much use now, sitting under -the side of the boat! Perhaps Helen had fallen, stepped into a hole in -the turf and broken her leg, so she could not go on for help. - -Something was making a slight noise, something was coming across the -pebbles toward her! She half rose to her feet to meet it--and then she -saw that it was Jo cautiously creeping along, bent almost double in his -efforts not to be seen from the deck of the schooner. - -“I found Ben,” he whispered. “I know where he is--in the hold. He ought -to be about here, behind where you are sitting.” - -“Did he see you?” - -“No. And I didn’t see him, but there isn’t any other place for them to -hide him. You both know the Code, don’t you? You let him know that we -are here while I get the ladder.” - -It seemed a slight chance to Ann. But Jo was certain that Ben was there -and so Ann began to tap against the plank nearest her right hand. It -sounded fearfully loud in the stillness and she could only hope that -the thunder of the waves and the rattle of the pebbles as each wave -receded might keep the men from hearing. It seemed to her almost too -great a risk to run. But if Jo told her to rap, rap she would. - -“Ben! We are here!” - -Three times she tapped it out and then the SOS signal. Each time she -listened and received no reply. - -And at last an answer came, clear, but fainter than the taps she had -given. “OK, OK, OK.” - -That was enough; she was not taking any unnecessary risks. As softly as -possible she went to join Jo. - -He had hoisted the ladder already and climbed up, and he motioned to -her to follow. In another minute Ann was looking through the porthole -of the captain’s cabin. - -She wouldn’t have thought of speaking in any case but Jo’s finger on -his lips cautioned her to be quiet as possible. As she stepped on to -the ladder with her eyes lifted toward the porthole she realized that -there must be a light in the room and when she could see over the rim -she was not surprised to find the two men hard at their search. - -Tom was running a knife through the cracks and crevices of the berth. -Not a sound could be heard except his heavy breathing, and Charlie -stood close by, watching. - -“I tell yer it ain’t there,” said Charlie as Tom straightened his back -at last and stood glowering at the berth. - -“It’s--” And then Tom stopped, giving every thought and attention to a -strained listening. “Hist!” - -Charlie heard it, too, whatever it was, but Ann could catch no faintest -echo. Was the ssushing sound coming? - -Suddenly the light went out and with utter darkness came perfect -silence in the cabin. Ann wished that she could keep her heart from -beating so loud. It seemed as though the thuds must be noisy enough to -be heard by the men below. But this complete silence did not last long. -Suddenly came the sound of thuds and blows, and light came again. - -Warren Bain was stretched out on the cabin floor, unconscious. Tom was -glaring angrily at the man whom he had knocked down. “He’ll come back, -all right. Gimme some blanket strips to tie him fast.” - -Charlie scurried to the berth and with his knife ripped one of the -blankets into strips and with these Tom began to tie Bain’s arms and -legs. - -Ann had no time to think; things were happening too fast. - -First Tom tied Bain’s ankles together, then used another strip for his -wrists, and then tied the two together using a peculiar slip knot that -seemed to tie the tighter the more it was strained. - -“Now you”--and Tom swung about toward Charlie with a suddenness that so -startled Ann that she nearly fell off the ladder--“you rout out them -blankets and tear the berth to bits and I’ll take care of the floor. -There’s a secret hiding hole in here somewheres and the money is in it.” - -Charlie obediently threw the remaining blankets and the mattress and -pillow into a pile outside the cabin door and began to wrench and tear -at the boards. But apparently he was not convinced of the value of -what he was doing. “What makes you so sure the cash is down here?” he -snapped. - -“Captain Jim had it on him when the men started rioting, up forward,” -Tom answered. “He came down here to the cabin to hide it, I reckon. Why -else did he come down? And after he was on deck again he went no place -but overboard.” - -“And he put three good men there, before him,” commented Charlie dryly. -He seemed to have a wholesome respect and fear of the captain, even now. - -“Any one of ’em was a better man than three of you!” Tom growled. He -had taken a short iron from his pocket and now began to pry up big -pieces of floor boards. - -Jo touched Ann’s shoulder to call her attention to Warren Bain. He was -stretched just within the circle of light cast by Tom’s torch and Ann -saw at once that he had regained consciousness. Not only that, but as -she looked down into his open eyes he stared straight up into hers. He -smiled slightly, but instantly his face became expressionless as Tom -turned in his work. - -But he was not quick enough. Tom caught the flicker of Bain’s eyelids. -The sailor dropped his iron and stood upright over the detective. -“None of that faking!” And he kicked the bound man in the side. “You -ransacked this place and we want what you found!” - -To Ann’s amazement Bain opened his eyes and answered, “Yes, I found it. -What are you going to do about it?” - -Tom seemed as much surprised as Ann and for a moment he gaped stupidly -down into Bain’s face. - -“There is not a thing you can do,” Bain went on. “Kill me if you like -but the secret of the money goes with me--Tom Minor.” - -Charlie leaped to his feet with a cry of terror. “He knows us! Knock -him off, Tom, knock him off! He’ll tell on us.” - -“Not until we get what we’ve come for,” answered Tom, with one shove of -his hand pushing Charlie back into the wrecked berth. “There is ways of -making people tell secrets.” - -Into Ann’s mind came all the tales of days gone by when men were -tortured and put on the rack; historical tales were her great love in -reading, Crockett and Scott and the others. What were she and Jo going -to do to save Warren Bain? Run to the house? There wasn’t time for that -to be of the slightest use. Her father and Mr. Bailey should be here -now. - -Ann had no idea how long it was since Helen had left them. She knew -well enough that it could not be as long as it seemed, but surely it -wouldn’t have taken Helen more than half an hour to get home. Half an -hour, and then five minutes for Mr. Bailey to get his gun--Ann was sure -that her father hadn’t one--and then ten minutes across the sloping -field from the house. But all those minutes had seemed like an hour -each, with all the excitement and all the happenings. Help would come -in a minute, but it seemed as though time had stopped. Anything could -be done in a minute, and no one was there but Jo and herself. - -All at once she knew. The strange noise! It had frightened the men last -night; she had heard Tom admit it, she had heard Charlie taunt Tom with -his fear of it. - -“Jo!” She hardly breathed the words. “Get two sticks, two dry sticks!” -He could go more silently than she; pebbles seemed never to rattle -under his feet. - -Jo did not stop to ask why. Down the ladder he went while Ann tried to -press more firmly against the hull of the ship, so that no sound of a -ladder bumping against the planks of the side could be noticed by the -men. It was only now that Ann realized that the storm had come at last. -The rain was pouring in torrents and she was wet through. - -Jo came back with several small rough branches from the hedge beside -the road where they kept the ladder hidden. Taking one branch from him -Ann reached out as far as possible along the side of the wreck and -rubbed it harshly against the boards. She tried to make it sound like -the weird haunting shuffle, a noise that there was no danger of her -forgetting as long as she lived. - -Sussh--she rubbed the branch away to the length of her arm and the wet -leaves on the little twigs added to the effect that she hoped to give. -Sussh, she went, making it hard and scraping, then sussh, she pulled it -back with a slight rasp. - -She was afraid to peek into the porthole, for surely the men would be -looking in the direction from which the noise came. But she could hear -what they said. - -Charlie gave a squeal of fright. “There it is!” he cried. - -“That devil figurehead!” - -“The captain’s sent him after us!” Charlie’s voice rose in a shrill -yelp. - -It was impossible to hold her hand steady, but she kept on with scrape -after scrape as rhythmic as that dread sound she had heard on the first -day they visited the ship. - -“Put the table against the door, Charlie,” ordered Tom. - -“You can’t keep him out with that,” Charlie shouted. “That table would -have been just kindling wood to Cap’n Jim and it won’t be even that -much to the figurehead. I’m going!” - -“Hands up!” - -Heads up, too, for it was Mr. Seymour’s voice and instantaneously Jo’s -and Ann’s eyes came level with the porthole. - -In the doorway stood Mr. Seymour with a shotgun in his hands and behind -him, his lean face grimly set, Mr. Bailey stood with a long rifle held -above Mr. Seymour’s shoulder. The shadows in the cabin were strange, -for Tom and Charlie had dropped their torches as they raised their -hands and all the light in the room came from the two circles on the -floor. Warren Bain, still trussed like a fowl, had been shoved into a -corner. - -“Where are the children?” - -Ann could hardly believe that it was her father’s voice that said those -words, so changed it was from the voice she knew. - -“Here we are!” she called. - - - - -CHAPTER XII - -_THE FIGUREHEAD’S SECRET_ - - -“Gee, this is a terrible storm, for the summer-time,” exclaimed Jo as -they reached the deck. - -He and Ann had been sheltered by the great hull of the schooner, for -the wind and rain were driving from the direction of the sea, but now -they felt its full force. The sweeping blasts almost carried Ann off -her feet. A steady sheet of rain was sweeping across the bare deck and -hissing out through the scuppers. She had to lean against the storm as -she pushed her way to the ladder that led below. - -“Ann!” her father cried at sight of her. “Are you all right? Where’s -Ben?” He held her tightly, as if he wanted to make sure that his -daughter was once more safe beside him. - -“Ben’s down in the hold. Oh, dad! I thought you’d never get here! I -won’t try to solve another mystery without telling you beforehand.” - -“‘Mystery’?” repeated Mr. Seymour. “Why are you children here? I -thought that you went to put out a fire in the woods.” In spite of -his relief at seeing Ann unharmed he kept his gun pointed in a very -businesslike manner. “Who are these men? And who is this, tied up?” - -“That chap is Warren Bain,” said Mr. Bailey. “He’s been hanging around -the cove all season. No one knows aught of him.” - -“He’s a detective!” announced Ann in great excitement. - -“You’d better fasten those two before you do much talking,” advised -Bain dryly, speaking for the first time. “In my coat pocket, Bailey.” - -A bit doubtingly Mr. Bailey put his hand into Bain’s pocket and took -out two pairs of handcuffs. Finding them there seemed to assure him of -the truth of Ann’s statement and his manner was quite different as he -snapped them around the wrists of Tom and Charlie. Ann and Jo, and Mr. -Seymour, too, never had seen that done and for the moment all their -attention was given to that grim proceeding. - -Then, “Where’s Ben?” Mr. Seymour asked again. - -“In the hold,” answered Jo, “and I guess we’d better be getting him -out. He’ll be pretty cold and wet.” - -Mr. Bailey had cut the strips of blanket that bound Warren Bain, and -now the detective stood on his two feet again, stretching his aching -arms and legs and back. “Boy in the hold,” he said. “I was wondering -where the third one of you was keeping himself. Well, with the tide -that there’s likely to be to-night, it is lucky we can get him up -before the hold is half full of water.” - -“You’re right,” said Mr. Bailey. “We don’t often get such a storm as -this in summer. It’s a hummer, all right. Can you take care of these -fellers alone?” - -“Just watch me,” answered Bain, bringing out his automatic. - -The heavy driving rain had settled to a drumming downpour. The sea -seemed to be flattened under the weight of it, to be spreading out like -a pond when the water rises. The tide had turned and the waves were -breaking nearer and nearer the stern of the wreck. - -They reached the open hatchway and Mr. Seymour called, “Ben?” - -“Hey, there!” The boy’s voice came faint but cheerful. “Have you really -come at last? I thought a week had gone by!” - -“We’ll have you out in a jiffy,” shouted Jo. “Come on up, the coast is -clear.” - -“I can’t,” answered Ben. “The ladder’s broken and I can’t reach high -enough.” - -Mr. Bailey and Mr. Seymour looked anxiously about. “Any rope?” asked -Mr. Bailey. The bare rain-swept deck offered nothing. - -“Get our ladder!” exclaimed Ann, and Jo dashed after it. - -That, dropped down to the bottom of the hold and placed against the -ship’s ladder, enabled Ben to climb to safety. - -“Did they hurt you, my son?” asked Mr. Seymour, his hand on Ben’s -shoulder. - -“Oh, they banged me around a bit--a few black and blue spots, I -suppose, but nothing permanent. What’s been happening, Jo? Tell a -feller, quick!” - -“We all want to know,” said Mr. Bailey. “What’s been goin’ on here, -anyway?” - -“Those men were robbing the ship--” began Ann. - -“Of what?” demanded her father. - -“That’s what we don’t know, exactly,” said Ann. - -“I don’t believe that anybody knows the whole of it,” Jo said. “Let’s -go back to the cabin; each person can tell what he does know and we can -piece it all together.” - -“Great idea,” said Mr. Seymour. - -They found Warren Bain grinning sardonically at his two captives. - -“Well, I swan!” said Bailey. “An’ you’ve been laying by this wreck all -these weeks, and no one had any notion of what you were here for. We -thought you was a-buttin’ in on our lobster fields.” - -“I thought that was how you folks figured; you didn’t act any too -welcoming. But I’d be some sleuth if I went telling my business to -every Tom, Dick, and Harry. I have to count on a little unpopularity -once in a while. Yes, we knew the boat as soon as we came here and -looked her over. She was just the boat we expected she would be. A -government cutter had been trying to pick her up before the blizzard -came down.” - -“Then she wasn’t a phantom ship at all,” Ann remarked. And her -disappointment must have shown in her voice, because her father and -Warren Bain seemed to think that was one of the funniest things they -ever had heard. But was all that excitement and anxiety over nothing -but an ordinary boat that had been wrecked in a perfectly natural way? - -Bain went on with his story. - -“She ran under the name of _The Shadow_ although she carried no name, -and her owner, Jim Rand, captained her. She carried a crew of five men -besides himself and she ran a good trade, smuggling Italian silk and -Indian spices into the North Atlantic harbors. She wasn’t hard to pick -up because of that figurehead, but Rand wouldn’t give it up. It was -his mascot and the crew believed that he talked things over with that -wooden image. Rand was a clever one. This boat was stopped many a time, -but when the men from the government cutter climbed aboard to examine -her they never found anything. She seemed to be running empty. We never -found a cargo and consequently we never could pin anything on Rand.” - -“Well, you got it on him now,” Fred said heartily. “Which one o’ these -is Rand?” - -“Neither one,” and Warren sounded contemptuous. “Rand was a lawbreaker -but he wasn’t like either of these two low-down thieves and murderers -here. Rand is up in your burying ground. You put him there with the -mate and two of the crew.” - -“So, one o’ those was the captain, hey?” Fred rubbed his chin -thoughtfully. “Well--I guess he’s glad to be resting in the ground.” - -“He made the worst mistake of his life when he shipped these two,” went -on Bain, “both of them with criminal records, although he didn’t know -it. Of course he couldn’t expect to get too high-class sailors for his -business, but those he’d had were harmless, at least. As near as I can -make out from what Tom tells me, Rand had just sold a cargo of silk -in Boston and for some reason or other refused to divide the cash the -minute the crew wanted it. So they mutinied, on the advice of these two -jail birds. The captain went overboard, but he accounted for three of -the crew before he went. Tom and Charlie hid on the wreck until after -you searched her”--he nodded to Fred--“and then they blew for shore to -wait until the excitement cooled down and our hero Charlie was tucked -into jail, somewhere upcountry, for taking a lady’s pocket-book while -he was stealing her chickens.” - -They all turned to look at Charlie, who acted very sheepish. Ann had a -suspicion that his shame came from having been caught, rather than from -the actual crime. So that was why his face had that queer pallor. - -“They were hidin’ on the boat when we came on?” Mr. Bailey demanded -incredulously. “We looked her over well; there weren’t a cubic inch in -her that we didn’t see.” - -Charlie snickered and Tom growled, but both sounds gave Ann to -understand very clearly that Tom and Charlie knew things about that -boat that would be forever hidden from Mr. Bailey. - -“It wasn’t strange you didn’t find them,” said Bain, “if our government -inspectors couldn’t find where the men had tucked away whole cargoes.” - -“Well, God was good to the whole of us, that is all I have to say.” And -Mr. Bailey gripped his rifle tighter as he looked at the two captives. -Sailors they were not; they were just two criminals who had gone to sea -for a time. - -“So that was why you felt as if some one was there!” exclaimed Ben. -“They were peeking at you, and you didn’t know it!” - -Tom must have been on the boat the day she and Jo so strongly felt -that impression of eyes upon them, thought Ann, and shivered as she -thought it. Anything might have happened if Tom had chosen to come out -and frighten them. Her mother had been right, after all, when she had -worried about their playing on the wreck. - -“And we peeked at you, Mr. Bain, when you didn’t know it,” Ben went on. -“Will you tell us, please, what you meant when you said, ‘Stay there, -babies, and wait for me.’” - -“Yes!” cried Ann. “What was in the closet? We couldn’t find anything -there.” - -Warren Bain looked at Ann and Jo with a wide smile. “You kids were on -the job all right, weren’t you! So you saw me at that! Well, I’ll show -you something pretty.” - -Tom had wrenched the closet door from its hinges and now Bain took -it in his hands. “This panel looks exactly like the others, but it -actually is a sliding panel that goes back like this.” Under Bain’s -fingers the thin board slid back and revealed a space filled with -papers closely covered with writing. “These are Jim’s bills of lading; -I tell you, he knew how to hide his stuff.” Bain put the door down and -looked at Tom and Charlie. “Even after he was dead you couldn’t beat -him. You were foolish to try.” - -Charlie nodded his head miserably, but Tom did not deign to acknowledge -that he had heard. - -“As you children are so interested,” Bain continued, “it won’t do any -harm to let you see the whole of it. Do you want to see where Rand hid -the money?” - -“You’d better believe we do!” exclaimed Jo. - -Even Tom showed signs of excitement at this, although any chance of his -getting any of that money had vanished, money for which he had thrown -away all freedom for the rest of his life. - -“It is just where Rand left it,” said Bain, “double safe and out of -his cabin. I knew that Tom was around because the blankets here were -shifted.” - -“But it wasn’t Tom,” Ann said quite defiantly. “We did it, to see if -they were being used.” - -“H-u-mm--” said Bain. - -“And you aren’t solving any of our mysteries,” Ann went on. “You’re -clearing things up for the sailors and Mr. Bailey, but I want to know -what made the noise that frightened us, and frightened you, too, last -night.” - -“That’s true,” admitted Bain. He rumpled the hair on his head, knocking -his cap sidewise. “And I knew that you must have heard it, some time -or other, when you used it just now to scare the men away from me.” He -looked at Mr. Seymour. “You haven’t heard the half of it yet. These -children had the wit to imitate this strange noise in order to frighten -these gentlemen away from trying to make me tell where to find Rand’s -money. The scheme would have worked, too; Charlie’s nerve was gone and -Tom’s was growing weak. Our Charlie was half paralyzed with fright when -you came. That’s why you held them up so easily.” - -Ann and her father exchanged a glance; she was glad he knew without her -telling of her splendid idea. It might have sounded like boasting. And -to have her father proud of her was one of the things Ann most desired. - -“When we were watching them by their camp fire I heard them say that -the noise frightened them,” she explained modestly. - -“What made the noise?” inquired Mr. Seymour. - -“Nobody kn--” began Ben, but Charlie interrupted him. - -“That blasted figurehead makes it, coming to scare folks away from the -captain’s money. I told you, Tom Minor, that no good would come from -signing on a ship with that figurehead.” - -“Do you suppose the figurehead really walked about?” asked Jo, his -confidence shaken by Charlie’s firm belief. “The sound was just like -scaly feet rubbing over the deck boards.” - -Instead of laughing at him, Bain was considerate enough of the boy’s -feelings to answer soberly, “No, I can’t think that. But it is a queer -noise, I’ll admit that much. You see, the other night I thought it -was made by the men, so it didn’t occur to me to attribute it to the -figurehead.” - -“And who took Mr. Bailey’s milk and our cheese?” asked Ben. - -“Foodstuff stolen from your place?” inquired Bain of Mr. Bailey. - -“I never touched a crumb of it!” denied Tom. “Don’t you say I did. -Everything I ate I bought! Don’t you dare say I stole your milk!” He -glared at Mr. Bailey. - -“Yes,” said Mr. Bailey, “enough was stolen so it wasn’t safe to leave -anything about; but nothin’ else ever was took.” - -“That’s curious,” commented Bain thoughtfully. “Well, who is coming to -see where Rand hid the treasure? How about it, Bailey? Will you stay -down here to guard the prisoners and let these young people have the -first look?” - -“Sure,” Fred answered, and settled himself on the broken edge of the -captain’s berth. - -“It makes me laugh,” said Jo as he crossed the deck with the others, -“to think of pop holding a gun on them down in the cabin!” - -They had left the lantern with the men below but Bain’s torch carried -ample light. It gave Ann a thrill to think that she should be crossing -the deck with a moving light. How often she had looked toward the wreck -before she climbed into bed, hoping to see a pin prick of yellow there -as she had seen it on the night she arrived at the Bailey house! And -now that the light was here she was here with it! Not she, but her -mother, was looking at it from the house windows, looking out through -the rain and wondering what was happening down here. - -She wondered where Bain could be taking them, and then she realized -that they were headed straight for the demon figure. - -Bain strode up to it and flashed his light over its grotesque outlines. -He looked back over his shoulder to the Seymours and laughed. “Jim Rand -knew his best friend aboard this boat.” - -Reaching forward he thrust his hand into the mouth of the figurehead, -fumbling and stretching to the end of his reach, and when he brought -his hand back it held a huge roll of paper money. - -“All in hundreds” he explained. “A pretty good haul for Uncle Sam. I -never found it until to-night! And it was a lucky thing that I left -them where they were before I went down to the cabin.” - -“Oh--may I touch them?” asked Ann with a shiver of excitement. - -Bain handed them to her. “Take them, if you like.” And to Mr. Seymour -he said, “I’ll be glad to get that safely into some one else’s care.” - -“I don’t doubt it,” replied Mr. Seymour. “Hold them tight, daughter; we -can’t have the wind blowing any of it away.” - -Ben and Jo crowded around, and the three children looked at the money -with silent awe. Suddenly the sharp-eared Jo lifted his head. Then they -all heard. - -Again that sound! Sussh-sussh, sussh-sussh. - -“It’s the money,” Jo exclaimed. “He’s after the money.” - -The shuffle did not waver this time nor did it stop. It came steadily -down the deck toward them although whatever made the noise was veiled -by the storm. Warren Bain snatched the bills from Ann’s paralyzed hands -and dropped them into his pocket. - -The sound was very near the group by the figurehead when it stopped. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII - -_A REASON FOR EVERYTHING_ - - -Ann was most dreadfully afraid, but her feelings were not in the least -like those when she heard the noise last night. She had no sense of -panic, no desire to run away. Her father was here now and she would -stand by him, come what might. He wasn’t running. Neither were Ben and -Jo. The three children stood as firm as the two men. - -Without warning, Bain shut off his light, for they stood in its circle -of brightness while anything beyond its rim was invisible in the -darkness of the stormy night. Suddenly he flashed it on again. - -A big black dog was there. - -His teeth were bared and he was crouched to spring. - -Jo was the first to recover. He knew dogs and he saw at the first -glance that this one was more terrified by their presence on the boat -than he and Ann and Ben had been by the strange noise. He walked -steadily toward the animal, reaching quietly into his pocket. - -What was he going to do? Ann was afraid that anything he could do -wouldn’t be enough. The dog would spring and then-- Why didn’t Warren -Bain shoot? - -But Jo knew what he was doing. Out of his pocket he took two or three -crackers. “Come, boy,” he said gently. “So-o-o-o, puppy, it’s time to -eat.” - -The dog snarled but Jo paid no attention to threats or growls; he put -the crackers in a small pile on the deck and backed slowly away. The -dog drew nearer by one stealthy step and sniffed suspiciously toward -Jo’s offering. Then he slunk forward within reach of it and crunched it -ravenously. - -“Want some more?” Jo reached again into his pocket and the dog wagged -his tail. - -“He is starved!” Mr. Seymour at last found his voice. “That dog has -been without proper food for weeks.” - -Bain looked at the gaunt wild-eyed creature whose ribs showed plainly -under his shaggy matted coat. “He is that,” he agreed. “I shouldn’t -wonder if he isn’t the answer to Bailey’s stolen milk and your cheese. -He must have come in with the boat and hung around here ever since.” - -To think that noise was made by a dog as it slunk across the deck! Even -though Ann had seen and heard at the same instant she could hardly -credit her senses. A dog? Robin Hood’s band had been utterly routed -by a starving dog? Never again would she run from anything unless she -actually saw with her own eyes that there was need of fear. She looked -at Ben and in spite of the rain streaming down his face she could -see that his thoughts were very much like her own. They hadn’t been -cowards, exactly, and those men down below had been frightened, too, -but nevertheless she was ashamed of herself. - -The noise of the breakers had risen until now it was a roar; it was -hard to talk against the combined crashes of storm and gale and sea. -And it was high time to seek better shelter than the wreck afforded. - -When they returned to the cabin to relieve Fred and to get Bain’s -captives the dog hung close to Jo’s heels and could not be persuaded -to leave him for an instant. The dog followed at his heels down the -companionway and stood behind him in the passage outside the cabin. - -“Ready?” asked Bain. “Come along now, men. We’ll be moving along to -where you can stay awhile without being disturbed. A fine evening for a -stroll of three or four miles.” - -But Tom did not move. “If you want me, get me up,” he growled. - -At sound of his voice came a scratching of paws in the passage and -through the doorway leaped the dog, making straight for him. Jo sprang -as quickly and seized the shaggy coat of his new friend. And in the -meantime Tom had scrambled to his feet without any more argument. - -“Captain Jim’s dog,” Charlie crowed with shrill laughter. “He -remembers you all right, Tom. You forgot to heave him overboard with -the rest of ’em!” - -Under Fred’s vigilant gun the men were herded up the ladder and across -to the side of the ship. The rain still poured ceaselessly and the -wind blew in gusts that pierced Ann’s wet clothes and made her shiver. -But she was not too uncomfortable and tired to lose her desire to know -every detail of what had happened on the wreck. - -“There’s one thing you haven’t told us,” she said to Bain. “What was it -that you found in the leg of the table?” - -“You children had better be trained to be first-class detectives. There -wasn’t much you didn’t see last night, I should say. Well, it won’t do -any harm to tell you and I think you deserve to know. The papers were -a sort of log that Rand kept; told where he got his cargoes and how he -disposed of them and for how much. It is much more important than the -money, to the government.” - -Ann hadn’t thought of that; of course, a man who was willing to buy -smuggled goods was exactly as dishonest as the person who sold them. -It made it seem to her as though Captain Rand wasn’t quite as--as---- -She didn’t like to say “bad” even to herself, for surely a man couldn’t -be really bad if he had made his dog so fond of him that the dog had -rather starve than go away from the place where he’d last seen his -master. - -As they left the wreck Warren Bain flashed his torch into the face -of the figurehead, high above them as they stood on the beach. The -light shone straight up into the huge ugly face and, to Ann, the demon -still grinned with its eyes looking far out and away, as though it -saw something they couldn’t see and knew a great deal more than human -beings ever could know. Suddenly Ann wished that she might never have -to see that demon again. His work was done; he had taken care of the -captain’s money, and now was there any use of his staying there to -frighten people? Perhaps to-morrow Mr. Bailey would carry out his -intention of burning him with an accompaniment of lobsters and corn and -roast potatoes. What a wonderful plan that was, because then she would -remember that glorious picnic and let that memory offset some of her -other recollections of the figurehead! - -Ben was the last to leave the boat and when he landed from his jump he -was wet to the knees by a swift unexpected sweep of undertow from the -rising tide. He ran clear of the water, but the next wave, chasing him, -met him around the bow of the boat. Not that a little fresh wetness -mattered to a soaked-to-the-skin Ben; the interest lay in the fact that -the Seymours never had seen the water so high on the beach. - -Fred Bailey had offered to lend Jerry to Bain so that he could drive -his prisoners to the village instead of having to walk all that -distance in the stormy night and Bailey had offered, too, to go with -him. - -Jo went ahead to hitch Jerry for the trip. “Shall I tell Mrs. Seymour -that everything is all right?” he asked. - -“Thank you, Jo, yes,” said Mr. Seymour. “Just call out to her as you go -by and let her know that we are coming.” - -Away went Jo, with the black dog at his heels. - -“Jo’s found a new friend,” said Warren Bain with a smile. - -“Jo!” called Ann, for she had just remembered. “Has Jerry another -harness?” - -“Sure!” - -When they reached the house door Jerry stood waiting for his load while -Jo talked with Helen and Mrs. Seymour, who, in raincoats, were standing -on the porch. - -“You haven’t told mother everything before we came?” asked Ann, greatly -disappointed that such exciting news should be told without her having -been there to share the thrill. - -Jo shook his head, the reliable Jo who could be counted on to do the -right thing. “No, marm, I didn’t tell,” he answered gayly. “That’s your -job, not mine. I was only saying that you were all right, and Mrs. -Seymour is mighty hard to convince. I had to say that all of you were -safe, all of you together, and then each one separately.” - -But Mrs. Seymour was not ready to smile, even yet. Her face was pale -and her eyes widened as she saw Tom and Charlie slouch handcuffed -into the light that spread from the door in a wide semicircle of -welcome through the driving rain. As she realized her mother’s anxiety -Ann dashed across the intervening space and flung herself into the -outstretched arms. - -Ben followed, and for an instant no one of the three spoke. - -After Fred and Warren Bain had driven away they all sat around the fire -to tell the story. Like powwowing Indians in blankets and bathrobes -they sat before the snapping black stove, the storm shut outside. - -Jo had turned red man with the rest and was bundled in one of Mr. -Seymour’s big wool robes, his thick hair on end and his blue eyes -dancing with excitement and happiness. The dog lay at his feet. - -“And now,” said Mr. Seymour, “what are you children going to do with -the wealth that the capture of these men will bring you?” - -“I didn’t know there was going to be any,” answered Jo in astonishment, -and Ann and Ben, and Helen, too, pricked up their ears. “Gee! Money?” -said Ben. - -“Bain insists that he never could have got the men if it hadn’t been -for the way you two worked on their superstitious fears, and he says -that he is going to share the reward. What will you do with it? There’s -something practical for you to think about and change your line of -thought before we all go to bed.” - -Ben put his hand on his father’s knee. “You know what I want more than -anything else in the world,” he said, with his fascinated eyes resting -on the finished portrait of Jo that Mr. Seymour had set against the -wall only a day or two before. “If I could only learn to paint! Would -there be enough money for me to do that?” - -“I don’t know, Ben. It will be only a few hundred at most, after it is -divided, and you understand, of course, that we aren’t going to let -Mr. Bain rob himself more than seems absolutely necessary to him. But -you’ll go on painting at home for a long time yet and if we put your -share away it will have grown before you are ready to use it. It will -help a great deal, anyway.” - -“What about you, Jo?” asked Mrs. Seymour gently. It seemed as though -the farm boy had suddenly grown lonely as new plans began to be talked -over. “Have you any idea about what you wish to do with your share?” - -“I have always wanted to go to a bigger school than we have here,” Jo -answered slowly, “but pop never seemed to be able to get ahead enough -to send me and hire help in my place. Perhaps he might be able to -manage without me for a while now.” - -“Father!” exclaimed Ann. She had not said anything about her own plans; -it seemed as if everybody ought to know what she would do with her -money, she had wanted one thing for such a long time. Any share given -to her would go toward her western ranch; five minutes ago she wouldn’t -have supposed that any other use of it would be possible. But now she -knew differently. “Father! I am going to lend mine to Jo, to make his -last longer.” - -Mr. Seymour looked at Jo. “Will you accept Ann’s offer?” he asked. - -The boy was dazed; it took him a moment to answer. “I don’t rightly -know why she should do that for me,” he said finally, “but I do think -kindly of her for being so generous.” - -“I want to do it, Jo! Why shouldn’t I? Think of all you have done for -us this summer. And besides that, if we are going to have a ranch -together sometime, one of us will really have to know something. I am -sure I couldn’t learn how to add or subtract any better than I do now.” - -At last they all trooped to bed and slept soundly. Now that the haunted -ship had become a solved puzzle each one of them had his own new dream. - -The next morning broke clear and bright. The rain of the night had -painted the grass a new green, the sky was cloudless. The sun woke Ann -and she dressed hurriedly. - -What a glorious day! She peered out of the window, glad that she was -alive. - -Something out there was different. What? - -Then she saw Jo coming from the barn. - -“I thought you’d never wake up,” he shouted excitedly. “Do you see -what’s happened? The wreck’s gone!” - -“The wreck?” repeated Ann. - -“It went adrift in the storm last night.” - -Quickly Ann climbed through the window that she might see better. It -was true. The beach at the foot of the sloping meadow was bare. And as -far as the eye could see there was no sign of a boat on land or ocean. - -“I’m glad! I’m glad!” she cried. “I didn’t want that old demon to stare -at us all of the time.” - -“Well, he won’t stare no more,” answered Jo. “He’s gone to Davy Jones’ -locker, where all good sailormen go.” - - - - -Transcriber’s Note: - -Punctuation has been standardised. Spelling and hyphenation have been -retained as in the original publication. - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Haunted Ship, by Kate Tucker - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HAUNTED SHIP *** - -***** This file should be named 50794-0.txt or 50794-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/0/7/9/50794/ - -Produced by Stephen Hutcheson, Dave Morgan, Rod Crawford -and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at -http://www.pgdp.net - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part -of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm -concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, -and may not be used if you charge for the eBooks, unless you receive -specific permission. If you do not charge anything for copies of this -eBook, complying with the rules is very easy. You may use this eBook -for nearly any purpose such as creation of derivative works, reports, -performances and research. They may be modified and printed and given -away--you may do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks -not protected by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the -trademark license, especially commercial redistribution. - -START: FULL LICENSE - -THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE -PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK - -To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free -distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work -(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project -Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full -Project Gutenberg-tm License available with this file or online at -www.gutenberg.org/license. - -Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works - -1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to -and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property -(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all -the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or -destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your -possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a -Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound -by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the -person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph -1.E.8. - -1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be -used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who -agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few -things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See -paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this -agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below. - -1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the -Foundation" or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection -of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual -works in the collection are in the public domain in the United -States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the -United States and you are located in the United States, we do not -claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing, -displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as -all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope -that you will support the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting -free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm -works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the -Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with the work. You can easily -comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the -same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg-tm License when -you share it without charge with others. - -1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern -what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are -in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, -check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this -agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, -distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any -other Project Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no -representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any -country outside the United States. - -1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: - -1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other -immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear -prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work -on which the phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the -phrase "Project Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, -performed, viewed, copied or distributed: - - This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and - most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no - restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it - under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this - eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the - United States, you'll have to check the laws of the country where you - are located before using this ebook. - -1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is -derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not -contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the -copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in -the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are -redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase "Project -Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply -either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or -obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg-tm -trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted -with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution -must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any -additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms -will be linked to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works -posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the -beginning of this work. - -1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm -License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this -work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. - -1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this -electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without -prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with -active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project -Gutenberg-tm License. - -1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, -compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including -any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access -to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format -other than "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official -version posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site -(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense -to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means -of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original "Plain -Vanilla ASCII" or other form. Any alternate format must include the -full Project Gutenberg-tm License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. - -1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, -performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works -unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing -access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -provided that - -* You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from - the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method - you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed - to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he has - agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid - within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are - legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty - payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in - Section 4, "Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg - Literary Archive Foundation." - -* You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies - you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he - does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm - License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all - copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue - all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg-tm - works. - -* You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of - any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the - electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of - receipt of the work. - -* You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free - distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. - -1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work or group of works on different terms than -are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing -from both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and The -Project Gutenberg Trademark LLC, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm -trademark. Contact the Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. - -1.F. - -1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable -effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread -works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project -Gutenberg-tm collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may -contain "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate -or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other -intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or -other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or -cannot be read by your equipment. - -1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right -of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project -Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all -liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal -fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT -LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE -PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE -TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE -LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR -INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH -DAMAGE. - -1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a -defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can -receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a -written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you -received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium -with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you -with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in -lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person -or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second -opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If -the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing -without further opportunities to fix the problem. - -1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth -in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO -OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT -LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. - -1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied -warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of -damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement -violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the -agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or -limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or -unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the -remaining provisions. - -1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the -trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone -providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in -accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the -production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, -including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of -the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this -or any Project Gutenberg-tm work, (b) alteration, modification, or -additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any -Defect you cause. - -Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm - -Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of -electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of -computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It -exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations -from people in all walks of life. - -Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the -assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's -goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will -remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure -and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future -generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see -Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at -www.gutenberg.org - - - -Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation - -The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit -501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the -state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal -Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification -number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by -U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. - -The Foundation's principal office is in Fairbanks, Alaska, with the -mailing address: PO Box 750175, Fairbanks, AK 99775, but its -volunteers and employees are scattered throughout numerous -locations. Its business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, Salt -Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up to -date contact information can be found at the Foundation's web site and -official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact - -For additional contact information: - - Dr. Gregory B. Newby - Chief Executive and Director - gbnewby@pglaf.org - -Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg -Literary Archive Foundation - -Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide -spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of -increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be -freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest -array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations -($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt -status with the IRS. - -The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating -charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United -States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a -considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up -with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations -where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND -DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular -state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate - -While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we -have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition -against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who -approach us with offers to donate. - -International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make -any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from -outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. - -Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation -methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other -ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To -donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate - -Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. - -Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project -Gutenberg-tm concept of a library of electronic works that could be -freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and -distributed Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of -volunteer support. - -Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed -editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in -the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not -necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper -edition. - -Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search -facility: www.gutenberg.org - -This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, -including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to -subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. - diff --git a/old/50794-0.zip b/old/50794-0.zip Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 95626b8..0000000 --- a/old/50794-0.zip +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/50794-h.zip b/old/50794-h.zip Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 47d204c..0000000 --- a/old/50794-h.zip +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/50794-h/50794-h.htm b/old/50794-h/50794-h.htm deleted file mode 100644 index 8d987dd..0000000 --- a/old/50794-h/50794-h.htm +++ /dev/null @@ -1,5563 +0,0 @@ -<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" - "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> -<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> - <head> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8" /> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> - <title> - The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Haunted Ship, by Kate Tucker - </title> - <link rel="coverpage" href="images/cover.jpg" /> - <style type="text/css"> - body {margin: 0 10%;} - - h1,h2 {text-align: center; clear: both;} - h2 {line-height: 2em; font-size: 1.4em;} - h2 span.sub {display:block; text-align:center;} - .page-break-avoid {page-break-before: avoid;} - p {margin-top: 1em; text-align: justify; margin-bottom: 1em; text-indent: 1em;} - p.title {text-indent: 0em; text-align: center; font-weight: bold; line-height: 2em;} - p.copyright2 {text-indent: 0em; text-align: center;line-height: 1.2em;} - p.title {font-size: 2em;} - - /* General */ - .noi {text-indent: 0;} - .center {text-align: center; text-indent: 0;} - .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} - .mt3 {margin-top: 3em;} - .hide {display: none; visibility: hidden;} - - /* Table */ - table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border-collapse: collapse;} - td {padding: .2em;} - .tdr1 {text-align: right; vertical-align: top; padding-right: 1em;} - .tdr2 {text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom; padding-left: 1em;} - .tdl {vertical-align: top; margin-left: 0em; text-indent: -1em; padding-left: 1em;} - th {font-size: .7em;} - - /* Notes */ - em {font-style: italic;} - .tn {width: 60%; margin: 2em 20%; background: #dcdcdc; padding: 1em;} - - /* Horizontal rules */ - hr {width: 60%; margin: 2em 20%; clear: both;} - hr.short {width: 40%; margin: 2em 30%;} - hr.divider {width: 65%; margin: 4em 17.5%;} - hr.divider2 {width: 35%; margin: 4em 32.5%;} - hr.tiny {width: 4%; margin: 0em 48%;} - - /* Page numbers */ - .pagenum {position: absolute; right: 2%; text-indent: 0em; - text-align: right; font-size: x-small; - font-weight: normal; font-variant: normal; font-style: normal; - letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; - color: #999; border-top: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; - background-color: inherit; padding: 1px 4px;} - - /* Images */ - .figcenter {clear: both; margin: 2em auto; text-align: center; max-width: 100%;} - img {max-width: 100%; width: 100%; height: auto;} - .width600 {width: 600px;} - .width500 {width: 500px;} - .width400 {width: 400px;} - .width300 {width: 300px;} - .width200 {width: 200px;} - - /* Poetry */ - .poetry-container {text-align: center; margin: 0;} - .poem {display: inline-block; text-align: left;} - .poem .verse {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} - .poem .line {text-indent: -3em; padding-left: 3em;} - - @media handheld { - body {margin: .5em; padding: 0; width: 95%;} - p {margin-top: .1em; text-align: justify; margin-bottom: .1em; text-indent: 1em;} - hr {border-width: 0; margin: 0;} - img {max-width: 100%; width: auto; height: auto;} - table {width: 98%; margin: 0 2%;} - .tn {width: 80%; margin: 0 10%; background: #dcdcdc; padding: 1em;} - .poetry-container {text-align: center; margin: 0;} - .poem {display: inline-block; text-align: left;} - .poem .verse {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} - .poem .line {text-indent: -3em; padding-left: 3em;} - a {color: inherit; text-decoration: inherit;} - .hidehand {display: block; visibility: visible;} - } - </style> - </head> -<body> - - -<pre> - -The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Haunted Ship, by Kate Tucker - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: The Haunted Ship - -Author: Kate Tucker - -Illustrator: Ethel Taylor - -Release Date: December 30, 2015 [EBook #50794] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HAUNTED SHIP *** - - - - -Produced by Stephen Hutcheson, Dave Morgan, Rod Crawford -and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at -http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - -</pre> - -<hr class="divider" /> -<h1>THE HAUNTED SHIP</h1> - -<div class="hidehand"> -<hr class="divider2" /> -<div class="figcenter width500"> -<img src="images/cover.jpg" width="500" height="772" alt="Cover" /> -</div></div> -<div class="figcenter width500">The cover was created by the transcriber using elements from the -original publication and placed in the public domain.</div> - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider2" /> -<div class="figcenter width200"> -<img src="images/colophon.jpg" width="200" height="75" alt="Colophon" /> -</div> - -<p class="copyright2">THE MACMILLAN COMPANY<br /> -<small>NEW YORK · BOSTON · CHICAGO · DALLAS<br /> -ATLANTA · SAN FRANCISCO</small></p> - -<p class="copyright2"><span class="smcap">MACMILLAN & CO., Limited</span><br /> -<small>LONDON · BOMBAY · CALCUTTA<br /> -MELBOURNE</small></p> - -<p class="copyright2"><span class="smcap">THE MACMILLAN COMPANY<br /> -OF CANADA, Limited</span><br /> -<small>TORONTO</small></p> -</div> - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -<a name="frontispiece" id="frontispiece"></a> -</div> -<div class="figcenter width400"> -<img src="images/frontis.jpg" width="400" height="609" alt="Frontispiece" /> -<div class="caption"><em>Ann could feel the dory rise and plunge.</em></div> -</div> - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -</div> -<div class="figcenter width400"> -<img src="images/title.jpg" width="400" height="664" alt="Title page" /> -</div> -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="short" /> -<p class="center">THE HAUNTED SHIP</p> -<p class="center">by<br /> -KATE TUCKER</p> -</div> - - -<p class="center"><em>Illustrated by</em>—<br /> -ETHEL TAYLOR</p> - -<p class="center"><small>NEW YORK</small><br /> -THE MACMILLAN COMPANY<br /> -1929</p> - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -<p class="copyright2"><span class="smcap">Copyright</span>, 1929,<br /> -<span class="smcap">By</span> THE MACMILLAN COMPANY.</p> - -<hr class="tiny" /> - -<p class="copyright2">Set up and electrotyped.<br /> -Published March, 1929.</p> - -<p class="copyright2">All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in -part in any form.</p> - -<p class="copyright2 mt3">SET UP BY BROWN BROTHERS LINOTYPERS<br /> -PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA<br /> -BY THE FERRIS PRINTING COMPANY</p> -</div> - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -<h2><a name="contents" id="contents"></a>CONTENTS</h2> -</div> -<table summary="contents"> -<tr> -<th class="tdr1">CHAPTER</th> -<th> </th> -<th class="tdr2">PAGE</th> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr1">I.</td> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Jo Bailey and Three Seymours</span></td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#i">1</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr1">II.</td> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Wrecked Schooner</span></td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#ii">15</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr1">III.</td> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">How the Boat Came Ashore</span></td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#iii">29</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr1">IV.</td> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">In the Good Greenwood</span></td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#iv">43</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr1">V.</td> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">On the Wreck</span></td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#v">66</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr1">VI.</td> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Going Lobstering</span></td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#vi">81</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr1">VII.</td> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Painting the Deer</span></td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#vii">100</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr1">VIII.</td> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">A Man with a Lantern</span></td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#viii">109</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr1">IX.</td> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">A Day of Mysteries</span></td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#ix">124</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr1">X.</td> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Fire in the Woods</span></td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#x">141</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr1">XI.</td> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Through the Porthole</span></td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#xi">150</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr1">XII.</td> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Figurehead’s Secret</span></td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#xii">159</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr1">XIII.</td> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">A Reason for Everything</span></td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#xiii">171</a></td> -</tr> -</table> - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -<h2><a name="illustrations" id="illustrations"></a>ILLUSTRATIONS</h2> -</div> -<table summary="illustrations"> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Ann could feel the dory rise and plunge</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#frontispiece"><em>Frontispiece</em></a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<th> </th> -<th class="tdr2">PAGE</th> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">In the lookout tree they mounted guard in turn</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#in">53</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">With one beautiful jump he vanished</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#with">61</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">The harness showered down in dozens of little straps</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#the">135</a></td> -</tr> -</table> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -</div> -<p class="title">THE HAUNTED SHIP</p> - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="short" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">1</a></span> -</div> - -<div class="figcenter width600"> -<img src="images/p1.jpg" width="600" height="378" alt="Page 1" /> -</div> - -<p class="title">THE HAUNTED SHIP</p> - -<h2 class="page-break-avoid"><a name="i" id="i"></a>CHAPTER I -<span class="sub"><em>JO BAILEY AND THREE SEYMOURS</em></span></h2> - - -<p>“<span class="smcap">Hey</span>, Jerry, get along there, you fool horse!”</p> - -<p>Jo Bailey flipped the reins over the back of the lumbering nag. Not -that there was any hurry, but he was so eager to see what the Seymours -would be like. They were coming from Boston to spend the summer at the -Bailey house and Jo was on his way down to the station at Pine Ledge to -meet their train.</p> - -<p>The past winter had been a lonely one for Jo and his father, who lived -up on a hill by the sea, far from the village. Some of the time the -snowdrifts had been seven feet deep, but Jo didn’t expect these<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">2</a></span> city -people to understand what that meant; they could not realize what the -Maine people called “a shut-in winter.” The Seymours were coming after -the grass had grown green and the fields sprouted up through the brown -moist earth, and they would be going home before the cold winds came -down from the north woods, the cold that closed so surely and fiercely -about the Baileys in their white house on the hill above the sea and -shut them in so tightly that they could see nothing but the sea and the -great stretches of snow for a long four months at a time.</p> - -<p>Spring changed the whole world for Jo Bailey, and spring was here now; -winter had gone. The soft dirt road sucked up under Jerry’s clumping -feet and brooks ran in merry freshets through their deep gutters on -either side of the road. So Jo swung the old plow horse into place -beside the little station platform and whistled while he waited. The -year’s fun would begin to-day. In the early spring he had helped his -father plant, but that work was done and so was school, and he had long -and pleasant days before him, when his chores could be finished before -breakfast.</p> - -<p>Jo never had seen the Seymour family and to-day he was going to find -out what they were like. There were three of them coming with their -father and mother and if they were as nice as their father they’d be -all right. Mr. Seymour was a painter who had discovered the Bailey -house last year while he was wandering along the Maine coast on -a sketching<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">3</a></span> trip. He had said that the Bailey farm was the most -beautiful place he ever had seen.</p> - -<p>Of course Jo liked hearing that, and he felt proud at knowing that an -artist from Boston found the old farm so lovely, though exactly what -the painter saw in the big ocean pounding against the foot of the -tall broken cliff, the stretch of smooth meadow running down over the -slope of the hill, and the dense pine woods reaching back for miles -and miles, Jo couldn’t understand any better than the Seymours could -comprehend his winter.</p> - -<p>The Seymours were about his own age, Jo was thinking as he sat on a box -on the station platform, whistling and waiting. The oldest was a girl, -Ann, Mr. Seymour had told him last summer, and Jo was skeptical as to -what he might expect from her. A little bit of a fraidcat, probably, -always dressing up and particular about her clothes; but he could bear -it, if only the boy was spry. “Spry” was a word that meant a great deal -in Maine; in Jo’s opinion if a boy was “spry” he was all that a boy -should be.</p> - -<p>While Jo waited at the station, Ann Seymour was sitting impatiently -in the train, looking forward to just such a place as Jo’s meadow to -stretch her long legs in a good run. School and basket ball were very -well in winter but she had grown as tired as Jo of the cold, and as -soon as April weather brought out the buds on Boston Common, Ann grew -restless and began to talk about Maine.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">4</a></span> -Ann was fourteen, just like Jo Bailey; her brother Ben was twelve, and -Helen was ten. She was decidedly the baby of the family and one of the -reasons for their all coming to Pine Ledge so early in the season. -She had been dreadfully ill during the past year and Mr. Seymour had -thought of Pine Ledge farm as the best place for Helen when they first -talked about a summer vacation. So the plans were made and he had told -the children about Jo—how he had no mother, and, because of this, they -must share their own mother with him; how he lived bravely in the snow -all winter and walked through the drifts to school; and how he knew all -about the woods and the rocks and tides and went fishing, up-river and -out to sea. He made Jo sound interesting, and the Seymours were waiting -to see him quite as impatiently as he was waiting for them.</p> - -<p>“Will there be Indians at Pine Ledge?” Helen’s round blue eyes were -like saucers as she peered out of the car window into the woods and -fields through which the train was sliding so rapidly. “Will there be -real live Indians with feathers and paint on them?”</p> - -<p>“Don’t be such a silly,” said Ben. He secretly hoped there were Indians -but he wouldn’t have admitted it to any one. “Indians moved away from -this country years ago, years and years ago, all except a few tame -Indians. But perhaps there are bears out in those woods. Bears live -where green<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">5</a></span> bushes grow so thick. They hide in the bushes and jump out -when you’re not looking.”</p> - -<p>He was delighted to see Helen shiver in frightened excitement. It made -him feel rather trembly, too, to think of bears as big as men that -jumped out and growled.</p> - -<p>“Have they big teeth?” asked Helen, as she pressed her small nose -against the window glass, looking hard for a glimpse of a bear.</p> - -<p>“I guess they have teeth! And round ears and claws and fur.”</p> - -<p>“Oh-h-h! I don’t want to met any bears.” Helen’s nose was pressed into -a flat white spot in her desire to look deeper into the woods.</p> - -<p>“Jo Bailey won’t let them touch you, will he, father?” said Ann -reassuringly.</p> - -<p>She turned to her father, who sat absorbed in watching the country -flowing past his window. She knew how he loved the green fields and the -woods, all the lovely shapes of things and the way they were placed on -the green earth, for he painted them on wide, long canvases. Sometimes -the things he painted didn’t look as Ann thought they ought to, but she -always found him ready to explain why he made them so different from -the way they had appeared to her eyes. People who knew about painting -said that his work had unusually fine quality and Ann believed that -soon he would be very famous and then there would be a great deal more -money to spend than they had now. She would be able to go<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">6</a></span> west and -start a ranch with hundreds of horses and cowboys riding them. That was -the dream of her life.</p> - -<p>Ben didn’t care much about having more money. He was satisfied to sit -and watch his father at work. Often Mr. Seymour gave him an old piece -of stretched canvas to paint on while he sat so quietly there beside -him. Ben liked to splash in the paint and try to do something himself.</p> - -<p>In spite of being a boy he was not nearly as strong as Ann, although -he was only two years younger. She could tumble him over easily, but -she was unusually strong for her age. It was hard for Ann to remember -always not to be too rough with Ben and Helen. She was not quite aware -of how she was looking forward to being with Jo Bailey, for her father -had said, “Jo’s as sturdy as they make ’em.” Jo, Ann knew, would be -able to do everything she could and then do more. And Jo would tell -them about bears and Indians, for though, like Ben, she knew perfectly -well that no Indians or bears would be in the Pine Ledge woods, she -liked to imagine that there might be some.</p> - -<p>“Dad,” she said to Mr. Seymour, and he turned his keen smiling eyes -toward her. “Jo will know whether bears come into his woods, won’t he? -Tell Helen that Jo will take care of her.”</p> - -<p>“I shouldn’t wonder,” answered Mr. Seymour, “but he will speak for -himself in about one minute from now, for here we are.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">7</a></span> -What a scurrying for coats and bags as the train pulled up before the -square wooden box that was Pine Ledge station! They all climbed down -the high steps to the platform, Helen without hat or coat because, as -usual, she had been too excited to get them on until the last moment -had come.</p> - -<p>So this was Jo, waiting for them beside a fat old plow horse and a -roomy brown wagon that Ann learned to call the buckboard. Jo was much -bigger than Ann had thought he would be, and freckles were spattered -on his tanned face. He wore a very faded pair of clean overalls and -the collar of his blue shirt stood out like a second pair of ears. He -grinned a wide shy grin and his heavy boots scraped awkwardly on the -platform as he walked across to meet them.</p> - -<p>Helen couldn’t wait. She ran across to him before the others were -fairly out of the train. “Where are the Indians and the bears? Please -show them to me right away.”</p> - -<p>“Bears?” answered Jo, laughing in spite of his bashfulness. “Bears— -Well, I guess I can find you places where they have been, later in the -summer, around the berry patches, but they don’t linger here in the -springtime. And the Injuns were scared away years ago. People ain’t -scalped up here any more.”</p> - -<p>All the Seymours were around him by this time. “We shall have to do -without the Indians,” said Mrs. Seymour gayly. “Really, I prefer not to -be scalped.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">8</a></span> -Jo laughed again as he went to help with the baggage; a feeling -of satisfaction and contentment filled him. These new people were -friendly. He was going to like them.</p> - -<p>“I’ll take those, Mr. Seymour.” And over Jo’s square shoulders went the -strapped shawls, the extra coats, and with three valises in each hand -the boy strode down to the buckboard.</p> - -<p>Ben’s mouth dropped open in astonishment as he watched.</p> - -<p>“Isn’t that too heavy a load?” Mr. Seymour protested; but Jo called -back, “Not a mite heavier than milk pails.”</p> - -<p>“How strong you are!” exclaimed Ann.</p> - -<p>After Mr. Seymour had gathered up his share of the remaining luggage -two bags remained. Ben looked at them. He had not supposed that he -could lift them from the platform but he had watched Jo with admiring -eyes, and now when Ann stooped for the bags he suddenly brushed her -aside and grabbed the two valises.</p> - -<p>“I’ll do that,” he said, and he struggled after his father and Jo, the -two bags trailing from his lean frail arms.</p> - -<p>Jo piled baggage and Seymours into the two-seated wagon, although how -he managed to stow them all away Ann couldn’t imagine until she saw him -do it. The buckboard seemed elastic, and Jerry, the big lumbering old -horse, traveled along as though he had no load at all.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">9</a></span> -“Want to sit on the little front seat with me?” Jo asked Ann. Jo had -decided at first glance that he liked this thin tall ruddy girl with -her bobbed hair. She didn’t seem like the girls he had known; she was -more like a boy with her frank smile and clear eyes. No frills or -fancies about her, no sly nudgings or giggles that might mean anything, -no holding hands. No pretending not to understand his own sensible -frankness, no trying to make him remember that she was a girl. She sat -beside him as he drove, her bright eyes darting this way and that, -letting nothing escape her sight, excitedly seeking out the things that -Jo had known every day of his life. Jo knew that if he had gone to -Boston he would have felt the same way about things that were different -from those at home.</p> - -<p>Funny thing—he had expected to like the boy best, but even this early -Jo saw that he was going to have the most fun with the girl whom he had -dreaded meeting.</p> - -<p>They seemed to enjoy their drive so much that Jo took them the long way -around, through the village. There the houses were grouped together, -crouching down like a flock of little chickens about the tall church -that looked like a guardian white hen. All around the outskirts green -hillocks rose, framing the village into a cuddling nest. This was -planned, Jo explained, to protect the houses in winter, when the gales -brought the snow out of the north and buried the roads beyond the -pine-covered mounds.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">10</a></span> -“The wind blows like all get out,” he chattered. “And the folks are -glad to be together so that they can reach the store and the church, -and the children can go to school. The wind blows so hard that it -passes right over the top of this valley, playing leapfrog over the -hills.”</p> - -<p>“Where do you go to school?” Mrs. Seymour asked from the back seat.</p> - -<p>Jo turned to answer her. “I come down here.”</p> - -<p>“You mean you come down here to live in winter?”</p> - -<p>“No, we don’t want to leave the homestead. Jerry brings me in good -weather, and when he can’t get through I go on snowshoes to the nearest -neighbors and the school dray picks me up there.”</p> - -<p>“You walk? All that distance?” Even Mr. Seymour was astonished.</p> - -<p>“It ain’t so far. Only four or five miles.”</p> - -<p>Ann was tremendously impressed. “You come all that distance every day?”</p> - -<p>“Lots of the fellows do it, and the girls, too. Everybody goes to -school even if they do live out on a farm.” Jo was very matter-of-fact -about it. He never had thought of pitying himself, nor thought of -admiring himself, either.</p> - -<p>Ann liked the way the small white houses nestled together with the -church steeple standing over them. The steeple reminded her of a -lighthouse piercing up into the blue sky. Above it the scudding bits -of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">11</a></span> cloud were flying by like little sailboats she had once seen racing -across Boston Bay.</p> - -<p>After they had passed through the village Jo turned into a winding -road which grew wilder and more unkempt as Jerry plodded along. Puffs -of dust rose behind the wheels and the hot sun on the pines made the -air heavy with fragrance. Finally the road plunged down into a ravine -where the air was cool and the sound of running water could be heard. -The pines met overhead and made a soft rustling noise more quiet than -silence.</p> - -<p>“The river runs under the road here,” explained Jo. “Then it goes down -into the sea. The sea is just beyond those trees,” and he pointed -through the pines with his whipstock.</p> - -<p>From the ravine once again they climbed into the sunlight, mounting -up over cliffs and rocks, until the sea suddenly spread out endlessly -before them. From here they could look back and see the mouth of the -river as it foamed out of the pines into the broader expanse of water. -Gray shingled huts were clustered on the banks just out of reach of the -swishing rush of tide, and bent figures of men, tiny, and yellow in -their oilskins, could be seen moving in and out of the boats drawn on -the shore.</p> - -<p>“Lobstermen,” said Jo before Ann had a chance to ask him. “They bring -their boats in there. We have our boat down in the cove, my father and -I. Do you know anything about lobstering?” And he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">12</a></span> turned to her with -his eyes twinkling. Well enough he knew she did not.</p> - -<p>Ann laughed aloud with him. “I’ve seen them in the fish market. And -I’ve eaten them. But I don’t know a thing about catching them.” She -looked at him inquiringly. “Is it fun?”</p> - -<p>“I’ll take you out with me sometime, if you will promise not to be -seasick.”</p> - -<p>“I can’t promise that, because I don’t know and of course I couldn’t -help it if I had to be seasick, but I shouldn’t care—I can be sure of -that!”</p> - -<p>“Take me, too,” Helen demanded from the rear seat.</p> - -<p>“All right.” Jo nodded and turned to Ben. “And you, if you would like -to come.”</p> - -<p>“I’ll come if I can help row.” Ben was still feeling strong after his -battle with the bags. He wanted to do everything that Jo did.</p> - -<p>Jo understood. “You could, but we don’t have to row any more. The boat -has a motor. But you can help to pull the lobster pots up; that’s hard -work and Miss Ann wouldn’t like to get herself all over wet.”</p> - -<p>“Don’t call me Miss Ann,” the girl cried impatiently. “It makes me feel -grown up and I hate it! I’m Ann. My gracious, I’ve done nothing but -talk of you as Jo ever since my father planned to come up here this -summer. I feel as if I’d known you for years.”</p> - -<p>“All right,” said Jo. Secretly he was delighted,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">13</a></span> but he did not quite -know how to show it and was not quite sure that he cared to let them -see. “You will get all messed up with the bait and the water, but -perhaps you won’t mind. There’s the house just yonder,” and he pointed -around the bend of the road.</p> - -<p>“Where?” they all shouted. And there it was, outlined against the dark -of the forest behind it. It was a small one-storied frame house like -those in the village, with the roof at the back sloping almost down -to the ground, a white hen with her wings outstretched to cover these -children from the city.</p> - -<p>The house stood at the extreme edge of a broad meadow that ran from the -woods to the high bluff at the foot of which lay a rocky beach; black -woods behind and then the smooth stretch of pasture and beyond it the -ocean.</p> - -<p>The sun had already set, leaving an afterglow that was dimming rapidly, -and the Seymours suddenly felt tired and glad that they were to reach -shelter before dark. The air grew colder with the setting of the sun -and the glimmer of a lamp in the window was welcome.</p> - -<p>Even Jo seemed anxious to get home and he urged Jerry into a trot. “Hey -up, Jerry,” he chirped, and slapped the reins over the smooth round -back. Jerry pricked up his ears and blew his breath quickly through his -nostrils. He obeyed as if he had meant to hurry without being told.</p> - -<p>Everything grew tense in the peaceful twilight, as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">14</a></span> if a storm were -creeping across the smooth sea to burst in fury against the cliff. Ann -glanced at Jo’s face and found that his chin was set tightly and his -eyes looked straight ahead. He didn’t look frightened, but Ann knew -that he had no wish to be caught on this particular bit of road after -the night had fallen.</p> - -<p>Up over the bluff the wagon rattled, Jerry’s feet making a clump-clump -in the stillness. Across and down the slight hill they went.</p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">15</a></span> -</div> - -<div class="figcenter width600"> -<img src="images/p15.jpg" width="600" height="426" alt="Page 15" /> -</div> - -<h2 class="page-break-avoid"><a name="ii" id="ii"></a>CHAPTER II -<span class="sub"><em>THE WRECKED SCHOONER</em></span></h2> - - -<p><span class="smcap">The</span> great boat lay almost against the road. As the buckboard sped by -she loomed above it in the gathering dusk, menacing and mountainous. -Her broken bowsprit swung over the wagon and creaked in the breeze -that had just sprung up. Directly below the bowsprit was a carved -figurehead, larger than life and clearly outlined against the dull gray -of the ship. Sea and rain had washed away the figure’s paint and worn -the wood bone-white. It represented a demon nailed to the battered -prow, its wide ugly grin and blank eyes peering almost into Ann’s face -as the buckboard passed beneath. Ann was on the side of the wagon which -was closer and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">16</a></span> could have touched the face if she had reached out her -hand to do so. Helen gave a little shriek of fright at sight of the -thing and Ann felt the cry echoing in her brain as if she had been the -one who called out.</p> - -<p>Instinctively she dodged back against Jo, and felt that his muscles -were tense against the tightened reins in his hands.</p> - -<p>Jerry needed no urging; with his back flattened down he ran, swinging -his heavy feet swiftly as he mounted the hill toward the house. Ann -glanced up from the strong brown hands holding the reins and saw that -Jo was staring straight ahead as though he had not looked at the -figurehead as he went by and was determined not to turn and look back -at it afterward.</p> - -<p>They were past, but as they went up the hill the evening wind suddenly -grew stronger and sighed through the weatherworn boards that covered -the schooner’s hull, and the rattling of their loose ends was like the -sound of clapping hands.</p> - -<p>What was this old boat, and why did it impress them so? And yet Ann did -not feel like asking Jo about it. She wished that her father would say -something to quiet this fear that had come over her so suddenly. She -never before had felt anything like this strange impression that the -schooner was more than just a plain ordinary boat cast up on a narrow -strip of beach.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">17</a></span> -As though Mr. Seymour had read her mind he asked Jo, “Where did that -schooner come from? She wasn’t here last summer when I was down.”</p> - -<p>“No, sir.” Jo had trouble in making his stiff lips move. “She came in -on a blizzard the winter past and stove up on the pond rocks.”</p> - -<p>“Whose boat was she? What is her name?”</p> - -<p>“She had no cargo on board,” said Jo slowly, as if he did not wish to -say anything about it. “She had no log either. And the waves were so -heavy that her name plate was gone and never came ashore.”</p> - -<p>“But wasn’t there somebody on board to tell you who she was?”</p> - -<p>“A man had no chance to live in the sea the day she came in,” explained -Jo. “Four of the crew were washed ashore the next day, but they carried -no papers and nobody claimed them. None of the folks wanted to bury -them down in the village churchyard so pop and I put them up back of -the barn where grandpop lies. It didn’t seem right not to give them a -bit of ground to lie in, even though we didn’t know what brought them -in here.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Seymour exclaimed indignantly, “I never heard of anything so -inhuman! Do you really mean that the people in the village refused to -bury those poor shipwrecked sailors in the cemetery? Jo! Not here in a -civilized land?”</p> - -<p>“You couldn’t blame the folks,” apologized Jo.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">18</a></span> -But evidently Mrs. Seymour was quite positive that she could, and Ann -agreed with her most thoroughly.</p> - -<p>Jerry had stopped running. He was going uphill and besides they were -almost home now, but Jo had time to say, “Nobody ever claimed the boat. -I guess nobody owns her. And not even the sea wants her you can make -that out by the way it threw her away up here by the road, just as if -it wanted to be free of her. Only the flood tides reach her now.”</p> - -<p>They had reached the house as Jo talked, and he jumped down from his -seat with his face still grim and set. And then everything changed, -for the house door was flung open with a flood of lamplight over the -doorstep and there stood Fred Bailey, Jo’s father.</p> - -<p>“Come right in,” he called, striding to meet them. “Don’t mind that -stuff, Mr. Seymour. We’ll take it in for you.”</p> - -<p>Ann liked Fred Bailey almost as much as she had liked Jo. As soon as -she saw him standing there, tall and thin and gangling in his rough -clothes, a fisherman and a farmer, all thoughts of the strange wrecked -ship were forgotten. Here was some one who made her feel at home, some -one who was strong and trustworthy and honest as the good brown earth -and the mighty cliffs.</p> - -<p>Mr. Seymour had rented the Bailey house and Jo and his father had moved -into the barn for the summer. So presently, when the baggage had been<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">19</a></span> -brought in and when Mr. Bailey had shown Mrs. Seymour where things were -in the pantry and the kitchen and the woodshed and where the linen and -blankets were kept, he and Jo went off to their summer quarters leaving -the Seymours alone.</p> - -<p>Provisions had been sent from the village store and Ann and her mother -found the shelves well stocked with all kinds of food, with big barrels -of sugar, flour, and potatoes stored under the shelf in the pantry. -After they had studied the workings of the kerosene stove they cooked -the first meal over it, and Ann loved just such an opportunity to show -how much she knew about cooking. Ben was ready to admit that she could -boil potatoes expertly when she didn’t forget and let the water boil -away. As there was plenty of water this time, and as Mrs. Seymour knew -how to cook the steak deliciously in a hot pan, and as Fred Bailey had -left them a batch of soft yellow biscuits, the hungry travelers were -very well off indeed this evening.</p> - -<p>Mr. Seymour was already gloating over the work he meant to do this -summer. “That boat is a find I didn’t expect. I’ll start sketching her -the first thing in the morning. Just think of having a cottage with a -wrecked schooner right in the front yard.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t like that boat,” said Helen. Her lips twisted as though she -were going to cry. “It has such big round eyes that stare at you.”</p> - -<p>Her mother laughed. “You must have been sleepy when you passed the -boat. That was only the figure<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">20</a></span> of a man cut out of wood. The eyes -didn’t belong to anybody who is actually alive.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know about that, mother,” Ben said soberly. “I saw the eyes, -too, and I was wide-awake, for I pinched myself to make sure. Those -eyes made little holes right through me when they looked down at me. -They were looking at me, really, and not at Helen.”</p> - -<p>“They were looking at me!” Helen insisted. “And I don’t like that ship! -I want to go home to Boston.”</p> - -<p>Mr. Seymour looked at her in astonishment. “Come, come, my dear child, -you mustn’t let a thing like that frighten you. It is strange and -grotesque but that only makes it more interesting. I’ll tell you about -figureheads. The sailors think of the ship’s figurehead as a sort of -guardian spirit that watches over the boat and protects it during -storms. Even if it were alive it wouldn’t hurt you because it was -created only to protect. But it isn’t alive, Helen, it is made out of -wood. I’ll go with all of you to-morrow and let you touch it and then -you will never be afraid of it again.”</p> - -<p>“Do they always put figureheads on big boats, father?” asked Ann. She -would not have been willing to admit that she, too, had those eyes upon -her and had thought they seemed very much alive.</p> - -<p>“No, not always,” Mr. Seymour explained. “Sometimes the portion over -the cutwater of a ship is finished off with scrollwork, gilded and -painted.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">21</a></span> Modern steamers don’t have them now, very often, but the -deep-sea men who are on a sailing vessel months at a time like to feel -that they have a figurehead to watch and care for them while they are -asleep. The owners decide what it will be, and give directions to the -builders. That is, if they name a boat after a man they will carve -a statue of him for the bow, or else they will choose a saint or an -old-time god, like Neptune, who was once supposed to rule over the -sea. Sometimes they will have a mermaid, because mermaids are gay and -dancing and will make the ship travel more swiftly; no sea could drown -a mermaid. When a sailing ship makes a safe passage through storm and -peril and brings the sailors home happy and well, they are very likely -to believe that the figurehead has had as much to do with it as the -captain with his real knowledge of navigation and charts.”</p> - -<p>“It is a mascot, then?” said Ben.</p> - -<p>“Yes, a sort of mascot,” his father assented. “And some of the old -figureheads are beautifully made, real works of art. When he retired, -many a sea captain took the figurehead from his ship and nailed it over -the door of his home, for he felt a real affection for it. Perhaps he -thought that since Neptune had taken such good care of the ship at sea -he was entitled to the same enjoyment and rest ashore that the captain -had earned.”</p> - -<p>Mr. Seymour seemed to feel that everything was clear now, but Ann was -not satisfied.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">22</a></span> -“This ship did not get home safely,” she said in a half whisper.</p> - -<p>“No, it didn’t,” her father assented. He was perfectly frank in -admitting that even the best of figureheads failed when storms were too -heavy or when sailors made mistakes in calculating the force of wind -and currents. “But that would not be the fault of the figurehead. I am -sure we shall learn that the captain lost track of where he was and -came in too close to shore.”</p> - -<p>Ann’s doubts showed in her face. “But the crew and cargo have -disappeared.”</p> - -<p>“You mustn’t be superstitious, Ann. There is always a logical -explanation for everything that seems strange and unnatural. There -must be a good reason why that boat had no cargo and probably we shall -learn all about her this summer before we go back to Boston. Some of -the people about here may know more than they care to admit and have -purposely kept it secret from Jo and Mr. Bailey.”</p> - -<p>“Wouldn’t it be fun if we could find out all about her!” Her father’s -calm confidence had reassured Ann; her father must be right and she -didn’t want to be silly and timid. Never before had she felt the least -bit afraid of anything.</p> - -<p>Ben had been thinking. “Just exactly what does it mean to be -superstitious, dad?” he asked.</p> - -<p>“If you try to make yourself believe that the wooden figure out there -is alive, or if you are willing to accept any one else’s belief in such -nonsense, you<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">23</a></span> will be superstitious and not intelligent. For instance, -you may think you see something, or hear something, and not be able to -explain what it is immediately. If instead of working to learn a true -explanation you remember the incident as it first impressed you——”</p> - -<p>“Like thinking a mouse at night is a burglar,” Ann interrupted.</p> - -<p>“That is it exactly,” said Mr. Seymour. “Take that figurehead of a -demon on the boat; we passed by it just at twilight when it couldn’t be -seen as plainly as in full sunlight, and because the face was leaning -toward us, with shadows moving over it, it gave you the impression that -the thing was alive and watching you. To-morrow when the sun comes out -you will go back to look at it and see that it is only a wooden statue, -while if we should go home to-night, as Helen wishes, you children -would remember it all your lives as something evil. And in that case -you would be permitting yourselves to grow superstitious instead of -taking this as an opportunity for the exercise of honest thinking and -intelligent observation.”</p> - -<p>“Is Jo superstitious?” asked Ben abruptly.</p> - -<p>“Jo is too sensible to be superstitious,” answered his father.</p> - -<p>“But Jo is afraid of that boat! I saw his face when we went past. And -even Jerry was afraid. He ran.”</p> - -<p>Mr. Seymour glanced quickly across the table to where his wife sat -between Ann and Helen. Ann<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">24</a></span> saw the look that passed between him and -her mother and realized that they both were worried. They did not want -Helen and Ben to go on thinking about the boat, nor did they want the -children to know that they, too, had felt the strangeness of that gray -broken boat and that grinning face.</p> - -<p>Ann believed with her father that this was nothing more than an old -wooden sailing vessel thrown on the shore by a great storm. Where had -it come from, and for what port was it bound? Where were the families -who were waiting for their men to come home to them? Were there -children who thought that their father would come back in a few weeks, -now that good weather had made the seas safe? Were there mothers who -believed that their sailor sons would soon be home? How anxious they -must be, waiting all this time since last winter. Something ought to -be done about letting them know the truth. It was tragic, and it was -romantic, too.</p> - -<p>And if there was a mystery attached to the ship that mystery could be -explained by a detective or by any one else who had the courage and -determination to find out what was at the bottom of this strangeness. -Her father had said there was a reason for everything that was queer -and uncanny. If only she were brave enough to face that grinning -demon! Should she be sensible, or should she let herself be weak and -unintelligent? Intelligent, that was what father wanted them all to be, -it was his favorite expression, “Be intelligent.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">25</a></span> -The others began to chatter about other things while they were -finishing supper and washing the dishes afterward, but although -Ann took part in the work and the jokes and laughter and all the -anticipations of a great time to-morrow, she could think in the back of -her mind of nothing but the ship. If Jo would help them, she and Ben -would try to find out all about the wreck. It would be much more fun -than hunting imaginary Indians and bears in the woods.</p> - -<p>After supper had been cleared away and the sweet old kitchen put in -order, all the Seymours trooped through every room in the house, -patting the wide soft feather beds that stood so high from the floor -that a little flight of steps was needed to climb into them.</p> - -<p>“A tiny stepladder beside my bed!” exclaimed Helen. “What fun! I love -this house.”</p> - -<p>The unaccustomedness of the quaint old furniture, the wide floor boards -polished with age, the small-paned windows, the bulky mahogany chests -of drawers that smiled so kindly as they waited for the children’s -clothes to be unpacked, all these things crowded the ship out of -Helen’s mind. She went to bed perfectly happy.</p> - -<p>“Don’t you fall out,” called Ben from his room, “because if you should -you’d break your leg, probably, you’re so high.”</p> - -<p>“I couldn’t fall out,” Helen called back. “You wait until you try -your bed. It seemed high before<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">26</a></span> I got in, but I sank away down and -down into a nest; I think I’ll pretend I am a baby swan to-night with -billows of my mother swan’s feathers all about me to keep me warm. I -never slept in such a funny bed, but I like it!”</p> - -<p>And then Helen’s voice trailed off into silence.</p> - -<p>In each room the Seymours found a lamp trimmed and filled ready for -use, with its glass chimney as spotlessly clear as the glass of a -lighthouse.</p> - -<p>“How kind the Baileys are!” exclaimed Mrs. Seymour gratefully. “I don’t -feel as if we were renting this house; Jo and his father seem like old -friends already.”</p> - -<p>This time it was Ann and her father who exchanged a quick glance, a -flash of understanding and satisfaction. Impulsively Ann threw her -arms around her mother’s neck and kissed her. Her mother should have a -chance to rest here, if Ann’s help could make it possible, dear mother -who still looked so pale and tired after the long weeks of nursing -Helen and bringing her back to health.</p> - -<p>“I knew that you’d like the Baileys,” said Mr. Seymour.</p> - -<p>“Jo is an unusually nice boy, isn’t he, father?” Ann had already grown -attached to him.</p> - -<p>“He certainly is,” Mr. Seymour agreed heartily. “And I know that you -will like him even better as you become better acquainted. His father -couldn’t get along without Jo. He does a man’s work on<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">27</a></span> the farm and -helps bring in the lobsters every morning.”</p> - -<p>“I’m going to be just like him,” Ben called from his bed in the next -room. Jo’s sturdy strength and the simple unconscious way the boy used -it had fired Ben’s imagination.</p> - -<p>“Nothing could make me happier than to have you as well and strong as -he is, when we go away next fall,” answered Mr. Seymour.</p> - -<p>With supper and the lamplight and the homely charm of the old house, -the atmosphere of uncanny strangeness had vanished, but after Ann had -blown out her lamp, just before she was ready to climb the steps to her -bed, she went to the window and peered through the darkness toward the -wrecked ship.</p> - -<p>And as she looked a flickering light passed across the deck.</p> - -<p>She must be mistaken. It was a firefly. No, there it was again, as -though a man walked carrying a swinging lantern with its wick no bigger -than a candle flame. He passed the bow, and the glow swung across the -figure of the demon.</p> - -<p>Was it Jo or his father? That was Ann’s first thought, but she wanted -to make sure. From a second window in her room, across a corner, she -could see the windows of the barn which the Baileys had made into a -living room, and she leaned far out to see clearly. Jo was there. He -was talking to some one at the back of the room.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">28</a></span> -If Jo and his father were talking together, who could be prowling -around the boat? She crossed the room to look again at the schooner. -And as she watched, the bright pin prick of light disappeared; the -lantern had been carried behind some opaque object that hid it.</p> - -<p>“What’s up, Ann?” Ben stirred restlessly in the adjoining room. “It -will be morning before you get to bed.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, I was looking out of the window. The stars are so bright in Maine!”</p> - -<p>“Ann! What do you think about that ship? I feel as if ghosts lived on -her.”</p> - -<p>Ann climbed her little flight of steps and slid down between upper -sheet and feathers.</p> - -<p>“Nonsense,” she called to Ben. “Ghosts don’t carry lanterns.”</p> - -<p>“What?” Ben’s voice sounded much more awake. “What did you say, Ann?”</p> - -<p>“I said I don’t believe in ghosts.”</p> - -<p>Ann slid farther into her feather nest and promptly went to sleep.</p> - - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">29</a></span> -</div> - -<h2><a name="iii" id="iii"></a>CHAPTER III -<span class="sub"><em>HOW THE BOAT CAME ASHORE</em></span></h2> - - -<p><span class="smcap">Vaguely</span> Ann heard a bell ringing. She thought that she was lobstering -with Jo and that Jo was pulling up a bell in one of the heavy lobster -pots. They were bobbing about on waves as high as mountains.</p> - -<p>“It is seven o’clock! No farmer stays in bed late, you know.”</p> - -<p>It was Mrs. Seymour’s voice.</p> - -<p>How could her mother have come away out to sea? Ann sat up in bed, -not awake yet. And then she saw the sun pouring in through the open -windows. Her mother was standing in the hall between Ann’s room and -Ben’s, swinging an old ship’s bell that she must have found somewhere -in the house.</p> - -<p>“In one minute, mother!”</p> - -<p>How queer to wash in a huge bowl in her room instead of in a bathroom! -And how lovely to dry oneself while standing on a braided mat before -the washstand with the sun pouring down on one’s back and legs! -Bloomers and middy had miraculously appeared from her baggage; some -fairy had been at work while Ann was sleeping.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">30</a></span> -The smell of breakfast tweaked her hungry nose and she scurried madly -with her dressing, for Ben and Helen would eat everything in sight if -they felt half as starved as she did.</p> - -<p>The kitchen seemed altogether different in the daytime. It had grown -smaller without the flickering shadows from the lamps. The ceiling was -low and Mr. Seymour bumped his head as he came through the doorway; he -would have to remember to stoop.</p> - -<p>The big kitchen stove hummed merrily with the sweet smell of wood smoke -seeping up through the lids, a delicate fragrant thread of gray that -curled and disappeared. Mrs. Seymour explained that Mr. Bailey built -the fire for her; he had come early to show her how to make it. Just as -she spoke he appeared in the doorway again with a foaming milk pail in -his hand. His face was unsmiling but his blue eyes were alight.</p> - -<p>“So much milk for us?” inquired Mrs. Seymour.</p> - -<p>“Drink it down, free as water,” he answered. “That’s what puts the -color in children’s cheeks. Get your milk pans ready.”</p> - -<p>“Hello,” said Ann. “Isn’t this a fine morning?”</p> - -<p>“Morning? Morning?” said Mr. Bailey. “This be the middle of the -forenoon.”</p> - -<p>Ann saw that his eyes were laughing at her although his face never -moved a muscle. “What time is morning up here?” she demanded.</p> - -<p>“Oh—about half past three, these days. That’s dawn.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">31</a></span> -“Do we have to get up at half past three?” cried Ben.</p> - -<p>“Well, you do if you want to keep up with Jo,” answered his father.</p> - -<p>“Where’s Jo now?” Ben asked, getting up from his chair.</p> - -<p>“He’s hoein’ corn,” said Mr. Bailey. “Got two rows done already. He’s -not one to lie in bed, not Jo.”</p> - -<p>“May I hoe with him? I’d like to, really.”</p> - -<p>Fred Bailey looked at Ben’s mother. She nodded permission and Ben was -off like a shot.</p> - -<p>“Won’t you sit down and have a cup of coffee with us,” asked Mrs. -Seymour, “to celebrate our first morning?”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know but what I might,” said Fred Bailey. “Only don’t leave -that pail o’ milk out there by the door for a minute.” And he picked it -up and handed it to Ann. “It’ll be tipped over the second you take your -eyes off it.”</p> - -<p>“Your barn cats come over this far for milk?” inquired Mr. Seymour -laughing. “They can smell a good thing from a long distance.”</p> - -<p>“It ain’t no cats that dump it out on me,” said Fred soberly. “And I -think that I’d better warn you, first thing. It’s the spirits, the -spirits from the ship. They pester me almost to death, dumping out the -milk from pails, and they tear up the packages left beside the door. -You don’t want to leave nothin’ about.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">32</a></span> -“You think that ship is haunted?” Mrs. Seymour poured out a big cup of -coffee.</p> - -<p>Helen had gone already and Ann hoped that neither of her parents would -notice that she had stayed. She made as little noise as possible with -the milk pans and then came and sat down quietly. She saw her mother’s -eye wander toward her but she smiled pleadingly, hoping that her mother -would know she could not be frightened by any story about ghosts.</p> - -<p>Fred was evidently glad to talk, once he had started on the subject. “I -shouldn’t wonder but what something was aboard that boat that shouldn’t -be there. I know this much—I’ve been bothered uncommon ever since she -came ashore, and not by human beings.”</p> - -<p>“How did she happen to be wrecked?” Mr. Seymour was as eager as Ann for -the story, now that he felt sure that a story existed.</p> - -<p>“She struck last winter in January,” began Fred, settling himself more -comfortably in his chair. “It was during the worst storm we’ve had in -these parts in the last hundred years.”</p> - -<p>“It must have been a howler,” commented Mr. Seymour.</p> - -<p>Mr. Bailey nodded soberly. “You’re right, I never saw nothin’ like it,” -he said. “The storm had been brewing for days and we could feel it -coming long before it struck us up here; there was warning enough in -the Boston paper. Then the sea grew flat<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">33</a></span> and shining without a hint of -a whitecap on her. The wind was so strong it just pressed right down -and smothered the waves, and it blew straight off the land. It never -let up blowing off the land all through the storm, and that was one of -the queer things that happened.</p> - -<p>“We had three days o’ wind, and then the snow broke, all to once, as -though the sky opened and shook all its stuffing right out on us. -With the coming o’ the snow the wind eased up a bit an’ let the water -churn on the top of the sea until it was as white as the falling snow. -Finally I couldn’t tell where the water ended and the snow began.</p> - -<p>“The wind driving the sleet was cruel. Whenever Jo or I ventured out it -cut our faces and made them raw and bleeding. At times the wind lifted -the house right off its stone foundations and shook it, and I feared it -would be blown clear over the bluff and set awash in the sea.”</p> - -<p>“How terrible!” exclaimed Mrs. Seymour.</p> - -<p>“It was all of that,” Fred agreed. “The second day of the snow I -thought the wind hove to a mite, it seemed more quiet. I went to the -window to see if the snow had let up. It had—but not in any way I ever -had seen it in all my fifty years of life on this bluff. It was as if a -path had been cut through the flying storm, straight and clear with the -wind sweeping through, so that I could see beyond the bluff over the -water. It was then I had my first glimpse of it, riding over the waves -and coming ashore dead<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">34</a></span> against the gale. It was such a thing as no -mortal ever saw nowadays. I thought I was losing my wits to see a boat -coming toward me, riding in to shore against the wind and while the -tide was running out. I just couldn’t believe what my eyes were telling -me, for no boat that I ever heard tell of had struck on this section -of the coast. Nature built here so that they can’t come in, what with -Douglas Head stretching out to the north and making a current to sweep -wrecks farther down; they strike to the north or the south of us, but -never here.”</p> - -<p>“To see a ship coming in and be powerless to help it!” exclaimed Mr. -Seymour as Fred paused for a sip of coffee and a bite of doughnut. -“There was nothing that you could do?”</p> - -<p>“Not a thing. I was alone with Jo, and even if we had been able to -get out a small boat we couldn’t have done nothin’. She was coming in -too fast. So we bundled up, Jo and I, and went out to stand by on the -shore.”</p> - -<p>“Into that storm?” Anne demanded. She had drawn close to her mother’s -chair during the story and now she stood tense against it. She could -almost see the two figures, Fred so tall and Jo a little shorter, as -they ventured out into the wind that threatened to blow them into the -water. How the cutting sleet must have hurt, and how cold they must -have been as they stamped their feet on the ice-covered rocks and beat -their hands to keep from freezing!</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">35</a></span> -“Nothing else to do but try to save the men as they washed ashore, now -was there?” Fred asked gently, and Ann shook her head. She knew that if -she had been there she would have gone with them and borne the cold as -best she could.</p> - -<p>“We waited and watched,” Fred continued. “And all that time the narrow -path stayed in the storm, swept clear of the driving snow. And the boat -came nearer with no sails set and on even keel. When she struck she -cried like a living thing.</p> - -<p>“We couldn’t see a man aboard. We waited all day and when night closed -in I sent Jo down to the village for help, and I listened alone all -night for the cry of some one washed to the beach; but no one came.</p> - -<p>“When dawn broke Jo came back with ten or twelve men. They hadn’t known -a thing about the wreck in the village nor we shouldn’t, either, if it -hadn’t been for that path in the storm; the snow was falling too thick -for any one to see through it. Well, that morning the storm was over -and the sun burst out. And there she lay, almost as you see her now, -but farther out. The water was boiling all about her. The waves were -crashing in pretty high but we thought we could get one of the boats -launched at the mouth of the river and work it round to the ship. So we -left Jo to watch the bluff here and picked my dory to make the trip as -she shipped less water and rode the waves easier. We got her down the -river and around the point and after a couple<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">36</a></span> of attempts we pulled -in under the schooner’s stern and three of us swung aboard while Les -Perkins and Pete Simonds held the dory.</p> - -<p>“When we got on the schooner’s deck we found that the sea had swept -her clean of anything that might have identified her. The name plates -looked as if a mighty hand had wrenched them loose and great cuts -showed in the bow and stern where they had been. There wasn’t a -sound but the pounding of the waves along her side. It made a queer -sussh-sussh that didn’t seem to come from where the water touched her. -We broke open the hatches and went down in her—two by two. Wasn’t a -man of us who dast go down there alone, for you never can tell what -you’re going to find in a wrecked ship’s cabin. We looked all about, -but no one was in the place and I don’t believe that any one was on -her when she struck. The crew’s quarters were in order but the cabin -appeared as if there had been a struggle there, though the sea might -have done it, tossing things about. Then we searched her careful but -found no log nor no papers. Some clothes were scattered here and there -but the pockets were empty and turned wrongside foremost. She had no -cargo and the fire was still a-going in the stove.”</p> - -<p>Mr. Bailey had another cup of coffee and drank it silently while the -Seymours waited for the rest of the story.</p> - -<p>“Well, that’s how she came in,” he said at last.</p> - -<p>“But what makes you think there are spirits on<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">37</a></span> board?” asked Mr. -Seymour. “There must have been something more than you have told us, to -make you believe that.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, there is more to it,” admitted Fred, “but if I was to tell ye -you’d think me foolish.”</p> - -<p>“We’d never think that, I can assure you,” said Mrs. Seymour quickly. -“If we had been with you on the schooner probably we should be feeling -exactly as you do about her.”</p> - -<p>“Perhaps you might, and perhaps you might not. I would think that the -trouble was with me if it hadn’t been for the other men, but every one -of them down to the cove would back me up in what I say. And I might as -well tell you, because if I don’t some one else will, no doubt.</p> - -<p>“We had almost finished searching when I got a sort of feeling that -some one or something was peering at me. I kept looking around behind -me, and then I noticed that the other men were doing the same thing. -There was nothin’ there. We kind of looked at each other and laughed -at first. But soon it was all I could do to keep from running around -the next corner to catch whatever was behind it. We did our search -thorough, but I can tell you I was glad when Les Perkins pulled the -dory under the stern and I could drop into her. None of us hankered to -stay aboard that ship.”</p> - -<p>In spite of herself Ann shivered and was glad when her mother hugged -her reassuringly.</p> - -<p>“Two days after that,” Fred continued, “we<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">38</a></span> picked up four men who -had been washed in by the sea. We are God-fearing people up here and -I couldn’t understand why the folks in the village wouldn’t put those -sailors in the churchyard, but some of the people were foolish and -said those men should not be put in consecrated ground, coming out of -the sea like that. I didn’t know quite what to do, and I suppose I -should have taken them out and put them back into the sea, the way most -sailormen are done by when they’re dead. But I didn’t decide to do that -way; I buried them with my own people, yonder in the field, and they -lie there marked by four bits of sandstone.</p> - -<p>“Jo and I have been back on the boat several times, for we felt we had -a duty by her, lying at our door as she does, but we can’t find a trace -of anything to identify her and we both had that feeling that something -there is wrong. Something was watching us all the time we were on her. -So I’ve given up trying to think where she came from or who sailed on -her, for such things a man like me is not supposed to know. Spirits -from the sea no doubt came on board during the storm and threw the crew -overside. But if those spirits are there now I don’t understand why the -sea don’t claim her and break her up. Sea seems to be shoving her back -on the land as though it wanted to be rid of her.”</p> - -<p>“That is a great story, Fred,” said Mr. Seymour. “And I can sympathize -with the way you felt; it must have taken a great deal of courage to go -back<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">39</a></span> to her when you and Jo looked her over. And you have never seen -anything move on the boat?”</p> - -<p>Ann wanted to tell about the light she had seen there last night, but -that was her discovery and she so hoped to be the one to solve the -mystery! She said not a word about it.</p> - -<p>“Nary a sight of anything have we ever had,” Fred answered.</p> - -<p>“Very strange indeed,” said Mr. Seymour. “What about the coast guard? -Of course you reported the ship to them. Weren’t they able to discover -anything?”</p> - -<p>Ann knew already of the blue-uniformed men who patrolled the shores of -the United States on foot and in small boats, men who were stationed -at dangerous points to look for ships in distress and help them, men -who were always ready to risk their own lives in their efforts to bring -shipwrecked sailors ashore.</p> - -<p>“Yes, they came,” Fred answered. “They went aboard her, and they took -her measurements, her type and capacity, but they could find no record -of such a boat nor the report of any missing boat of her description. -And because there was no salvage on her and as she didn’t lie in such -a way as to be a menace to shipping they left her for the sea to break -up—and that’s going to take a long time, by the rate she’s going now.”</p> - -<p>“I’d like to go on her,” Mr. Seymour said. “Would you be willing to -take me?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">40</a></span> -“Any time,” Fred assented. “Any time you pick out as long as the sun -shines.”</p> - -<p>“What about now?” Mr. Seymour smiled into Fred’s steady blue eyes.</p> - -<p>“Just as good a time as any,” agreed Mr. Bailey, rising from his chair.</p> - -<p>Ann’s eyes were beseeching but she knew that her father would not be -willing to have her go, too, so she did not ask. He stopped an instant -as he passed her on his way to the door and gave her a pat of approval, -for he was perfectly aware of how much she wanted to see the boat.</p> - -<p>“If I find there is nothing on the ship,” he said, “you can play there -to your heart’s content.”</p> - -<p>Fred heard, and he shook his head dubiously. But he said nothing more. -The two went out together and down the meadow toward the schooner.</p> - -<p>Ann watched them, and as she stood in the doorway she noticed that -the figurehead on the bow had completely lost its twilight menace, as -her father had foretold. This morning it looked exactly as it was, a -battered wooden statue almost too badly carved to resemble anything. -The arms that she had thought were stretched above its head now seemed -to be wings and the expression of the face was almost peaceful.</p> - -<p>She watched the men as they climbed on deck and then she turned back to -the cheerful cottage and her work.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">41</a></span> -“What brave men these fishermen are!” said Mrs. Seymour. “And they -don’t seem to realize it, particularly. It is all in the day’s work. -Think of Jo’s walking five miles through heavy snow to bring help!”</p> - -<p>Ann nodded. In her enthusiasm she stopped sweeping and leaned on her -broom while she talked. “I’d like to have been here with them. Mother, -I think I’d have found something on that boat!”</p> - -<p>Her mother laughed. “Perhaps. You surely would have seen if anything -had been there. But Mr. Bailey’s eyes are keen, too.”</p> - -<p>“Y-e-s,” admitted Ann. “Aren’t he and Jo nice people! It is much more -exciting here than going to school and walking across the Common. Don’t -you think that I could stay here next winter and not go back to town?”</p> - -<p>Her mother laughed again. “It is rather early to talk of next winter. -School is a bit more important than adventures for you until you are a -few years older.”</p> - -<p>“I know that you are right,” Ann apologized. “Only I think that I will -study to be a farmer.”</p> - -<p>“Very well,” agreed her mother. “But don’t grow up too fast, my darling -Ann. Promise me you won’t.”</p> - -<p>Ann’s broom began to work fast. “If I have to grow up,” Ann said, as -she swept under tables and chairs, “you can be sure that I am not going -to sit<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">42</a></span> around playing bridge with a lot of dressed-up people. No! -I’m going to wear overalls and buy a ranch. I might take Jo in as a -partner, but I haven’t decided on that yet, and I haven’t asked him.”</p> - - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">43</a></span> -</div> - -<h2><a name="iv" id="iv"></a>CHAPTER IV -<span class="sub"><em>IN THE GOOD GREENWOOD</em></span></h2> - - -<p><span class="smcap">Mr. Seymour</span> returned from the boat and reported that he had found -nothing unusual aboard her. He had not experienced the feeling of being -watched by some uncanny creature, which Fred had described so vividly. -And Fred acknowledged that while Mr. Seymour was with him he had found -the boat a different place, free from any unhealthy suggestion.</p> - -<p>So Helen, Ben, and Ann were told that they might scramble about her as -they pleased, provided, of course, that they were careful not to fall -down the open hatches or slip over the sides where the rails had been -broken.</p> - -<p>Ann was disappointed in her father’s report although she knew that -if he had found the boat unsafe she would have had no opportunity to -investigate for herself. She tried to be sensible and forget that a -mystery had ever been attached to the ship. But it was evident to her -mind that there must have been something. As Jo said, “Where there’s so -much smoke there must be some fire.” She had felt it so<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">44</a></span> strongly last -night—were those shivers caused by nothing at all?</p> - -<p>Jo, at least, was not convinced by Mr. Seymour’s report. He refused to -join the Seymour children in a hunt over the boat that afternoon and -consequently Ann and Ben were forced to wait until they could get a -ladder before they could get up the high steep side of the schooner. It -meant that they were not to go on the boat for some time to come, for -Mr. Seymour made no suggestions as to how they were to go about getting -up to the deck and Mr. Bailey seemed not to understand their hints that -one of his ladders would be useful if he were willing to lend it.</p> - -<p>Each night Ann looked out of her window, hoping to see that light -flickering over the deck. It had not appeared again and she did not say -a word about it to Jo and Ben. She wanted to be sure that she really -had seen it and not imagined it while excited by that first glimpse of -the ship with its guardian demon. And so she watched faithfully every -night before she climbed into her high bed.</p> - -<p>In the meantime she put her energy into helping her mother with the -housework, into hoeing the garden and hunting new thrills in the woods.</p> - -<p>In the garden she did her stint shoulder to shoulder with Jo and Ben. -Fred Bailey had given each of them a section of the vegetable garden -for his own and had promised them a commission on all the vegetables -sold. Ann had already planned what she would do with her money; she -knew before any green<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">45</a></span> had shown above the ground. She intended to put -it into the bank as the beginning of her fund for the purchase of her -western ranch.</p> - -<p>Ben, of course, was going to spend his for paint and brushes.</p> - -<p>Each of them had his own patch of potatoes, beans, and corn, a section -of the main planting allotted to his special care. And they put the -seeds in the ground themselves, with the experienced Jo as instructor. -It was difficult to believe that those small hard kernels would grow -into green plants.</p> - -<p>One morning Ben reached the garden ahead of Ann and suddenly turned -and shouted to her to hurry. “The beans are coming through! I suppose -they’re beans, because that’s where we planted beans. Don’t they look -funny!”</p> - -<p>Funny they did look, great curling stems that thrust through the soil -like crooked fingers, cracking and heaving the ground all around them. -In the rows where the children had planted them the earth hummocked up -and hundreds of plants were forcing their way up into the sunlight.</p> - -<p>She knew they must be coming soon but the sight of them was a greater -surprise than any Christmas Day Ann ever had known. To think that the -little hard beans that she had dropped and covered with fine earth had -been growing and putting out such curly twisted sprouts that had shot -up overnight! The dear baby things! She knelt down to touch<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">46</a></span> them but -Jo’s voice stopped her. He had walked while she ran forward in reply to -Ben’s call.</p> - -<p>“I wouldn’t do that,” he suggested mildly. “The morning dew is on them -and nobody touches beans while they’re wet. It turns them black when -they get bigger.”</p> - -<p>“But there are no beans yet,” Ann protested, looking up at Jo over -her shoulder. “I don’t see how I could hurt them if I touched them -delicately, just to find out whether they feel as strong as they look.”</p> - -<p>“It doesn’t make any difference how young they are,” Jo answered. “It -won’t seem to hurt them when you touch them, but when the beans form on -the plants you have handled nobody will be able to eat them. They’ll be -black and spotted; rusted, the farmers call it. Of course sometimes you -can’t help beans rusting when there’s too much rain.”</p> - -<p>“What makes them rust?” asked Ben. “You wouldn’t imagine that the -grown-up plants would remember anything that happened to them when they -were babies.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know why,” and Jo shook his head. “I wish I did know more -about it. I don’t know any reasons, but there must be some. I only know -that things happen, not why.”</p> - -<p>“Well, I know this much,” said Ann decidedly. “When I go back to school -this fall I shall find out, and then I’ll write to tell you, Jo.”</p> - -<p>“That would be fine. I’d like that,” Jo said shyly.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">47</a></span> -Ben had gone over to the rows of corn and potatoes, and he came back -with a perplexed expression on his face. “Where are they?” he asked. -“Do you suppose that some animal has eaten them? We shall have nothing -but beans in our gardens, or can we plant more corn and potatoes?”</p> - -<p>Jo threw back his head and laughed heartily.</p> - -<p>“What did you expect?” he asked. “Did you think that everything came -through at the same time? The potatoes ought to sprout within a day -or two, but corn is slow. It often takes three weeks. The weather has -hardly been hot enough to start it yet. You need hot weather to make -corn grow. Beans are about the quickest things.”</p> - -<p>“Gee, what a lot you know!” said Ben admiringly. “I didn’t know there -was so much to learn about a real garden. I thought that a farmer put -his seeds in the ground and they came up, and then after a while he -picked his vegetables and sold them.”</p> - -<p>“Lots of people think that,” said Jo in a stiff tone of voice as he -began to hoe his morning row. “That is why so many city people make -jokes about farmers, and think they don’t know anything. Most farmers -know very little about the city, but they understand their job of -getting food for the city people to eat. I should like to see some of -those sneering city fellows plow an acre of ground under the hot sun. -A man walks pretty near thirty miles doing such a stretch, and he has -to hold his plow nearly a foot in the ground while he does his walking, -so as to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">48</a></span> turn over a six or twelve inch furrow. It takes a pretty good -man to do that.”</p> - -<p>“I never laughed at farmers, Jo,” Ann protested mildly. “It is only -that I never knew anything about farming.”</p> - -<p>“That’s all right,” answered Jo, smiling at her. “I wasn’t thinking -about any of you folks. I was calling to mind some of these summer -tourists who come through camping by the wayside. We don’t get pestered -by them because we’re too far from the main highway, but the farmers -nearer the village go well-nigh crazy trying to protect their gardens -and fruit from stealing. Why, last summer Les Perkins had all of his -pears just ready for picking and shipping to Boston. It took him three -years to grow those pears for a perfect crop all free from worms and -spots. He had sort of hoped to make something of them at last. He got -to his trees one day in time to see a dozen city folks piling into a -first-class car, all loaded up with pears. Not only that, but they had -shaken the trees and the fruit was all stripped off. What they hadn’t -stolen was too bruised to sell.”</p> - -<p>“They ought to have been arrested for that!” Ann exclaimed breathlessly.</p> - -<p>“Yes.” Jo laughed half-heartedly. “Catch ’em if you can. I caught one -of them stealing Pete Simonds’ raspberries. He had a bunch of kids with -him. I heard him tell ’em to pick the ripe ones and throw the green -ones away. They were stripping<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">49</a></span> the bushes. I told them to get out, but -the man only laughed and said that all berries were common property.”</p> - -<p>“What did you do then?” asked Ben eagerly.</p> - -<p>Jo was rather shamefaced. “Well, I shouldn’t have done it. But the way -the man said it made me mad, so I hauled off and gave him a punch in -the jaw. He looked so funny, the way he sprawled with raspberries all -over him! He was a good-sized feller, and he got up on his feet and -came after me ugly, but he saw Pete coming on the run and I can tell -you he legged it for his car with all the kids streaming after him. He -knew just as well as I did that he was stealing.”</p> - -<p>“Well,” said Ben slowly, “if any one stole my beans I’d punch him in -the jaw, too. After a farmer has planted seeds on his own land the crop -is his exactly as much as the vegetables in my mother’s kitchen are -hers after she has brought them home from the market.”</p> - -<p>“There ought to be policemen to watch city people,” said Ann. “They -ought to be made afraid to steal, if they are not the kind of persons -who would be ashamed to take what isn’t theirs.”</p> - -<p>“There don’t seem to be many of that last kind,” said Jo.</p> - -<p>“It makes me feel rather queer,” said Ann. “I don’t like to think that -you have learned to have such a bad opinion of people who live in the -city.”</p> - -<p>“Tell us some more about farming, Jo,” begged<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">50</a></span> Ben. “What happens to -beans after they have sprouted and begun to be plants?” He looked -fondly at his row with their yellow-green stems.</p> - -<p>“Oh, we’ll have plenty of work from now on,” began Jo. “We’ll have to -hunt for cutworms right away. See—here is one now.” He uncovered a -small gray worm about an inch long and crushed it with his hoe.</p> - -<p>“Let’s see!” said Ben excitedly, and he and Ann began to examine their -own allotments.</p> - -<p>“They work at night and dig in under the soil when the sun comes out,” -Jo explained. “They bite the young plant off just where it goes into -the ground. Whenever you find a plant lying on the ground you know that -a cutworm has eaten it off and he is hiding under the dirt a few inches -away. You’ll have to dig each one up and kill it before he does any -more damage. He would come back again and again and finally eat off the -whole row.”</p> - -<p>“I’ve found one!” Ben cried. “I hate them! Why do they have to come?” -he asked as he stamped on it.</p> - -<p>“I guess they have to eat like the rest of us,” answered Jo. “But if we -didn’t watch there would be more cutworms than beans in the world. They -sure were invented to pester us farmers.”</p> - -<p>“They are almost as bad as the tourists,” and Ann laughed.</p> - -<p>“Well, in a way we don’t mind them so much as we do tourists. We expect -the cutworms.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">51</a></span> -“I don’t believe the tourists would enjoy being cut in two,” said Ann.</p> - -<p>So the days went happily by, full of new experiences for the Seymours. -Whenever the short rains came the children sat before the open fire in -the living room, or, as Jo called it, the parlor, while Mrs. Seymour -read to them, or while Jo told stories of the country near Pine Ledge; -for Jo was always included in the circle.</p> - -<p>Ann never grew tired of watching the sea. While the others watched the -fire she often sat by the window, listening, of course, but with her -eyes fixed on the ocean. How the waves shone in the sun, and how they -tumbled and grew dark when the squalls rushed over them! At such times -she wondered about what had happened on the schooner cast up on the -shore, lying on its side almost at her very feet. Fred believed what -he had felt while he was on her, and Jo so evidently had a horror of -everything connected with the wreck; there was her father’s testimony -that nothing was wrong there. And as a climax to that, there was what -her own eyes had seen, the moving light.</p> - -<p>Mr. Seymour was working hard and getting a great deal done. His -sketches grew rapidly under his hands. Already he had a number of -canvases leaning against the walls of the living room and he had asked -Jo if he might paint his portrait.</p> - -<p>Then one day a heavy northeaster broke and gave promise of lasting two -days at the very least. It<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">52</a></span> was a good time for indoor work and Jo was -called into service as a model. He did not know the story of Robin -Hood, so Mrs. Seymour read it aloud while he sat for Mr. Seymour. The -others had heard it many times, but they were never tired of those -adventures in the glade and the good greenwood and they listened as -eagerly as did Jo.</p> - -<p>Then came clear days that were the best of all, for after their gardens -had been hoed, Maude, the cow, milked and put to pasture, and the -chickens watered and fed, they followed Jo’s lead into the dense pine -woods, where they held forth as Robin Hood and his band.</p> - -<p>Jo was, of course, Robin Hood, for he knew all the trails through the -merry greenwood and could find clear fresh springs no matter in which -direction they tramped. Ben was Allan-a-Dale, although he couldn’t sing -very well. In fact, after he had proved to know only one tune and had -sung that one a great many times, the entire band requested him to stop -it.</p> - -<p>“Allan-a-Dale was a minstrel and he was supposed to sing,” Ben -protested.</p> - -<p>But Helen, who was taking the part of Ellen, had a good reason for -wishing that Ben would be quiet and she did not hesitate to tell him. -“I want to watch the birds, and you scare them away. Can’t you just -pretend to sing? It would be very much nicer.”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">53</a></span></p> - -<div class="figcenter width400"> -<a name="in" id="in"></a><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">54</a></span> -<img src="images/p53.jpg" width="400" height="617" alt="Page 54" /> -<div class="caption"><em>In the lookout tree they mounted guard in turn.</em></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">55</a></span> -As the band contained only one woman besides Ellen, Ann finally -consented to be Maid Marian, although she much preferred to be Friar -Tuck.</p> - -<p>“You’re a girl,” Ben said decidedly. “And a girl can’t be Friar Tuck.”</p> - -<p>“What difference does that make?” protested Ann. “I can swing a stave -as well as you do; better.”</p> - -<p>“I know you can,” said Jo. “But Maid Marian is far more important than -Friar Tuck. Robin Hood couldn’t have done a thing without her. She went -everywhere the band did and thought things out for them, but Friar Tuck -didn’t do much except eat and drink.”</p> - -<p>“It is such a nice name,” mourned Ann. But Maid Marian she decided to -be.</p> - -<p>The band discovered a place high up in the wood that was exactly suited -to be their glade. It was a wide bare spot covered with pine needles, -and along its edges a few walnut trees were scattered, one of which -the boys could climb easily. This was the lookout tree, and after Ann -learned how to get up it they mounted guard in turn. From its branches -one could see far away across the green forest to the village, a -cluster of white dots. On the other side the watcher looked over the -home meadow and the house to the sea beyond. From such a high perch -the expanse of water seemed much greater and the house and meadow very -small in contrast.</p> - -<p>“What ho, what ho,” Ben called the first time Ann settled herself among -the branches. “Sister Ann, do you see anybody coming?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">56</a></span> -“Pooh!” exclaimed little Helen contemptuously. “That’s Bluebeard! -That’s not Robin Hood.”</p> - -<p>“So it is,” admitted Ben. “What ho, what ho, Maid Marian, doth an enemy -draw nigh?”</p> - -<p>“I see only one,” Ann answered as a small blue figure that was Fred -Bailey crossed the meadow far away, “but he holds at a distance and is -seemingly unaware of our hiding place.”</p> - -<p>No band is complete without its longbows and staves. Jo quickly filled -this lack. He made staves by cutting branches from the straight alder -bushes that grew in the brook, peeling them until they were white and -shining. They whipped lithely in the air with a clear whistling sound. -Jo gathered them up every evening and kept them in the running water of -the brook, so that they would not dry out and become brittle.</p> - -<p>At first he was puzzled as to how he could make longbows that were -strong as well as limber, but soon he thought of the young willows. -These he cut and bent into a regular bow-shape without destroying the -springiness of the wood. And for bowstrings they used old fishing line.</p> - -<p>There was no problem concerning life in the greenwood that Jo could -not solve; the making of proper arrows, for instance. He built a small -fire after scraping away the dry pine needles and sprinkling the ground -with fresh moist earth, and cut some thin lead into strips. These he -fastened to the points of the short arrows he had made, so that the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">57</a></span> -tips would have weight to carry them straight to the mark. Of course -each member of the band took great care not to shoot his fellow members -and only one person was allowed to practice at a time, so that the -arrows would be easy to locate after they had been shot.</p> - -<p>At first the band made forays into the wood in pairs, Jo and Ann, then -Ben and Helen, so that the glade might not be left unprotected. Under -this arrangement Jo was always worried when it was his turn to stay in -the shelter. He knew that Ben was unfamiliar with big woods and might -get lost. So the band was called for conference and it was decided that -the entire band should foray together. Meeting enemies in full strength -they stood a better chance of beating them, and before starting out -they carefully concealed all the trails to the glade and knew that no -enemy could uncover them.</p> - -<p>“To-day I shall get me a fine buck,” Ben said as he swung his longbow -over his shoulder and seized his stave. “I hanker much for fresh meat.”</p> - -<p>“I’ll show you where the deer come to drink,” Robin Hood offered. -“Methinks if Allan be a good shot he can easily bring down a couple for -our goodly dinner. I saw tracks by the river a month or so ago.”</p> - -<p>“Really?” exclaimed Ben. “Gee! I’d like to see a deer!”</p> - -<p>The trip to the river was all downhill and they scrambled through -the prickly barberries and juniper<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">58</a></span> like true outlaws, courageously -ignoring the thorns that pricked and tore. Great ledges of gray rock, -covered with lichens and holding small hemlocks and spruces in their -cracks, opposed their way and they were obliged to climb up the rocks -on one side and slide down over the steep slope beyond. Helen had the -most trouble because her legs were shorter, but after Jo and Ann had -pulled her down once or twice she lost her fear. With the aid of her -stave she sat down on the top of the rock and coasted, landing upright -on her feet in the soft underbrush at the bottom. It wasn’t very good -for her bloomers, but they were made of stout cloth and managed to hold -together.</p> - -<p>As they drew near to the wide pool where the river spread out over the -low land Jo motioned for them to step quietly. He took the lead and -crept slowly foot by foot, crouching low in the underbrush. Finally -they came on a narrow trail through which they could just pass with the -bushes touching their shoulders. Ann noticed how Jo avoided touching -the branches so that they should not move any more than necessary and -she tried to imitate him. It was not easy. He twisted his shoulders -this way and that, all the time moving forward slowly. Ben went along -with his hands on his knees, bent forward, while Helen was so short -that she had no difficulty at all.</p> - -<p>At last Jo looked back over his shoulder, put his finger on his lips -and beckoned for them to come<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">59</a></span> beside him. He pointed to a mark in the -soft ground before him. It was the imprint of a small cloven hoof and -even Ann’s inexperienced eye could see that it was fresh.</p> - -<p>“He’s been down here this morning,” Jo whispered. “I wish we had been -around—he’s a big fellow all right.”</p> - -<p>“Isn’t he here now?” whispered Ann. “How do you know that he isn’t?”</p> - -<p>“We’ll find out,” Jo answered. “He may be sleeping under the bushes, -but they don’t stay in this neighborhood generally; too many people in -the daytime, passing, and deer are nervous, nowadays. They like it best -back on the hills where there is more protection.”</p> - -<p>As he spoke he turned at right angles from the trail and plunged -silently into the undergrowth. The bushes closed about him and it was -all Ann could do to follow. Suddenly he stopped.</p> - -<p>He did not so much as whisper. Silently he motioned for them to come -forward quickly.</p> - -<p>They looked to where his finger pointed.</p> - -<p>Under a group of pines a few feet away a huge buck deer lay asleep, -with the sun through the trees splotching his dark coat and turning -it into shimmering velvet. His horns were short and looked like dull -leather; Jo told them afterward that was because he had not yet made -his full year’s growth.</p> - -<p>As the band watched he leaped from the ground, fully awake in the -instant that he scented danger.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">60</a></span> He leaped almost as if his feet had -not touched the earth and he bounded lightly into a jungle of thorns -and scrub oak. And with that one beautiful jump he vanished.</p> - -<p>“Well, Allan,” Jo turned toward Ben’s wide-eyed face with a laugh. “Why -didn’t you shoot him?”</p> - -<p>“Shoot him— Try to kill him? I couldn’t kill anything as lovely as -that, ever. I want to draw him, paint him, just as he jumped in the -sun, with the light on his skin and the green all around. Oh,” he cried -excitedly, “do you suppose that father could see a deer so that he -could show me how to make a picture that was halfway good?”</p> - -<p>“If Mr. Seymour would really like to see one, we can come out some -morning at dawn and if we are quiet perhaps we can see a deer as he -comes down to drink. It is great fun to lie in the bushes when they -don’t know any one is watching; they walk about and drink.”</p> - -<p>“We’ll go home and ask him now,” said Ann with determination. “It is -just too wonderful, and I know he’ll want to come, perhaps to-morrow.”</p> - -<p>“And I want to tell mother about it,” said Helen.</p> - -<p>“All right,” agreed Jo. “We’ll follow the river out to the road. That -will be easier than going back over those high ledges.”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">61</a></span></p> - -<div class="figcenter width400"> -<a name="with" id="with"></a> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">62</a></span> -<img src="images/p61.jpg" width="400" height="528" alt="Page 62" /> -<div class="caption"><em>With one beautiful jump he vanished.</em></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">63</a></span> -The trail led down to a smooth swamp pond filled with such clear water -that the children could see the long grass moving at the bottom. A -short distance from the edge little heaps of leaves, straw, and twigs -rose here and there above the surface of the water. Jo said they were -houses that the muskrats had built to live in last winter.</p> - -<p>“They build just before the cold weather sets in,” he said. “It is -great sport to come every day and see how the houses grow. Sometimes -the muskrats don’t bother very much with building, and the winters that -follow are open and warm, generally. But when old Mr. Muskrat builds -high, wide, and handsome, look out for thick ice and deep heavy snow.”</p> - -<p>“How curious!” said Ann. “How do you suppose they know what the weather -is going to be?”</p> - -<p>The band walked along beside the swamp until it narrowed into a running -river again.</p> - -<p>“Gulls like the pond, too,” Jo said. “Especially when a storm is -blowing up. When the wind begins to be too strong the gulls sweep into -the cove and watch for the fish that are beating into the mouth of the -river. They hang up there in the air and laugh as if they liked the -storm. They laugh out loud and shriek and have a great time. When they -get tired and pretty well fed they let the wind carry them back here -to the pond, where they settle in droves on the sheltered water. They -wait until the storm blows over. Next nor’easter that blows up, I’ll -remember to show them to you. You can see them easily from the kitchen.”</p> - -<p>He was leading the band and they were drawing nearer to the road. -Suddenly he stopped short, so short that Ann, who was next, bumped into -him.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">64</a></span> -“Hello!” he said. “What’s this?”</p> - -<p>At his feet were the charred embers of a fire. They were still -smoldering and, as he brushed the ashes aside with his foot, the coals -gleamed brightly.</p> - -<p>“Who do you suppose did that?” he exclaimed indignantly. “None of the -folks around here would ever leave a fire burning in the woods. Why, it -might spread and burn off the whole territory. Once a fire got started -up through the pines nothing could stop it.”</p> - -<p>Ann looked down at the wicked gleam. She never would have dreamed -that it was wicked if Jo hadn’t told her it was, but what he had said -made her regard the fire from a very different standpoint. To her -imagination the live embers glowed and flickered like the lantern she -had seen on the wrecked ship.</p> - -<p>She grew vaguely excited, for if no native of Pine Ledge could have -left that fire, then some stranger must be prowling around the -neighborhood, some one who didn’t want to be seen. Perhaps the very -person who lighted this fire to cook his breakfast was the same -invisible person who carried the swinging lantern across the deck, that -first night.</p> - -<p>The keen-minded Jo saw her excitement. “What’s up?” he asked. “Is -something the matter?”</p> - -<p>Ann hesitated. “Perhaps I am imagining, but I think I know of some one -who might have built this fire.”</p> - -<p>So she told them about that tiny pin point of lantern light.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">65</a></span> -Jo listened silently until she had finished, although Ann could see -that he, too, was growing excited.</p> - -<p>“I shouldn’t wonder if you were right,” he said at last. “It looks to -me as if some one who has no business here is hanging about. But if we -tell the other folks about it they will say that it is nonsense; they -think that we are too young to know much of what we are talking about. -I think we had better keep a good lookout, and if we actually discover -anything we can tell them then. This is a job for Robin Hood’s men all -right.”</p> - -<p>Jo threw up his head and squared his shoulders.</p> - -<p>“What ho, merry men!” he shouted. “How many will follow me in fathoming -the mystery of the wrecked ship?”</p> - -<p>“I will follow,” Ann said quickly.</p> - -<p>“I want to be in on it, too,” Ben cried breathlessly.</p> - -<p>“Me, too,” Helen chimed in a voice that was a bit frightened but -nevertheless determined. “I want to help hunt for ghosts.”</p> - -<p>“Then we are united?” Jo asked.</p> - -<p>“Aye, aye,” shouted Ben. “Lead on.”</p> - -<p>Before they started on their way again they dipped water from the river -in their cupped hands and threw it hissing upon the live coals until -the fire was out. As an extra precaution, for the fire might have gone -deep into the pine needles beneath, Jo raked away the leaves and twigs -and needles until he had made a wide circle of bareness.</p> - - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">66</a></span> -</div> - -<h2><a name="v" id="v"></a>CHAPTER V -<span class="sub"><em>ON THE WRECK</em></span></h2> - - -<p><span class="smcap">Robin Hood</span> and his band did not let the grass grow under their feet, -after they had once decided to thoroughly investigate the mystery of -the wrecked schooner. Ann, herself, felt much stronger and braver now -that she had allies. She was quite willing to admit that she had been -squeamish about going aboard and examining the ship alone or with no -one but Ben and Helen. Although Mr. Seymour had reported the boat to be -uninhabited and perfectly safe, Ann, nevertheless, had wondered whether -perhaps the ghosts might not have been on a vacation the day her father -went aboard with Mr. Bailey.</p> - -<p>The band chose to begin their undertaking early in the afternoon of -the day following their discovery of the fire in the woods. The sun -was bright and therefore the demon on the bow was quite unlifelike and -battered.</p> - -<p>Jo bent his back, for a step, and Ann was the first to climb up to -the sloping deck. After she had scrambled to safety she let down her -hands to help Ben and then Helen, and then she lent a hand to Jo<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">67</a></span> as he -braced his feet against the wooden side and walked as a fly might until -he could catch the gunwale and swing himself over the rail.</p> - -<p>“It is a very big boat,” ventured Helen, whispering, as she looked -over the wide deck with its shining weathered gray boards. “It is much -bigger than it looks from the house.”</p> - -<p>“Now, right here,” Jo interposed, “let’s make up our minds to one -thing. Nobody is to whisper and nobody is to scream, no matter what -happens. A whisper will frighten a person even when there is nothing -to be afraid of, and if anybody screams in my ear I know I shall jump -right out of my skin.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t see how you have the courage to come back, Jo,” said Ben -admiringly.</p> - -<p>“I’m not so terribly courageous,” admitted Jo candidly. “If it hadn’t -been for Ann’s thinking that the fire had something to do with the ship -I shouldn’t be here now, I know that much!”</p> - -<p>“Where shall we go first?” Ann asked, and then, because she thought she -might have seemed unsympathetic, she added, “I don’t believe we shall -find anything wrong to-day. If men are really hanging about the boat -they couldn’t come here in the open daylight, for they’d be sure to be -seen.”</p> - -<p>“We’ll go down to the captain’s quarters first,” Jo decided. “And then -we’ll work forward into the crew’s sleeping place, and later look down -in the hold. The whole place was bare and empty when my father and -yours came to look her over.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">68</a></span> -As they walked along the deck Ben kept close to the railing, as if he -thought he could jump over it in case anything happened. And as he -walked he ran his hand along the side, for the sea had worn the rails -until they felt like silk under his fingers. Suddenly he stopped by a -splintered break in the top rail and picked something from its outside -edge.</p> - -<p>“See what I’ve found,” he exclaimed as he glanced at what he held in -his hand. “Oh,” he said in a tone of disappointment, “it is nothing but -a piece of old cloth.”</p> - -<p>He started to throw it away but Jo caught his arm.</p> - -<p>“Let’s see it,” Jo said, and took the torn piece of blue woolen from -Ben’s hand. “Hum,” he grunted thoughtfully as he turned it over and -felt of it carefully.</p> - -<p>“What is it, Jo?” asked Ann. “Does it mean something?”</p> - -<p>“That I don’t rightly know,” Jo answered slowly. “It is just ordinary -blue wool, but I know that not one of the fishermen around here wears -anything like it. The really interesting thing about it, seems to me, -is that it hasn’t been out in the weather any time. I should say it had -never been rained on, nor the sun had a chance to bleach it. See, it -hasn’t begun to fade.”</p> - -<p>“You are right,” said Ann. She took the soft material in her hands. -“This couldn’t have been torn from the clothing of any of the men who -came<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">69</a></span> to investigate, because that was so long ago that cloth torn from -their suits would have worn away, such a little piece as this, with -threads sticking out where it was torn off.”</p> - -<p>“What sort of suit did your father wear the day he came here with my -father?” inquired Jo.</p> - -<p>“It was gray. He didn’t bring any dark suits with him, I’m sure,” -answered Ann.</p> - -<p>“And that isn’t the kind of cloth his blue suits are made of,” asserted -Ben. “This is so thick; he wouldn’t wear that fuzzy thing.”</p> - -<p>Jo put the bit of cloth into a pocket and carefully tucked it down into -a safe corner; then he examined the splintered rail where their clue -had been found.</p> - -<p>“See,” he explained while the others hung over the edge to look, “the -cloth caught on the outside of this splinter, as though the man who -wore it slid down the side, holding on to the rail with his hands -before he jumped free.”</p> - -<p>“Well, ghosts don’t wear thick blue woolen clothes,” said Ann. “We can -be sure that real people have been here.”</p> - -<p>“I call this a pretty promising find of Ben’s,” said Jo, as he led the -way toward the open hatch. “It makes me feel very different about this -boat.”</p> - -<p>Sliding down the companion-ladder they landed in the tiny passage from -which the captain’s cubbyhole and the mate’s opened on either side. -The captain’s stateroom was slightly larger than the mate’s, and his -berth ran under the open porthole in which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">70</a></span> the thick glass had been -shattered. The berth was piled with moldering blankets; apparently no -one had touched them since the wreck. Beside the berth, wedged between -it and the wall, a table stood with its only drawer pulled open, -showing that it was empty.</p> - -<p>“The log should have been there,” explained Jo, “in that drawer. But it -had been taken away before ever our men got to the wreck. And over here -on this wall is the closet where the captain kept his clothes; they -were hanging in it when we were here last.”</p> - -<p>Ann unhinged the latch and swung the door open. Two suits hung from the -hooks. She felt them to discover whether anything was in the pockets, -and she found the cloth damp and sticky. The closet smelled of the sea.</p> - -<p>There was a familiar feel to the cloth under her fingers. “I believe -that this coat is made of the same cloth as the piece Ben found.”</p> - -<p>Jo and Ben came quickly to her side. “The cloth of this suit is better -quality,” pronounced Jo, “and the coat isn’t torn anywhere. Most -deep-sea men wear clothes like that and so the torn piece doesn’t mean -much except that the man who wore it is a sailor, most likely.”</p> - -<p>Helen was very much interested in the little cubbyhole. “I should like -this room for a doll house,” she said, and she stayed in it while the -others went across the passage to the mate’s stateroom.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">71</a></span> -They found things there in the same condition; empty drawers, moldy -blankets and a closet damp with brine.</p> - -<p>Suddenly Helen called from the other cabin. “Come quick, Jo!”</p> - -<p>They tumbled over each other in their efforts to reach her, and they -found her pointing to the blankets on the berth.</p> - -<p>“Some one has been sleeping there!” she said breathlessly.</p> - -<p>They had not looked closely at the berth when they had been in the -cabin and now they saw that the tousled heavy blankets were matted -flat, just as they would be if a man had slept on them and had not -troubled to shake them when he rose.</p> - -<p>“Whoever he was, he didn’t choose a comfortable place,” said Ben, -looking up at the broken port. “The rain must beat in here every time -there is a storm.”</p> - -<p>Ann turned to speak to Jo; she thought that he was directly behind her, -for she heard him move. But when she looked he was not there. He was -standing before the table, running his hand behind the drawer. If he -hadn’t been close beside her, who had? Neither Ben nor Helen was near -enough to be the person whose presence she had felt. Ann shook herself -slightly. She mustn’t be so foolish and nervous; she hadn’t supposed -she was capable of imagining things that weren’t there. The others were -so bravely forgetting that they once had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">72</a></span> thought that the ship might -be haunted, and she, the oldest of the Seymours, mustn’t be a coward.</p> - -<p>Jo left the drawer and came over to the berth again.</p> - -<p>“We’ll shift these blankets,” he said, “stir them up a little. And then -next time we come we can tell whether some one has been sleeping on -them again.”</p> - -<p>A second time Ann heard a slight stir behind her, and this time Jo -heard it, too. He stooped with the edge of the blankets in his hands, -as though he were frozen. Then he dropped the blankets and leaped from -the doorway into the hall. Ann ran after him, and so did Ben and Helen.</p> - -<p>“Whoever it was has gone up the ladder,” said Jo, evidently trying to -make his voice sound natural. His lips were set in a straight line.</p> - -<p>“Was somebody here?” asked Ben in surprise. He had not felt the -presence nor heard the sound that had been so plain to Ann and Jo.</p> - -<p>“Somebody came back of us,” Jo told him. “You heard him move, didn’t -you, Ann?” He seemed to wish to be reassured.</p> - -<p>“I heard it twice,” said Ann. Her fingers were cold and she tucked them -into the palms of her hands. She was chilly all over.</p> - -<p>“Shouldn’t wonder if it might not be the wind coming in through the -porthole of the mate’s cabin,” suggested Ben. “Wind often makes a queer -noise.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">73</a></span> -“You may be right,” said Jo slowly. “We’ll look.”</p> - -<p>He led the way into the smaller cabin again. The porthole was closed -tightly and it was unbroken.</p> - -<p>“I think I will go up on deck,” said Helen abruptly.</p> - -<p>“We will all go,” said Jo. “We’ve seen about everything down here, I -should think.”</p> - -<p>Once more on deck in full sunlight everybody felt more comfortable, for -it is a spooky business to hunt through the empty cabins of a haunted -ship and there are plenty of grown-ups who never would have gone there -at all.</p> - -<p>From the deck they peered into the blackness of the hold, but they -could see nothing without the flashlight that Ben promised to bring -next time. Down in the depths bright little glimmers showed here and -there from the opened seams in the side of the schooner, but there was -not enough light to reveal any possible secrets hidden in the hold. -A ladder led down into the darkness, but after Jo had tested it and -descended a few steps he reported that some of the rungs were broken; -it was too unsafe to go down unless one could see the exact condition -of every step before he trusted his weight to it.</p> - -<p>He paused a few seconds before he climbed into the light again, and he -bent his head to listen.</p> - -<p>“The water is in here,” he called. “I guess it keeps pretty high up; I -can hear it swish a little.”</p> - -<p>“If the water is so high, no one could hide down<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">74</a></span> there,” said Helen -decidedly. “They would get all wet.”</p> - -<p>“It wouldn’t be much over their knees,” Jo answered. “That’s about -where the first cracked seam comes. Any water that got in above that -would run out with the tide. But it wouldn’t be pleasant to stay down -there long, you can bet on that.”</p> - -<p>The band found the crew’s quarters very much as they found the cabins, -except that the sailors’ clothing had been tossed on to the floor. -Dungarees, boots, slickers, and coats were all thrown everywhere and -great spots of green mildew showed on them.</p> - -<p>“I think that some one should have carried these clothes home and worn -them,” said Ben.</p> - -<p>“Yes, it seems a dreadful waste,” said Ann. “Has every one in Pine -Ledge more than enough warm suits and coats?”</p> - -<p>Jo laughed sarcastically at Ann’s question. “They could have used the -things, all right,” he said, “and by the law of salvage anybody has a -right to take what is found on beaches or in an abandoned boat, if it -is not claimed by its original owner. But nobody in these parts has any -use for a thing from this boat. I don’t believe that any man in the -village would touch these clothes; you couldn’t make anybody wear one -of these oilskins out into a storm, not for love nor money. They all -think there is a curse on this boat and they believe the curse would -settle on them if they so much as wore a southwester that came off of -her.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">75</a></span> -Ann and Jo had been listening almost unconsciously for the return of -the sound that had startled them. They were keyed up to a high pitch -and their nerves were taut. While they searched the crew’s quarters Ann -had to fight to keep herself at the work in hand. She constantly had -the feeling that some one was watching; she wanted to turn her head -quickly and look over her shoulder. She looked at Jo, and instinctively -she knew that he was struggling against the same desire.</p> - -<p>Then she remembered again that Mr. Bailey had told her father and -mother about this curious impression; it was the feeling of eyes -upon them that made him and all the other fishermen shun this boat. -Evidently it hadn’t been their own fearful and timorous imaginations, -as her father believed. Something or some one must be on board. She -couldn’t have had this feeling so strongly unless there were some -foundation for it.</p> - -<p>“There is nothing here,” Jo finally said. “We might as well finish up -with the kitchen galley now. That is the only place left.”</p> - -<p>Ann was glad to be able to turn around at last. She spun quickly, but— -Of course nothing stood in the broken sagging doorway. She was being -silly!</p> - -<p>Once more on deck, the feeling evaporated. The four adventurers stood -in the warm sun a moment or two and then plunged into the gloom of -the kitchen galley. Over in one corner the rusted stove<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">76</a></span> stood awry, -its doors gaping open. Ben lifted the lids. Within the stove the -thick ashes of many fires lay undisturbed, although a little ash had -scattered over the kitchen floor when the boat tilted. All around the -walls of the little room shelves climbed up to the ceiling and from -them tin cans had rolled helter-skelter. There was not one left on a -shelf.</p> - -<p>Already the sun had sunk low in the west. It was down behind the pines -on the hill, and in a few minutes it would be gone.</p> - -<p>“It is time to go home,” said Helen. “I’m not going to stay any longer.”</p> - -<p>“I think that we are late for supper already,” and from the tones of -his voice Ann could tell that Ben had been as anxious as she for some -word that would take them over the side of the schooner without having -seemed to hurry away.</p> - -<p>Ann could not help remembering how that figurehead had leered in the -dusk of the evening of their arrival; it hadn’t seemed half as menacing -since that time, but to be on the schooner as night fell was more than -she was willing to endure unnecessarily.</p> - -<p>Jo glanced around the galley as though to prove to himself that he -wouldn’t be afraid to stay longer. Suddenly he stopped and threw his -head up.</p> - -<p>“Listen!” he said in a low tense voice.</p> - -<p>They all heard it this time and Helen crept close into Ann’s protecting -arm. This was not an evasive faint sound like the other; it was a -regular soft sussh-sussh that seemed at first to come from the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">77</a></span> deck. -Jo stole to the door on tiptoe but the deck was as bare and empty as -when they had entered the galley.</p> - -<p>The noise did not stop. Sussh-sussh-sussh-sussh. It seemed farther away -now, up near the bow and the figurehead. It was stilled for a moment -and then it began again, near the captain’s cabin. They heard a faint -scratching, as though something had slid along the floor somewhere, and -then again the sussh-sussh growing fainter.</p> - -<p>“Come on,” Jo spoke hoarsely through pale tight lips. “Now’s our chance -to get off.”</p> - -<p>The doughty band ran in full retreat to the side of the ship. Jo swung -each of them overside in his strong arms and he was the last to leave -the wreck. He dropped beside them in the sand.</p> - -<p>None of them stopped to look up into the face of the figurehead that -towered over them as they ran by. With wings of the wind in their feet -they sped up the meadow toward the lights where their suppers were -waiting for them.</p> - -<p>At supper Mrs. Seymour noticed Helen’s pale tired face. She had grown -to expect a certain sort of tiredness in all of the children at night, -and this was very different. She looked from one to another of them.</p> - -<p>“How did you like playing on the ship?” she asked casually.</p> - -<p>“How did you know that we were there?” asked Ann.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">78</a></span> -“I saw you climbing up and once in a while I saw you on deck,” -explained Mrs. Seymour.</p> - -<p>To Ann there was something very reassuring in the thought that all the -time they had been on the schooner their mother had been keeping an -eye on them; they had been perfectly safe, even when Ann was feeling -nervous and fidgety and wanting to look over her shoulder. That was -that, thought Ann, “And I’ll never let myself feel the least bit afraid -again, when I am on the wreck.”</p> - -<p>She could not know that Mrs. Seymour had spent an anxious afternoon. -She trusted her husband’s judgment, but sometimes mothers know things -without being told, while fathers have to hear reasonable explanations -before they can understand the very same things that mothers have known -by instinct.</p> - -<p>“We had such a lot of fun on the wreck, mother,” said Ann.</p> - -<p>“Yes,” said Helen pluckily, “we had lots of fun. You won’t tell us not -to go there, will you, mother? Please!”</p> - -<p>Ben looked at both the girls as if he wished to remind them of -the band’s pledge of secrecy. But he need not have worried. Ann’s -determination to solve the mystery unaided by the help of older people -was even stouter than his, and Helen had always proved a trustworthy -young thing who never gave a secret away.</p> - -<p>Ann knew that her mother wanted to hear more about the afternoon; she -must explain a part of what<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">79</a></span> they were doing. “The band has taken -an oath, a strict oath to keep secret everything connected with the -wreck—you’ll understand, won’t you, that is why we can’t talk about it -more? If you ask us to tell you, of course we will, but we are planning -a surprise.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t think you need to worry about the ship, Emily,” said Mr. -Seymour. “Helen played too hard to-day, that’s all that is wrong. -To-morrow she will be as brown and rosy as ever.”</p> - -<p>So Mrs. Seymour said nothing more and the whole family talked about -other things.</p> - -<p>Later in the evening Jo came over and the band gathered around the fire -in the living room for a conference while Mr. and Mrs. Seymour read in -the kitchen.</p> - -<p>“What do you suppose it was that we heard?” Ben asked in a whisper; -sometimes his mother had been known to hear more than she should. Not -that the band wished to deceive, but they had started on an exciting -adventure and they meant to put it through alone.</p> - -<p>“I know it was not made by ghosts,” asserted Ann. “Nor by that wicked -demon, either. He’s nailed too tight to the bow.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t believe that I want to go on the wreck again to-morrow,” said -Helen. “It makes me feel too tired.”</p> - -<p>“We won’t go on again, not any of us,” Jo said. “I’ve been thinking -over the situation while I had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">80</a></span> my supper. We’ll keep a sharp lookout -for the man who built that fire; sort of hang around the woods, we -will, and watch the ship, too, but from the outside. If anybody or -anything climbs over the side we’re bound to see it.”</p> - -<p>“I’m going to watch for that lantern,” said Ann.</p> - -<p>Jo nodded wisely. “If we can find out who it is that carries the -lantern we shall know what made the noise; that’s how it looks to me.”</p> - - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">81</a></span> -</div> - - -<h2><a name="vi" id="vi"></a>CHAPTER VI -<span class="sub"><em>GOING LOBSTERING</em></span></h2> - - -<p><span class="smcap">“Hist-sst!</span> Ann! Wake up!”</p> - -<p>It was Ben’s voice that woke Ann, and his hand on her shoulder. She -thought it was the middle of the night, it was so dark, and her second -thought was of the wreck. Had anything happened there? They had watched -for days and never seen a sign of life on it.</p> - -<p>“Jo just called me,” whispered Ben. “He wants to know whether we would -like to go after lobsters with him. He says it is going to be a fine -day and not too rough for landlubbers like us.”</p> - -<p>Would she like to go? Well, rather! Jo had promised that he would take -them some fine day when the swell on the water was not too heavy. The -Baileys, either Jo or his father, made a daily trip out through their -lobster string, which was set beyond the pond rocks and Douglas Head in -the wide expanse of the sea. Jo had decided that Helen had better not -go as she was still so frail that if she grew dizzy and ill out there -probably she would have to go to bed for the rest of the day. And as -she would be grief-stricken if she knew that she was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">82</a></span> being left behind -the others arranged to go some day without letting her know anything -about it.</p> - -<p>Ann’s room was just light enough for her to see her way without -lighting a lamp. She had not realized that the night faded so slowly -just before the sun rose, for she never had been up so early in all her -life. The small clock on the chest of drawers pointed to half past one. -She could hear Ben moving about in his room, scurrying into his clothes -with a sound like the little scramblings of a squirrel.</p> - -<p>They found Jo waiting for them by the kitchen steps with a lighted -lantern in his hand.</p> - -<p>“Probably we won’t need this after we get across the meadow and strike -the road,” explained Jo, “but now it will be easier going with a light -to shine and show up the bumps. Dawn is coming pretty fast now.”</p> - -<p>He struck off down the sloping meadow, going across it diagonally in -such a way as to give the wreck a wide berth. Ann realized that he -deliberately chose the rougher ground of the field in preference to -walking along the road, merely because of that ship waiting to draw -their thoughts into her shadows. Ann had no desire to peer into the -grinning face of the demon in the half-light of the pale dawn. She -still had a vivid recollection of its leer the first time she had seen -it in the gathering shadows of dusk. And dawn is exactly like the dusk -in its power to make things look different from the way they really -are.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">83</a></span> -“I’m glad we’re not going past the boat,” Ben murmured heartily in her -ear, and she nodded in sympathy.</p> - -<p>The cove lay at the mouth of the swamp river and was only a short walk -from the road at the end of the meadow. Jo swung into a swift pace -as waiting for Ben and Ann had made him later than usual. He always -timed himself with the sunrise and should have his dory in the water -and well started before the sun hopped up over the horizon. The others -kept beside him only by running now and then with short quick steps, -and when they caught him Jo would spurt ahead and the race would start -again.</p> - -<p>“Ben Seymour couldn’t have paced this,” Ben cried breathlessly. “But -Allan-a-Dale can. Chasing bucks in the wood is fine for strengthening -the wind.”</p> - -<p>It was true. In the past few weeks Ben had filled out considerably and -he had grown an inch as well. Ann looked down at her own strong brown -lean hands; they had changed since she first undertook to handle a hoe. -The healed blisters still showed on her palms but they had long ago -ceased to hurt. And so the three of them frisked away in the early dawn -like three young colts turned loose in the meadows.</p> - -<p>The gray shacks of the fishermen, clustered at the mouth of the river, -seemed not much larger near at hand than they looked from the bluff. -They all were built with only one story, the shingled roofs coming -almost down to the ground on either side. Small<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">84</a></span> square doors led into -the dark interiors and the windows were nothing but little openings cut -in the walls.</p> - -<p>A narrow winding lane led from the dirt road down through the ravine -bordered by thick brush and the same variety of dark pines that stood -about the swamp pond above. After the track reached the pebbly beach -it was paved with crushed clamshells that glistened in the early light -like a pale ribbon over the dark oval pebbles.</p> - -<p>As soon as the lane met the shacks it twined gracefully in and out -among them all, so that although the shacks seemed from a distance to -stand together, pressed up in a heap, the lane managed to come directly -to the door of each one of them. Suddenly from a regular workaday world -Ann felt that she had been transplanted into a tiny village out of some -fairy tale, whose inhabitants were yellow gnomes with big sou’wester -hats pulled over their heads. Under the reversed brim of each gnome’s -yellow oiled hat a pair of keen blue eyes, laughing as Fred Bailey’s -eyes laughed, peered out at the children. Every face was brown, seamed, -and leathery. Always a small stubbed pipe belched clouds of smoke about -each lobsterman’s head. All the men were built alike, square and solid, -and they all wore yellow.</p> - -<p>“How do you tell them apart?” Ann asked Jo.</p> - -<p>“Tell them apart?” Jo echoed Ann’s question; it sounded so foolish to -him that he barely took the trouble to make any answer. “Why, I’ve -known<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">85</a></span> them since I was a baby in long clothes. Why shouldn’t I be able -to tell them apart?”</p> - -<p>Then, seeing that she was actually puzzled, he stopped teasing and -pointed them out to her; she had seen them all before.</p> - -<p>“I do suppose,” he said, “that in the dim light they look as much alike -as so many Chinamen. Don’t you recognize that one down by the boat in -the water? That’s Jed; he’s a mite shorter and rounder than the rest, -though I don’t suppose you’d notice it in broad daylight. Yes, I know -he looks very different with his slicker off. The one traveling along -with the basket—he’s Walt. He’s the youngest next to me. He’ll be -fifty-three this fall. That fellow coming toward us now, he’s Pete -Simonds; he’s quite a joker.”</p> - -<p>“Pete Simonds was one who went out to the ship with your father the day -after she was wrecked,” said Ann, remembering the name.</p> - -<p>“Sure,” said Jo. “They all were there. They all came up from the -village when I told them that a boat needed help. Why shouldn’t they?”</p> - -<p>Ann could not take her eyes from the figures pottering up and down the -shelving beach of pebbles, fitting their dories for the trip out to -sea. These were the men who had taken a small boat across the terrible -pounding waves to go to the help of sailors who had come from no one -knew where. They had risked their lives to try to do something for -others. While Fred Bailey was telling the story Ann had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">86</a></span> listened as -if some one were reading a thrilling tale out of a magazine or a book, -without half realizing it all had actually happened. But these were -real live men, and old men at that. She had seen them, often, going -along the road on their way to the cove, but she never had thought much -about their connection with the wreck.</p> - -<p>She looked more closely at Pete Simonds. As she came up beside him she -noticed how powerful he was in spite of the wrappings of his cumbersome -slicker. His great fingers were gnarled and looked like steel rods. -Under his sou’wester she could see frayed ends of his snow-white hair -and his eyes shone as cold ice shines when the winter sky is unclouded.</p> - -<p>“Hallelujah, Jo-ey,” he shouted as he came abreast of them, shifting -his bitten pipe to the other corner of his shaven lips. “Ain’t you a -mite late? A spry boy like you layin’ abed till afternoon! You oughter -be ashamed of yourself.”</p> - -<p>“It wasn’t his fault,” Ann spoke bravely into the unsmiling face. “We -delayed him. He promised to take us out in the boat with him this -morning and he had to wait for us. We’re the lazy ones, not Jo.”</p> - -<p>“Oho!” The big foghorn voice boomed out and Ann was sure he could be -heard in the village. “So it was you, young lady, he was waiting for. -Wal, now, I don’t blame him.”</p> - -<p>“Hush your noise,” ordered Jo, laughing. “This is Ann Seymour and Ben -Seymour who are staying<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">87</a></span> up at the homestead this summer. They don’t -know that you’re pestering them just for fun.”</p> - -<p>“Why, o’ course she knows I was only a-funnin’. This young lady has -good sense, I can see that.” Pete clapped one huge hand down on Ann’s -shoulder. “I wouldn’t go for to hurt her feelings.” He looked into -Ann’s eyes. “Jo’s a good boy and a first-class skipper. You couldn’t -have picked a better captain among us.”</p> - -<p>Jo visibly swelled under the compliment after Pete had left them, and -Ann was happy to see him so pleased.</p> - -<p>“It was nice of Pete to say that about you,” she said softly.</p> - -<p>“You bet it was,” said Jo. “He is a close-mouthed old fellow but he -sure knows how to handle a boat. And his bark is a good deal worse -than his bite. He has been awfully kind to me. He taught me just about -everything I know, what with father being so busy often when I needed -help. But Pete never said anything to make me think he was pleased with -the way I was sailing the boat. I can remember when I was very small -and came down here to watch the men; Pete used to pull a pair of oars -in his boat and make a straight trip of over twenty miles a day and -think nothing of it.”</p> - -<p>“You said twenty miles?” asked Ben incredulously.</p> - -<p>“All of that,” asserted Jo. “He was the first fisherman to buy a motor -for his dory, when everybody thought he was a fool to do it. He used to -sit<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">88</a></span> here on the beach for hours reading over the book of instructions -that came with the engine, and finally he put the parts together and -made the thing work without any help from anybody. It has made a heap -of difference, having engines in the boats. A man can take care of -pretty nigh eighty pots if he has a motor boat, when he used to be held -down to twenty, pulling oars.”</p> - -<p>Ann had peeped into a shack where a lantern glowed. It was stacked with -barrels of salt and open kegs of steeping fishbait; nets were festooned -on the walls, coiled ropes were thrown here and there, and a yellow -goblin was preparing for his morning’s voyage out to sea. The air was -filled with the pungent smell of tar.</p> - -<p>Jo opened the padlock of his own shack, reached into the darkness, and -pulled out a pair of oars. Then he shut the door after him, leaving the -lock dangling from the hinge.</p> - -<p>“We don’t clasp it,” he explained, “while we are out on the water; -otherwise our neighbors would think we didn’t trust our tackle open to -them.”</p> - -<p>“Why are you taking oars, if it is a motor boat that you use?” asked -Ann.</p> - -<p>“In case anything should happen to the engine. It’s safer.”</p> - -<p>“And why aren’t you taking all the rest of the things that the other -men are working with?” inquired Ben.</p> - -<p>“I thought it was likely to be fine to-day, so I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">89</a></span> stored the bait kegs -in the dory last night. We can get off right now.”</p> - -<p>With Ben’s help he shoved the light dory into the smooth water of the -river and helped Ann aboard, suggesting that she should sit in the bow -as she was heavier than Ben. The two boys in the back would balance the -dory evenly.</p> - -<p>“She would have been afloat if the tide had been up a mite,” apologized -Jo; “but sometimes the water runs out on the ebb a bit faster than we -calculate and that drops the boats a mite high up the beach.”</p> - -<p>Ben had climbed in over the gunwale without minding his wet feet. -Sea water would dry without giving him a cold. He really had enjoyed -helping to push the dory afloat.</p> - -<p>Jo took his place by the engine; he could manage it and the tiller at -the same time. He spun the wheel of the motor once or twice, the engine -sputtered as the spark ignited the gasoline and then it caught in a -clear put-put. Then he seized the tiller cord and pointed the boat’s -nose steadily out toward the dark smoothly rolling waves of the sea -beyond the mouth of the river. They were off.</p> - -<p>Under Jo’s expert handling the boat took the first wave without effort. -With the second wave she rolled a little, but as Jo swung her more -toward the end of Douglas Head she moved steadily up and over the crest -of each running wave and slid gently down on the far side.</p> - -<p>From where she sat in the bow Ann could feel the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">90</a></span> dory rise and -plunge, run forward and rise to plunge again. The wind was fresh and -cool, blowing straight into her face and tossing her short hair all -topsy-turvy. The sky far over to the east had turned a blood-red with -flames of orange shooting up through the center of the mass of color. -Suddenly the first sun ray shot out over the water and touched the -racing boat. The last of the darkness melted quickly away.</p> - -<p>“Oh, Ben! Isn’t it wonderful!” Ann exclaimed.</p> - -<p>But her brother was not so enthusiastic. “I am not sure that I like it -yet,” he admitted. “I have a queer feeling in my middle; all gone, like -dropping down in a fast elevator.”</p> - -<p>“That comes from the pancakes you ate last night,” said Jo -unsympathetically. “Don’t think about them and you will be all right in -a minute.”</p> - -<p>“I forgot,” said Ann, putting her hand in her pocket. “I brought these -crackers; it will be rather a long time before breakfast and I thought -that mother would say we must eat something.”</p> - -<p>“I ought to have thought of that,” apologized Jo, “but I never have -anything myself.”</p> - -<p>But though he did not feel the crying emptiness that was upsetting Ben, -Jo ate his share. Never had crackers tasted better to any of them.</p> - -<p>“That was a fine idea of yours, Ann,” said Ben.</p> - -<p>“Now,” advised Jo, “if you should sing you’d feel even better. I’ve -heard that some doctors cure<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">91</a></span> patients by giving them something worse -than they have already.”</p> - -<p>“That cure might work,” admitted Ben, “but it seems hard to give you -and Ann a dose of the same medicine, and besides, I don’t need any, -now. What shall I sing?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, we wouldn’t suffer in silence,” said Jo. “We’ll sing, too. How’s -this one?” And he began:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poem"><div class="verse"> -<div class="line">Oh, it’s bonny, bonny weather</div> -<div class="line">For sailormen at sea,</div> -<div class="line">He pulls his ropes and trims his sails,</div> -<div class="line">And sings so merrily——</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>His fresh young voice rang out high and clear in the new warm sunlight.</p> - -<p>“Jo!” exclaimed Ann. “I never have heard you sing. I didn’t know you -could. Where did you learn that song?”</p> - -<p>“I sing only when I’m in the boat,” Jo answered laughingly. “It must -be the bobbing up and down that makes me want to do it, just like a -chippie bird swinging on the branch of a tree. My mother used to sing -me that song when I was little. She taught it to me.”</p> - -<p>“You were old enough to remember her?” Ann asked gently.</p> - -<p>“Yes,” he replied, speaking as gently as Ann had asked her question, “I -remember her very well. I was nine years old when she got through.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">92</a></span> -Ann had learned since she came to Pine Ledge that the fishermen never -spoke of any one as dying. They talked as though the person who had -left this world had finished a task and gone somewhere else. They had -“got through” with the present job of living and were resting.</p> - -<p>“My mother taught the district school before she was married,” Jo -continued. “She was very smart and she taught me a great deal during -the winter evenings. In lots of ways she was like your mother; kind, -you know, with never a cross word, and always understanding when I -tried to please her. She knew lots of songs and taught them to me. How -she used to laugh because I always got the tune right even when I was -so little that I could hardly say the words! One bit she used to sing -a lot and I liked it one of the best, but though I remember the tune I -have forgotten most of the words. I wish I knew them. Maybe you know -it, Ann. It started something like this:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poem"><div class="verse"> -<div class="line">Maxwelton’s braes are bonnie,</div> -<div class="line">Where early fa’s the dew——”</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>“Oh, I know that,” said Ben.</p> - -<p>“Yes, we know the rest of that, Jo. It is ‘Annie Laurie,’ an old Scotch -song, and it goes on like this,” and Ann took up the song where Jo had -been interrupted.</p> - -<p>“That’s the one! That’s the one!” cried Jo<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">93</a></span> happily. Then he stopped -suddenly. “Hey! Here’s my first buoy, and I came near running it down.”</p> - -<p>Ben peered after the block of green and yellow that Jo had just missed -striking. “However do you manage to come away out here and hit a little -block of wood floating in the middle of the ocean?”</p> - -<p>“That’s easy. I do it every morning,” Jo answered. “And I don’t -generally pass it by, as I was going to do to-day.”</p> - -<p>He turned the dory in a wide circle and just before reaching the buoy -he shut off his engine and coasted alongside. Seizing a short boat book -that lay beside him on the thwart he deftly caught the rope attached to -the buoy and began to haul it in. Yard after yard ran through his hands -until finally it began to pull harder, as if a heavy load were attached -to it.</p> - -<p>“Here she comes,” he said.</p> - -<p>The huge wooden crate swung up beside the boat. Jo opened the catch -at the top and threw up the swinging lid. Then he began to take out -the lobsters. They were green and shining, with big claws waving -frantically in their effort to catch Jo’s fingers. One, two, three, and -four he fished out of the crate. The last was a small one and he threw -it back into the water.</p> - -<p>“It is too short,” he said. “We are not allowed to bring them in as -small as that.”</p> - -<p>“Aren’t they good to eat?” asked Ann.</p> - -<p>“They’re the sweetest and the tenderest. But if<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">94</a></span> the lobstermen began -selling them there soon wouldn’t be any left to grow up. Lobsters under -ten inches long aren’t allowed to be sold in the state of Maine.”</p> - -<p>“What a lot you know, Jo!” exclaimed Ben admiringly.</p> - -<p>Jo looked a little surprised. “That’s my business; of course I know -that, about boats and lobsters. There’s a plenty of things that you -know and I don’t.”</p> - -<p>He dropped the three big lobsters into a wooden box in the dory. “Now -hand me one of those bait bags, Ben, if you please; out of the keg -behind you.”</p> - -<p>He took the bag, wet and dripping, from Ben’s outstretched hand and -fastened it into the trap, taking out the half-empty one that had been -there. Then he closed the cover, hasped it, and let the trap slip -gently down, down, away from sight in the clear green water.</p> - -<p>“Now for the next,” he said as he spun the wheel, and the dory once -again pointed her course up the coast.</p> - -<p>Jo visited twenty of his pots that morning, replacing the bait in each -before he dropped it back into the water. Ann soon learned to fill -the little bait bags which he handed across to her as he pulled them -out of the pots and she always had them ready for him by the time the -next pot had been hauled to the surface. They had taken pity on Ben -and forbidden him to handle the bait, for the smell of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">95</a></span> fish was a -little too much for his slight attack of seasickness.</p> - -<p>“I’m all right now,” he insisted.</p> - -<p>“Next time you come out you won’t feel the motion at all,” Jo promised. -“And you’ll forget all about this as soon as you step on shore. -Everybody gets a little sick the first time they go outside in a small -boat. Ann’s just tough, that’s the only reason she has escaped.”</p> - -<p>“Where do you get the fish for the bait, Jo?” asked Ann after she had -filled the twentieth bag and they were sweeping in toward the cove with -the morning’s catch.</p> - -<p>“The lobstermen get it. We would catch our own bait, but the farm work -takes so much of my father’s time and I’m not strong enough to handle -a trawl alone. So we buy from the men who go out after fish. You see, -to go lobstering the way most of the fishermen do would take all day. -First, they have to dig their clams down on the sand beach a mile to -the south; they use the clams to bait the fish trawls. After the trawls -are baited, they have to go out and catch the fish and bring them in. -Then the fish are used to catch the lobsters.”</p> - -<p>“Sort of ‘great fleas have little fleas to bite ’em,’” Ben quoted.</p> - -<p>“I guess you are almost well now, after that,” said Jo as he swung the -boat into the river.</p> - -<p>Just before landing he once more cut off his engine and let the dory -drift alongside a large<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">96</a></span> wooden box afloat in the smoother protected -water of the river. “This is the storage box where we put our catch -until we gather enough to pay to ship them to Boston.”</p> - -<p>He opened the padlock on the cover and swung the big lid up, dumping -the day’s catch into it, eighteen in all, most of them fair-sized. Jo -felt that his morning’s work had been well worth while.</p> - -<p>They landed, pulling the dory after them until it was slightly out of -the water. Jo threw the iron anchor well up the beach, so that the tide -would not set the boat adrift as it rose to the flood.</p> - -<p>When she began to walk Ann discovered that she still felt the motion -of the boat and she swayed a bit as she went up the lane. She had real -“sea-legs” Jo told her and would soon be a regular deep-sea man.</p> - -<p>On the way back to the shack to replace the oars and snap the lock -on the door they passed a building Ann had not noticed in the early -morning. It was merely a built-in shed between two shacks, a sort of -lean-to in a sad state of repair. The door stood open so that she -could see the man working inside as she passed by. He was dressed in -rough clothing, a pair of dark trousers and a thin shirt opened at -the throat, and what surprised her most was the fact that he was not -wearing oilskins. He was much younger than any of the other men she had -seen that morning and this, too, astonished her, for Jo had said that -Walt was the youngest of the fishermen,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">97</a></span> while this man could not have -been as old as her own father. He wore no hat and his thick hair was -unkempt. She could see, even as she walked by, that he was unshaven and -looked like a tramp—a rather interesting tramp, however.</p> - -<p>“Who is that man?” she asked Jo.</p> - -<p>“Him? That’s Warren Bain.” Jo’s voice sounded contemptuous.</p> - -<p>“He doesn’t seem like the other fishermen.” Ann did not wish to show -her interest, especially as Jo did not seem eager to talk about the -stranger. But she was feeling inquisitive about him and she had already -learned that Jo talked more freely if he were not being questioned.</p> - -<p>“He’s a queer fellow,” Jo continued after a moment, as though it had -taken him a while to decide whether or not to gossip. “He don’t belong -to these parts. Came from Down East this spring and set out lobstering -from the cove here. We don’t quite take to his coming, because there -are more lobsters down his way than there are here and we feel that -it would be fairer for him to keep to his home grounds. Besides, he -ain’t been none too friendly with the men since he came, and he pries -into other folks’ private affairs a good deal. I haven’t got anything -against him, but I just don’t like his way.”</p> - -<p>As they passed the open door of the shed Warren Bain lifted his head -from his work and saw them. Then he moved slowly and lazily to the -doorway and watched them. He said nothing, although he looked<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">98</a></span> Ann and -Ben over from head to foot. Ann was annoyed by his intense stare and -she resented the fact that he did not reply immediately to Jo’s curt -greeting.</p> - -<p>“Fine morning,” Jo had said when the man first noticed them.</p> - -<p>Finally Bain shifted his eyes a little from Ann and Ben and relaxed -against the side post of his shack, lounging comfortably. “Good -enough,” he said, and nodded his head to Jo.</p> - -<p>“You kids stayin’ up at the Baileys’?” he asked with a slow drawl.</p> - -<p>Trying not to be angry, Ann answered, “Yes. We are spending the summer -with Jo.”</p> - -<p>“Hum,” and Bain brought his piercing eyes back to Ann’s face. “Where do -you spend all o’ your spare time?”</p> - -<p>Jo interrupted Ann before she could answer such an astonishingly rude -question. “I don’t know that that is for you to worry about,” Jo said, -and though his words were discourteous, his voice was quietly polite.</p> - -<p>“Oh,” Warren Bain apologized, “I was just interested. I didn’t mean to -be pryin’. It really ain’t none of my business.”</p> - -<p>Ann thought that he was going to laugh at their indignation, but he did -not. He lounged against the door and watched them as they went away up -the lane.</p> - -<p>When she thought that they must be completely<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">99</a></span> out of sight, Ann turned -excitedly to Jo. “You don’t suppose that he knows anything about -the wrecked schooner?” she whispered breathlessly, although the man -couldn’t hear, not possibly. “Perhaps he doesn’t want to have us play -on it and perhaps interfere with whatever he plans to do.”</p> - -<p>“Gee, Ann!” exclaimed Ben. “You have brains! I’ll bet that he knows -something! No man would have acted in such a strange way for no reason -at all.”</p> - -<p>“What do you think, Jo?” insisted Ann.</p> - -<p>Jo did not answer for another moment. He thought for a little space, -piecing together all the different things that had happened—especially -trying to tie them up with that lantern and the fire in the woods.</p> - -<p>“I think you are right, Ann,” he said at last. “I believe he does know -something, and we will watch him as well as the ship.”</p> - - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">100</a></span> -</div> - - -<h2><a name="vii" id="vii"></a>CHAPTER VII -<span class="sub"><em>PAINTING THE DEER</em></span></h2> - - -<p><span class="smcap">Ann</span> did not have to watch alone for the lantern that might again be -seen flickering and swaying across the deck of the schooner. The band -mounted guard in turn and watched so industriously that Mr. and Mrs. -Seymour began to wonder what the children hoped to see out in the night.</p> - -<p>Jo took upon himself the watch during the late hours, for he believed -that no one would be likely to venture aboard the wreck while lamps -still glowed from house windows so near. At least a man would not carry -a lantern there during the early hours of the night but would creep -about in the shadows or hang a covering over the portholes so that -whatever light was needed would be hidden.</p> - -<p>“I think that the reason you saw it that first night, Ann, was because -pop and I go to bed so early. Whoever it was got careless. He thought -we always were asleep by that hour and he didn’t know that you folks -were coming.”</p> - -<p>The evenings were long now; the sun did not set until after supper, and -it made the time of watching for a lantern very short.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">101</a></span> -Mr. Seymour had been interested in hearing about the buck deer that -Robin Hood had tracked to its lair and he joined with the band in -several early forays. They picked their way stealthily through -underbrush that dripped with dew and waited silently by the swamp pond, -counting discomfort nothing if only they could sometime see a deer -drink.</p> - -<p>At last they were rewarded in the half-light of one clear dawn. A big -buck stepped gently out from the end of the narrow trail they had -followed that first day. He slowly approached the pond, cautious at -first. But Jo had chosen a hiding place where the breeze would not -betray their presence and the animal soon felt perfectly safe. First -he nosed about through the tender young marsh grass which grew close -to the water’s edge. He pulled a little of it, here and there, before -he raised his head. Whether he signaled that all was safe the human -beings could never know, although Jo said afterward that deer had ways -of warning their own kind, but when he had taken several mouthfuls of -grass he threw up his head and looked carefully about him, sniffing -into the light rustling breeze.</p> - -<p>Down the same trail by which he had entered, his doe came with mincing -steps to take her place beside him. The legs that carried her slim body -so easily seemed no thicker than the twigs of the trees through which -she came so swiftly and quietly, and her big soft ears pricked forward -over her gentle brown eyes.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">102</a></span> -The children hardly dared to breathe and they spoke no louder than a -whisper even after the deer had vanished.</p> - -<p>“Oh, father!” sighed Ben. “How lovely they are! You will show me how to -draw them, won’t you?”</p> - -<p>So Allan-a-Dale resigned temporarily from Robin Hood’s band and became -the constant companion of his father. After his beans were hoed and his -potatoes hilled—for both corn and potatoes had sprouted rapidly and -gave promise of making an excellent crop—Ben took his canvas and easel -and went with his father to the swamp pond. Here they set up their -props and worked every day.</p> - -<p>Mr. Seymour showed Ben how to plan his picture, so that his drawing -would be balanced and the deer stand straight on their own four legs.</p> - -<p>“You will have to decide first of all, Ben, just how the deer balances -his weight on his feet while he is jumping, and then draw him so that -this point of balance comes as a straight right angle up from the line -where you are going to draw in your ground. That point of balance is -what makes people and animals stand upright, for otherwise they would -fall down. So when you draw pictures of them, you have to plan very -carefully to get an effect of stability in your drawing.”</p> - -<p>In beginning his own picture Mr. Seymour planned to paint the swamp -first, and then place the deer in position some morning after he had -had an opportunity<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">103</a></span> to sketch them rapidly from life. He hoped to see -them again, poised on the edge of the water before him. Consequently he -busied himself in transferring the pond with its green motionless water -surrounded by the dark pine woods to a canvas that was twice the size -of the one that Ben was working on.</p> - -<p>Often the rest of the band gathered around the painters to watch the -growth of the two pictures, for they felt a personal interest and -responsibility because of their share in discovering the deer. Jo liked -to watch the brush in Mr. Seymour’s quick deft fingers and see how a -few strokes of color here and there made a splotch of green look like -a pine tree. Under his eyes Jo saw the swamp grow on the gray canvas. -It was the swamp, and yet it was not exactly like the swamp itself, for -Mr. Seymour had left out a great deal of underbrush and many of the -trees. When Jo asked him why, he explained:</p> - -<p>“When you look at that pond out there with the trees for a background, -it fills the entire space so far as you are concerned while you are -looking at it. That is the first thing you notice. Now what is the -second thing?”</p> - -<p>“Well, I guess,” Jo ventured, “that I notice next that the pine trees -are pointed up into the sky, all jagged, while down below the trees -come together and I can’t separate one from another. It is all a -darkness.”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” said Mr. Seymour, “but doesn’t that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">104</a></span> mean something more to you -than just a lot of pine trees growing together?”</p> - -<p>“I don’t exactly know what you mean,” Jo answered. “They are pine -trees, most of them, although I can see one or two foliage trees among -them—shouldn’t wonder but what they are swamp maples.”</p> - -<p>“You’re too definite, Jo.” And Mr. Seymour laughed. “I didn’t mean to -ask you to look for the other trees, because you can see them only when -you look carefully.”</p> - -<p>“I know what you mean, father, and you shouldn’t ask questions—it -takes too long. You should tell Jo right out.” Ann looked at her father -with her eyes twinkling. “You wanted Jo to say that the first thing he -saw in looking into a space filled with trees was the line they grew -in.”</p> - -<p>“Of course,” Jo agreed. “Everything grows in a line or a clump.”</p> - -<p>“That is just what I mean,” Mr. Seymour replied. “After you decide that -the space before you is filled with trees you next decide what the line -or pattern of the background of your picture is to be. After you decide -this, you can plan how to transfer the trees which fill the big space -into the much smaller space that is your canvas. You do it by following -the pattern which you see before you.”</p> - -<p>“But you can’t get all that swamp on a little canvas,” Jo protested.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">105</a></span> -“Exactly,” said Mr. Seymour. “And that’s why I am leaving out so much. -By following the pattern of the pine trees for my background and the -twisting shore of the pond for my foreground, I can shrink the whole -swamp to the size of my canvas even though I leave out a great deal -that your eye sees growing there in the living wood. Now, while you are -looking and comparing so closely, watching picture and swamp at the -same time, the swamp, in contrast, seems magnificent. But next winter -when you see only the picture you will forget about these details that -mean so much to you now, and you will think the picture looks quite -like the swamp as you remember it.”</p> - -<p>“Gee!” Jo said sadly. “You’ve forgotten that I won’t be seeing the -picture next winter.” He scraped the toe of his boot disconsolately -against the loose pebbles. “You aren’t thinking of going home too soon?”</p> - -<p>“Not for ages!” exclaimed Ann. “And I’ll write to you every week after -we get back,” she promised.</p> - -<p>“We’ll sign our names to the same letter,” said Ben.</p> - -<p>“You won’t!” Ann assured him, in her most decided manner. “If I write a -letter I am going to be the only one to sign it. He will have to write -his own letters, won’t he, father?”</p> - -<p>“It looks as if he would have to.” Mr. Seymour<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">106</a></span> laughed. “I know that -Jo would like to get more than one a week through the winter. How about -it, Jo?”</p> - -<p>“You bet I would,” answered Jo, his eyes shining.</p> - -<p>Ben was almost entirely interested in painting the animals. He was -trying to draw them from his recollection of the leaping buck. He -got the action very well, Mr. Seymour told him, but he would have to -practice more on the outlines, so that the leaping figure would look -more like a deer.</p> - -<p>“When I saw that deer,” Ben explained excitedly, “I felt as if I were -jumping in exactly the same way. That is why I am sure about how the -lines should go.”</p> - -<p>“With a little patience, Ben,” his father promised, “I feel certain -that you will be able to draw.”</p> - -<p>“And I shall be very famous?”</p> - -<p>“I can’t promise that. The famous—but of course you don’t mean -‘famous’; you aren’t using the right word and I can’t have you saying -it. You are trying to ask me whether you can do work that will satisfy -yourself, and that no one can prophesy. You will have to work hard. -Don’t think that you can be anything you wish by merely wishing it. And -besides, some of the greatest painters have only made a bare living -after studying and working all their lives long.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t care if I don’t make any money,” said Ben stoutly, “if I can -paint as much as I like.”</p> - -<p>“Paint costs money,” said Mr. Seymour rather<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">107</a></span> sadly. “And an artist has -to feed himself and his family.”</p> - -<p>“Don’t you worry about that, Ben,” Ann protested. “When Jo and I get -our ranch started you can come and live with us—can’t he, Jo?”</p> - -<p>“Sure he can,” Jo assented readily. “And he can paint all the time; -there will be lots of animals out there, steers and horses. And we can -live on potatoes and beans.”</p> - -<p>Mr. Seymour seemed to think that this was very funny, for he laughed -heartily.</p> - -<p>“I’ll come to visit you once in a while,” said Helen. “But I am going -to marry a millionaire and live on candy and nuts.”</p> - -<p>“You’ll be glad to eat some of Jo’s beans, in that case,” said Ben -quite positively. He once had known what it was to eat too much candy. -“And if Jo lets me live there with him and with Ann, I’ll promise to do -my full share of hoeing.”</p> - -<p>“Father will come, too,” said Ann eagerly, “even though he will be the -greatest painter in America by that time. When our ranch is paying, -neither father nor mother nor Mr. Bailey will need to do any more work -for money.”</p> - -<p>“That’s a very kind promise,” said Mr. Seymour. “And I shall expect to -enjoy visiting you. Helen can bring some of her candy and nuts, for -they will make us a pleasant change from a steady diet of beans and -potatoes.”</p> - -<p>In the evenings Ben was tracing his deer drawings<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">108</a></span> on a piece of -shellacked cardboard which he planned to cut into stencils, so that he -could stencil some new curtains for the Boston apartment, curtains with -deer leaping all along the bottom.</p> - - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">109</a></span> -</div> - -<div class="figcenter width300"> -<img src="images/p109.png" width="300" height="306" alt="Page 109" /> -</div> - -<h2 class="page-break-avoid"><a name="viii" id="viii"></a>CHAPTER VIII -<span class="sub"><em>A MAN WITH A LANTERN</em></span></h2> - - -<p><span class="smcap">Meanwhile</span> Jo made a ladder exactly long enough to reach from the -ground to the porthole of the captain’s cabin. He had reasoned that -the band would be safer outside the ship; he was afraid, and with good -reason, of being caught in a trap. But if some one were sleeping on the -blankets in the captain’s stateroom Jo could look in and see who was -there without disturbing the sleeper. The man could be caught unaware -before he had time to hide.</p> - -<p>Jo made his ladder by splitting a young green cedar. He selected a -straight slender tree, cut it down and trimmed the branches close to -the trunk. It looked like a beautiful pole with the bark still on it. -Then Jo struck the ax along the grain of the log, inserting wedges -in the open gashes. This split<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">110</a></span> the tree evenly as he pounded the -wedges in. Then he pared the two pieces smooth and nailed flat bits of -boxboard across for rungs, making sure that every nail pointed down as -he drove it home.</p> - -<p>“When we put our weight on each rung,” he explained to the interested -band, “we shall drive the nails farther into the cedar instead of -working them loose. Lots of people don’t think of that and their weight -comes down in such direction that gradually the nails are pried out. -I don’t trust a ladder that I haven’t made myself. I’m always kind of -nervous when I’m up on it.”</p> - -<p>When the ladder was finished it looked bulky and heavy, as homemade -ladders always look, and Ann was astonished to find that she could lift -it easily.</p> - -<p>Jo explained that, too. “That’s because of the wood I chose. Cedar and -spruce and the pine that grows up North here are lighter than hemlock -or yellow pine. Yellow pine comes from down South, and you might as -well try to lift a stone. And hemlock is not much good for such work as -this, as it cracks too easily and once you drive a nail into it you can -never pull it out again. Hemlock is used for rough work only, because -it is most unreliable. It will crack when you least expect it and let -you fall.”</p> - -<p>“I should think oak would be the strongest,” said Ben.</p> - -<p>“Oak is about the best lumber that grows in these parts,” Jo agreed, -“but it is worth a lot of money and it is hard to get, these days. -So it is used for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">111</a></span> finish wood, that is, for furniture and expensive -flooring. And supposing we could get it, it weighs more than yellow -pine. I’ll bet you couldn’t lift a ladder made of oak, much less carry -it down to the wreck; I know I shouldn’t hanker after that job. It sure -is pretty wood, though; the grain runs so evenly.”</p> - -<p>“The grain is the darker lines through the boards, isn’t it?” asked -Ann. “We helped mother scrape the paint from some chairs last winter -and then we smoothed the wood with sandpaper so that the grain would -show. They were lovely when we had finished. They looked like satin.”</p> - -<p>“Sure,” said Jo. “And the grain comes from the way the tree grows. The -longer it takes a tree to grow the finer its grain. Oak is grained -straight with narrow lines, and yellow pine has a grain that looks like -broad bands of ribbon running through it and it shows much pinker in -color. The northern pine—white pine, we call it—is so soft that you -can’t see the grain; the boards are all the same color and are very -white and the wood is easier to cut with a saw than any hard wood.”</p> - -<p>“That is the strangest ladder I ever saw,” said Ben, looking at it -critically.</p> - -<p>Ann had thought the same thing although she had not cared to say it -to Jo. She believed in Jo and he must have had some reason for making -it as he had. He had kept his two long poles far apart and the rungs -were twice as long as in the ordinary ladder.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">112</a></span> Naturally it was a short -ladder because the porthole was not very high above their heads when -they stood below it on the beach, but why make it so very wide?</p> - -<p>“It is wide because I wanted it to be very steady and because, if it’s -wide enough, more’n one of us can look in the port at the same time.”</p> - -<p>“Gee! A big idea, Jo!” exclaimed Ben admiringly.</p> - -<p>“I think that three of us can get up on it. Let’s practice. We don’t -want to make much noise when we’re really using it against the side -of the wreck. Anybody inside the cabin could hear us like rats in the -wall.”</p> - -<p>So Jo placed the ladder under a small window in the barn. He climbed up -until his head was opposite the window and then Ben followed. Jo stood -as near one end of his rung as possible and Ben stood on the other end; -they had one foot each on the ladder while the other twined about the -pole. Then Ann came up between them. She was glad that she was thin and -lanky!</p> - -<p>“Pretty good,” said Jo. “I think that we can manage that.”</p> - -<p>In order to be ready for any emergency they carried the ladder down to -the road and hid it in the bushes that made a hedge between the road -and the meadow, directly opposite the wreck.</p> - -<p>They had not made their preparations a day too soon, for that very -night as Ann was ready to hop<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">113</a></span> into bed she heard a tap against her -window, a secret tap, the signal of the band. She pulled back the -curtains and saw Jo standing outside in the moonlight.</p> - -<p>“Somebody is coming,” he said in low tones. “See there,” and he pointed -across the meadow.</p> - -<p>At first Ann could see nothing; then a small light flashed and -instantly disappeared.</p> - -<p>“I thought he wouldn’t bring a lantern again,” said Jo with quiet -satisfaction in his powers of deduction. “He has a flashlight this -time.”</p> - -<p>The gleam showed again and swung in a semicircle over the meadow.</p> - -<p>“He don’t know his way,” said Jo. “He has to watch pretty carefully -where he is going.”</p> - -<p>“I’ll get Ben,” Ann whispered excitedly. “Helen said that she didn’t -want to go to the boat at night—and I don’t believe that mother would -like to have her go even if she wished it. We’ll dress quickly and be -with you in a minute.”</p> - -<p>“All right,” agreed Jo. “Get a move on you. If we can reach the road -before the man gets there we will have a fine chance to see who he is -as he goes by. I’ll keep track of the light while you’re getting ready.”</p> - -<p>“Ben!” whispered Ann. “Are you awake? Robin Hood waits for his men—the -marauders are upon us.”</p> - -<p>“What’s that?” said Ben, sitting up in bed, and feeling his hair rise.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">114</a></span> -“Some one is walking toward the wreck with a flashlight! Don’t talk out -loud; we don’t want to be told that we mustn’t go out!”</p> - -<p>“Is Jo ready to go?”</p> - -<p>“Yes. I’ll beat you at dressing.” Ann whisked back to her room. “And if -I’m ready first we’ll go without you!”</p> - -<p>“If you beat me you’ll be beating some one worth while,” answered Ben -as he swung out of bed and thrust his bare feet into his shoes without -bothering with stockings. But in spite of his omissions he finished -at the same time as Ann and reached her side as she climbed over her -window sill.</p> - -<p>“Where is he?” she asked Jo.</p> - -<p>“About halfway, I should judge. Time to see his light now.”</p> - -<p>Even as Jo spoke the light flashed yellow.</p> - -<p>“Just where I thought he would be,” whispered Jo exultantly. “Now -follow me and be quick and quiet, for you can bet he is watching and -listening or he wouldn’t be traveling so slowly. Keep in the shadows as -much as possible and remember he is less likely to see us when he has -the light. Light shows up things that are close by but it blinds pretty -well for distance.”</p> - -<p>Jo crouched low into the shadow of the ground so that he would not be -outlined against the white house in the moonlight. Lithe as a cat he -sped into the shadow of a tree a short distance away.</p> - -<p>“He won’t move on from there until the light<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">115</a></span> shows,” Ben said to Ann. -“Wait until he runs again and then we will go together to the tree -where he is now.”</p> - -<p>The light flashed almost immediately.</p> - -<p>Ann could see Jo’s dark slim bulk speed on to a bush and shoulder to -shoulder she and Ben reached the shelter of his first hiding place. Jo -waited where he was and in the next flash his followers slid over to -his patch of darkness.</p> - -<p>There was shadow most of the way now and they quickly reached the -underbrush that bordered the road by the wreck. They were several -minutes ahead of the man with the flashlight.</p> - -<p>“Flatten down,” Jo warned softly. “He won’t expect anybody to track him -from this side, so there’s nothing to be scared of now. He’ll make for -the far side of the ship.”</p> - -<p>They could hear the sound of heavy boots walking cautiously along the -road. Nearer and nearer it came and Ann had to swallow hard. Although -she hoped that Jo was right when he said there was no danger while they -were lying in the bushes, she could not help fearing that the man must -hear them as plainly as they heard him. Ben’s arm trembled where it -pressed against her shoulder and she knew that he felt as she did.</p> - -<p>Jo lay a little ahead of them, where he could peep through an opening -that gave him a good view of the road. “Almost here now,” he warned -under his breath. “If he swings his light this way hide<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">116</a></span> your face but -don’t move a muscle unless you have to.”</p> - -<p>The man was walking in the dark now. As he drew closer to the ship he -walked more quietly and more quickly, as if he were stalking something -in the night. Ann could see the shadows cast by his legs as he passed -in the moonlight and he almost touched Jo, but the boy lay as if -frozen. He did not even tremble and Ann knew that he would have kept -exactly as quiet if the big boots had trodden on him.</p> - -<p>The man went directly to the prow of the boat. Vaguely in the moonlight -the figure of the demon hung over him. The man looked up at it and Ann -heard him give a low chuckling laugh. “Well, old boy,” he said, “you -are one grand guard for the old boat and you keep her well protected -for me.”</p> - -<p>Then Ann thought that the torch must have slipped from his hands, for -it turned as he clutched it and the light went on. The reflection -flashed across the man’s face.</p> - -<p>“Warren Bain!” Ben breathed close to her ear.</p> - -<p>If Ann had not remembered Jo’s instructions she would have hushed Ben -impatiently. She felt certain that he had been heard. Warren Bain—for -it was he—shut off his light instantly and stood listening. Ben, -realizing that perhaps he had betrayed the band, pressed so close to -the ground that Ann almost expected to see him disappear into it.</p> - -<p>But Warren evidently was satisfied that whatever sound he had heard -came from the noises of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">117</a></span> night. After a moment he started on his -business again. He slipped his flashlight into his coat pocket and -then leaped up into the dangling irons that were swaying from the bow. -Having mounted these he reached up and caught the top of the rail with -both hands and pulled himself up to the deck. For a minute he stood -erect, outlined against the bright sky, and then he strode forward and -vanished from sight.</p> - -<p>“He’s going to the cabin,” whispered Jo. “Now’s our chance to get the -ladder placed.”</p> - -<p>There was no need of concealment for the next moment or two, and the -ladder was beside them in the bushes. Jo raised it noiselessly against -the side of the wreck.</p> - -<p>Stealthily he mounted, peered through the window, and listened. Ann -thought of the buck deer, listening by the pond. Then Jo beckoned to -Ben. Quickly Ben climbed after him and placed himself in position where -the two boys balanced each other perfectly. Then Ann went up.</p> - -<p>The boys stood one rung above her and could peer into porthole one on -either side over her head. Ann found that from where she stood she -could just manage to see over the bottom edge of the round window. She -could dodge down quickly if Bain happened to glance toward the porthole.</p> - -<p>He was coming now. How different his steps sounded from the strange -sussh-sussh she had heard that other day when the band visited the -wreck.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">118</a></span> Bain walked lightly but he came steadily with abrupt steps that -sounded like those of a human being. The other sound, she felt sure -now, could not have been human. But what had made that curious noise? -Ann could not bring herself to believe in ghosts.</p> - -<p>As Bain entered the captain’s cabin he flashed his light into all the -corners and the band dodged out of the glow. The port was so high from -the floor that there was no danger of Bain’s seeing anything that was -not directly in front of the opening.</p> - -<p>In a minute they pulled back where they could see and all three watched -the man as he examined the cabin. He gave most attention to the table. -He pulled the drawer out, banging it on the floor and listening for -some sound that would indicate a secret compartment; then he took out -his pocketknife and ran the open blade around the joining of the wood. -It was evident that he found nothing. When he began to work he fixed -his torch in his belt in such a way as to allow the light to follow his -hands and let him see clearly what he was doing. Once in a while he -would stop and listen intently, and each time he took up his task again -he worked faster than before, as if he expected interruption.</p> - -<p>As he searched his dark face was very intent. But it did not appear -evil. He looked far more friendly to Ann to-night than when she had -seen him at the cove. But in spite of that she had no desire to let him -know that Robin Hood’s band were spying upon him.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">119</a></span> -Under his hands one of the table legs suddenly loosened; apparently it -had been screwed together in the middle where the crack was hidden by a -line of decoration. The piece in Bain’s hands was hollow and from it he -took a roll of paper. He opened it and grunted with satisfaction as he -read. Then he slipped the paper into his pocket and replaced the table -leg carefully, taking great pains to screw it tight.</p> - -<p>He was searching for something more than the paper, for he crossed to -the closet and began to shake and finger the clothes hanging there. -When he found nothing in them he ran his hands up and down the closet -walls, tapping them at intervals. Evidently he found what he wanted; as -he latched the door he wore a pleased smile and as he turned away he -said, “Stay there, sweet babies, some one will come for you.”</p> - -<p>Such a funny thing to say! The words had no meaning for the three -listeners.</p> - -<p>Bain’s light flashed across the blankets in the berth. Ann could feel -Jo start in astonishment, and glancing toward him Ann saw that his -eyes, too, were riveted on the berth. She followed them and realized -that the blankets were matted down as they were before Jo had shaken -them that other day. Some one had been sleeping on them again; some one -who had come aboard in spite of their vigilance and walked about the -boat without a light. And it was not Warren Bain; that was perfectly -evident,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">120</a></span> for he had taken his flashlight out of his belt and was -running it slowly over the blankets.</p> - -<p>Suddenly Bain stopped. He was listening intently. Had he heard their -breathing or perhaps heard them moving against the side of the ship -above his head? Ann was quite prepared to slip from her precarious -perch and scamper away to the safe farmhouse.</p> - -<p>But no, he was not paying any attention to the porthole. Slowly he -turned his head and glanced back over his shoulder to the door. Ann -recognized the movement. So he was beginning to feel that strange -sensation, too. Ann strained her ears to hear the mysterious noise that -he must be hearing.</p> - -<p>From the deck above the three, near the top of the ladder, faintly came -the phantom sussh-sussh. Slowly it drew nearer and louder, then it came -from a spot farther away; always moving nearer or farther, it came with -the same rhythm, the first sussh heavy and scraping, the second lighter -and with more of a rasp.</p> - -<p>“Hold tight,” whispered Jo. “We’ll weather it through with Warren.”</p> - -<p>But Warren had no intention of weathering through any such meeting. -He reached his free hand into his coat pocket and brought out a heavy -automatic which he cocked. Shifting the flashlight into his left hand -he rushed out of the door and up the companionway.</p> - -<p>“Hurry,” ordered Jo. “Slide into the shadows<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">121</a></span> under the boat. Jump, -Ben; I’m letting go of my side.”</p> - -<p>The boys dropped together and Ann stepped down to the ground. Jo barely -had time to take the ladder and cut under the stern of the boat. From -their hiding place they could hear Bain run across the deck and they -saw him swing out over the prow and drop. He switched off his flash as -he landed on the beach and crept into the underbrush where the children -had hidden to watch him go by. Then he was gone.</p> - -<p>The shuffling noise had ceased as the three left the wreck and went -home.</p> - -<p>When they were once more under Ann’s window Jo exclaimed, “There goes -Bain now! Out toward the swamp.”</p> - -<p>And a sudden pinprick of light showed beneath the dense growth of pine -on the edge of the wood.</p> - -<p>“He was not the one who left that fire,” said Ann with conviction.</p> - -<p>“How do you know?” asked Ben.</p> - -<p>“I don’t actually know,” admitted Ann, “but I feel sure.”</p> - -<p>“Jo, what do you think was in that roll of paper?” Ben asked.</p> - -<p>“Perhaps it was a few sheets from the lost log,” suggested Jo. “But if -it was that, a table leg was a funny place to keep it.”</p> - -<p>“You don’t suppose that Warren was the captain of the ship?” Ann -questioned.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">122</a></span> -“I thought of that,” said Jo. “But if he was captain, what reason had -he for skulking aboard in that fashion? He would have full right to -occupy the ship.”</p> - -<p>“Besides,” said Ben, “Warren Bain searched for that paper; if he had -been the captain he would have remembered where he hid it.”</p> - -<p>“Perhaps,” agreed Ann. She was loath to believe that Bain was where he -had no business to be, for suddenly she had begun to like the man. In a -moment she had another idea. “Perhaps the captain stole something from -Warren and hid it, and Warren has been searching for it.”</p> - -<p>“That sounds more like it,” said Jo. “But if it were the log that he -took, had he any right to it? Logs aren’t included in a ship’s salvage.”</p> - -<p>“It sounded to me,” said Ann, “as if he found something that he didn’t -take away with him. Did you hear the strange thing that he said as he -came away from the closet?”</p> - -<p>“Yes!” exclaimed Ben. “‘Stay there until some one comes for you, -babies.’ Only of course it wasn’t babies—they’d have starved to death -before now.”</p> - -<p>Ann and Jo laughed at that. “I guess you’re right about that, Ben,” -said Jo.</p> - -<p>“And what do you think he is doing, back there in the woods?” said Ann.</p> - -<p>“Ask me another,” answered Jo. “I’m stumped about the whole thing.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">123</a></span> -And then he slipped away in the darkness and Ann and Ben crept silently -over the window sill. For the second time that night Ann undressed and -went to bed.</p> - - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">124</a></span> -</div> - - -<h2><a name="ix" id="ix"></a>CHAPTER IX -<span class="sub"><em>A DAY OF MYSTERIES</em></span></h2> - - -<p>“<span class="smcap">Ben</span>,” Mrs. Seymour asked next morning at the breakfast table, “did you -bring home the cheese yesterday when you came back from the village?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, mother,” Ben answered. “I left it with the other packages on the -bench outside the kitchen door.”</p> - -<p>“You are sure that you didn’t leave it in the store?” Mrs. Seymour -was not questioning Ben’s statement, for she, too, was quite certain -that the cheese had been accounted for when Ben had dropped all his -marketing on the seat by the door and checked each purchase by the list -she had given him.</p> - -<p>“I know I brought it with me,” repeated Ben. “This chil’ loves cheese -too well to let himself forget anything as important as that. Didn’t -you find it out there?”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Seymour shook her head without answering.</p> - -<p>“Probably it dropped behind the bench, or perhaps it is in the -buckboard,” Mr. Seymour suggested. He knew that his wife must be -thinking of Fred Bailey’s warning against leaving any food outside<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">125</a></span> the -door. This was the first time that the advice had been overlooked.</p> - -<p>Followed by Ann, he went out to look for the missing cheese. There -might be remnants left to indicate what had happened to it. But there -was not a trace to be found anywhere. He and Ann looked at each other -incredulously. As they stood there, not yet quite ready to put their -questions into words, they saw Mr. Bailey running toward them from the -back field, holding something in his outstretched hand. He was waving -frantically to them in most unusual excitement. As he came closer Ann -could see that what he carried was a package wrapped in torn paper.</p> - -<p>Ben, standing in the kitchen doorway, recognized this bundle and hailed -Mr. Bailey. “Hey!” he called. “Where did you find our cheese?”</p> - -<p>“So it be yours,” Fred gasped as he stopped before them, very short of -breath. “I thought it would be, but I wanted to make sure of it.”</p> - -<p>Ann saw that the man was pale beneath his tan and the laughter had fled -from his blue eyes. Whatever he might have to say now could have no -joke hidden behind it.</p> - -<p>“I left that cheese out on the bench and forgot it,” Ben explained.</p> - -<p>“I warned you folks not to leave food lyin’ around outdoors; I told you -that you mustn’t leave anything that would tempt spirits to come from -the sea and pester us,” said Mr. Bailey. “I don’t<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">126</a></span> know as we shall -ever be free from them again,” he added despairingly.</p> - -<p>“I never heard that spirits were especially fond of cheese,” commented -Mr. Seymour. “Where did you find it, Fred?” he asked quietly.</p> - -<p>“Up by the stone wall in the back field,” Mr. Bailey half whispered, -staring at the package that he was holding. “Mr. Seymour, Mrs. Seymour, -marm, something terrible must have been going on this past night.”</p> - -<p>Ann was tremendously impressed by his attitude; he was so tense and -earnest. Never had she seen any grown person so moved and anxious. She -looked at Ben and saw that he shared her own feeling, while Helen’s -face was white with excitement.</p> - -<p>But the assurance of Mr. Seymour’s calm reply steadied the children and -they turned with relief to watch him while he spoke. “Why are you so -sure it was taken during the night? Why not in the afternoon? Much more -likely then, I think, for if it had been lying on this bench all the -afternoon and evening somebody would have noticed it and taken it into -the pantry.”</p> - -<p>Just then Jo came across from the barnyard and stood beside his father, -listening. Ann could tell from his drawn face and wide eyes that he was -as seriously upset as was Mr. Bailey.</p> - -<p>“I’ll admit that I’m puzzled,” said Mr. Seymour, “though your theory, -Bailey, is perfect nonsense.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">127</a></span> Who in the name of reason would have -carried off a great chunk of cheese?”</p> - -<p>“Not one of your hens, I suppose?” asked Mrs. Seymour.</p> - -<p>At that the children laughed, even Jo; the cheese was nearly as big as -a hen. The Seymours all liked cheese, plain and in rarebits, and as -they went to the village for groceries only twice a week Mrs. Seymour -had ordered what might have seemed an overgenerous supply.</p> - -<p>“What have you missed at other times?” asked Mr. Seymour.</p> - -<p>“Milk, first of all,” Fred answered. “I put a pail down in the yard and -turned my back on it a minute to go into the house and when I looked -at it again it was lowered a couple of inches. Next time, they tipped -a pail over and spilled the whole of it. And then they took a piece of -meat—walked off with Jo’s and my Sunday dinner.”</p> - -<p>“Who could have done it?” exclaimed Mrs. Seymour, and Ann felt a shiver -of excitement running down her spinal cord; her thought flashed back to -that shushing noise on the wreck.</p> - -<p>“Who done it?” echoed Mr. Bailey. “That grinnin’ sea demon on the prow -o’ that ship is who done it.”</p> - -<p>“Rubbish, Fred!” Mr. Seymour came out with his flat denial. But he -looked very grave. “I don’t like to believe there is a sneak thief in -the neighborhood; in fact, I can’t believe it.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">128</a></span> -And even gentle Mrs. Seymour was indignant. Her eyes shone with -sympathy as she said, “And these things are too unkind for any one to -have done them with the idea that he was playing a practical joke. Your -Sunday dinner! How mean!”</p> - -<p>“Practical jokes? Sneak thieves?” Mr. Bailey repeated scornfully. “I -told you what’s been troubling everything around here. It’s that devil -figurehead.”</p> - -<p>“Bailey! I never would have thought you capable of such superstition. -It comes from living alone so much, I suppose, and being so close to -the sea and the sky. Are you going to be frightened by the mischief of -some bold rascal of a woodchuck or stray dog? Put the cheese on the -kitchen table, Ben. Before we throw it away I want to examine it and -see whether there are marks of fingers or claws and teeth, to try to -get some clue to who or what has been handling it.”</p> - -<p>“Who or what about says the whole of it,” said Mr. Bailey as he turned -away to go back to his farm work.</p> - -<p>Ann thought that he looked very tired and anxious. Why had that ship -ever come to his shore to worry him? She wished more than ever that she -could do something to solve the mystery; she hoped still to accomplish -what she had promised herself to do, but she was so slow about it!</p> - -<p>“What are you going to do, Jo?” Ben called after him.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">129</a></span> -“Goin’ down to the beach to get a load of small pebbles and sand—want -to come?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, of course I do,” answered Ben, forgetting that half of his time -lately had been given to painting.</p> - -<p>“And I’m coming, too,” called Ann. “Bring three shovels, Ben.”</p> - -<p>“Haven’t but two,” Jo called back, laughing. “You can drive.”</p> - -<p>So down to the beach they went, joggling over the ruts and rocks in the -two-wheeled cart as sensible Jerry plodded steadily along regardless of -the bumping cart behind his heels.</p> - -<p>A great change had come over Ben during these weeks at Pine Ledge. -Instead of the boy who had hardly known whether or not to help carry -the bags at the station that first day, he now took his place beside Jo -and shoveled with him, tossing the shovelfuls of beach sand into the -high cart and keeping pace with Jo. This pleased Ben very much, for -though he could not lift as heavy a load it was only because he was -younger and shorter than Jo; proportionally he was doing exactly the -same amount of work. He did not say anything about it, but Ann noticed, -and so did Jo,</p> - -<p>“Pretty good work,” he said approvingly. “You’re getting up a fine -muscle.”</p> - -<p>In the afternoon great thunderheads of clouds began to climb up -toward the sun and blacken the sky. The Seymours were up in a field -watching<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">130</a></span> Mr. Bailey and Jo as they laid a platform of cement in the -milk house for which the beach gravel had been carried that morning. -Already squalls were sweeping in from the sea in dark and menacing -blots, and to the Baileys this did not promise to be merely a passing -thundershower but an all-night deluge.</p> - -<p>“See the gulls coming in,” said Jo. “They are beginning to notice the -storm, just like I said they would, even before the blow begins.”</p> - -<p>Ben and Ann looked to where Jo was pointing, and sure enough, a -scattering of gulls showed white as they clustered about the mouth of -the river, rising up on spread wings and crying spasmodically with a -plaintive note that sounded almost human.</p> - -<p>“They will ride with the wind that way until they get fed up,” Jo -explained, “and then shift back to the shelter of the swamp pond.” He -looked at the clouds with a speculative eye. “Along about sunset they -should be taking to the pond. We’ll watch carefully and see how they -act, for that will show us, very likely, how heavy the wind will blow -before morning.”</p> - -<p>To Ann and Ben the sky looked as though the storm would break in a -few minutes, for the clouds were black and massed, with a white misty -foam along their edges. But Jo’s prophecy was right. The clouds hung -steadfastly just over the top of the pine forest, as though fixed in -that one spot, moiling and running in layers over themselves but not -advancing. The Seymours kept glancing at the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">131</a></span> sky, for it made the -afternoon seem very strange and threatening.</p> - -<p>But Mr. Bailey’s thoughts could not have been on the approaching storm, -for suddenly he looked up at Ann, who was standing near by, watching -him as he smoothed the cement with gentle unhurried strokes of his -trowel.</p> - -<p>“I’ve been thinkin’ about what your father said this mornin’, kinder -turnin’ it over in my mind. And I don’t know but what he’s right about -that cheese; he was talkin’ to me after dinner an’ he says—an’ he -showed ’em to me—that there’s marks of dog teeth on the cheese. But -there ain’t any stray dog around here; there couldn’t be, without Jo or -me catchin’ sight of it now and then. Maybe it’s a wolf. They’ve been -known to come down from the backwoods, now and again. But that old sea -demon, I don’t like him at all. Ain’t got no use for him. We would all -be better off without him.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t like him,” Ann agreed most readily. “But what can you ever do -to get rid of him before the wreck breaks up?”</p> - -<p>“I’ve made up my mind to fix him,” Fred answered grimly. “I’ll chop him -off the boat and burn him up on the beach.”</p> - -<p>“Oh!” Ann danced gayly in anticipation. “Won’t that be fun! We’ll have -a bonfire and bake potatoes in it. And that will be the end of the old -grinning demon.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">132</a></span> -“And we’ll roast some of our own corn,” Ben chimed in. “Don’t you -suppose, Jo, that we could find a few ears that would be ripe enough?”</p> - -<p>“Shouldn’t wonder,” Jo answered. “Lobsters are mighty good cooked in -the open, too. After the rocks get hot you put the lobsters under a -pile of wet seaweed and steam them. We’d do it to-night only the storm -would open right on top of us.”</p> - -<p>Mr. Bailey squinted up at the western sky. The clouds were weaving in -and out above the tops of the pines. The dropping sun had now tinged -their white edges with a line of yellow fire. The squalls out at sea -had melted together into one great blot of dark shadow relieved here -and there by a bit of foam that showed startlingly white against the -somber blackness.</p> - -<p>“You two had better skite for the house now,” he said. “Jo and I will -hurry and finish this work before the rain comes, and get the critters -under cover. The thunder makes them run the pasture.”</p> - -<p>“The critters” were Jerry, the horse, waiting with the empty cart, and -Maude, the cow, feeding placidly in the pasture near by although she -had more than once looked up at the sky as though she understood what -was coming.</p> - -<p>“Let us take Maude and Jerry,” begged Ann. “We’ll get them into the -shed.”</p> - -<p>“All right,” Mr. Bailey consented. “Only get a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">133</a></span> move on you. After this -long dry spell the storm will be some blow, and don’t you forgit it.”</p> - -<p>Ben chose to bring in Maude, for he loved the slow-moving gentle -creature with her soft brown eyes that always seemed so interested in -him every time he appeared.</p> - -<p>Ann’s job was Jerry. He was as eager as she to get within the four -walls of his shelter. He went briskly down the cart path and into the -barnyard and stopped on the spot where the cart belonged, all without -the need of much guiding from Ann. It was there that Ann’s trouble -began. She didn’t know how to unharness him. She could not discover -which of the big buckles distributed about the harness would free him. -Even after she had unfastened the traces, as she had seen Jo do, Jerry -still stayed firmly fixed between the shafts. He turned his head and -looked at her with patient wonder as if he wanted to know why he was -being kept there.</p> - -<p>Ben, coming in with Maude walking sedately before him, proved to be of -little help. “Jerry sticks there because he is so fat,” he suggested. -“See, the shafts bulge out over his sides. We’ll have to pull him out.”</p> - -<p>But though Ben held the shafts while Ann pulled at Jerry’s head they -had no better success. Whenever Jerry moved forward an inch the cart -came, too.</p> - -<p>Ann knew how Mr. Bailey would laugh if he and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">134</a></span> Jo reached the barnyard -and found that she had been beaten by a buckle. Besides, she had -promised to get Jerry under cover, and into his stall he should go if -it were a possible thing; she was determined to get him there. She -would unbuckle every strap in his harness until she came to the ones -that held him to the cart. So she and Ben began with those nearest, -and some of them were so stiff that they couldn’t have been unfastened -since the harness was bought, goodness knew how many years ago.</p> - -<p>At last Jerry was free. He seemed to know when the right buckle came -undone. He stepped forward and looked at Ann and Ben with an expression -of mild disgust, then he braced himself and had one fine shake, the -harness showering down in dozens of little straps. Again he looked at -the children, as if to say, “Now see what you have done!”</p> - -<p>Without waiting he stalked away to his stall.</p> - -<p>Ann and Ben began to pick up the miscellaneous bits of harness as -fast as they could, but Jo came and caught them before they had quite -finished. He laughed until he was weak as he watched them on their -hands and knees picking up the little pieces. Even Jerry turned around -in his corner and stared with astonished eyes.</p> - -<p>“I’ll give you a good lesson to-morrow,” said Jo, “show you how to put -a set of harness together. The big buckle under his forelegs and the -two straps on the sides wrapped about the shafts were all that you -should have opened.”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">135</a></span></p> - -<div class="figcenter width400"> -<a name="the" id="the"></a> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">136</a></span> -<img src="images/p135.jpg" width="400" height="613" alt="Page 136" /> -<div class="caption"><em>The harness showered down in dozens of little straps.</em></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">137</a></span> -“I didn’t know there were so many straps in the world!” exclaimed Ben. -“And look at Jerry over there. He is laughing at us, too.”</p> - -<p>“We don’t get many city hicks out here, do we, Jerry?” Jo took a sly -nudge as he rubbed the soft nose of the old horse, and Jerry opened his -mouth in a wide bored yawn. “That’s the way to treat ’em,” said Jo. -“Yawn again, a bigger one this time.”</p> - -<p>The Seymours rushed through their supper, for they were eager to see -the first real storm of the season beat against the cliffs. Fred had -promised that there would be gorgeous sights, to-night and all day -to-morrow, and they did not wish to miss a bit more than necessary.</p> - -<p>Mr. Seymour was eager to see the color of sea and sky and rocks and the -struggle of the wind against the water. Ben found the curling, twisting -sea fascinating to watch as the wind closed down beyond the pond rocks. -The gale seemed to have shut them into a wide semicircle, for the tops -of the tallest pines far against the sunset were swaying and bending -gently, while the house and the meadow still stood in the first soft -yellow twilight where not a breath of air moved. It was early yet, for -the Seymours had fallen into country ways and it was hardly six o’clock.</p> - -<p>Jo joined the group as they stood watching the sea. He touched Ann -lightly on the shoulder. “Come over here if you want to see the gulls -now,”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">138</a></span> he said, and Ann went with him to the corner on the kitchen side -of the house.</p> - -<p>Ben followed, for he wished to see the birds. Anything that had -movement interested him enormously, the flight of the gulls as well as -the sweeping onward of the crested waves.</p> - -<p>“How strangely the gulls act!” said Ann.</p> - -<p>Dozens of the great gray birds were poised over the spot where the -children knew that the swamp pond lay circled with great pines. Their -wings were outstretched as they rode the still air and they were -calling in a confused jumble of high-pitched chuckling cries.</p> - -<p>“They ought to light.” Jo’s face was puzzled. “Strange the way they -hang up there. Usually it looks as if they dropped straight down, out -of sight.”</p> - -<p>“Why do they come inland?” asked Ben. “To get out of the wind?”</p> - -<p>“Partly. But they know, same as I do, that the storm will blow the fish -up the river to seek quiet water.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t believe that they mean to settle on the pond to-night,” Ann -ventured after a while.</p> - -<p>“Strange,” said Jo again. “It would almost seem as though something -down there on the pond was keeping them off, but gulls don’t fret about -muskrats. I never have heard of a bobcat around these parts, but it -looks suspicious to see them act in that jumpy way.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">139</a></span> -“Perhaps it’s the same animal that took our cheese,” suggested Ann.</p> - -<p>“Perhaps,” agreed Jo. He dropped his eyes from the poised birds and ran -them thoughtfully along the fringe of the woods where the trees cut -sharply into the growing twilight. Suddenly he caught hold of Ben’s arm.</p> - -<p>“Look! See there!”</p> - -<p>“What?” Ben asked. “I don’t see anything. What do you mean?”</p> - -<p>“Right there alongside of that big pine. Don’t you see the smoke? Some -one has lighted that fire again. It must be just where we found the -embers.”</p> - -<p>As he spoke he began to run down over the meadow in the direction of -the spot from which the smoke rose. Ben and Ann could see it plainly, -now that their attention had been called to it, a thin wisp of smoke -curling above the top of one of the tallest pines.</p> - -<p>“Come on,” said Ann. “I’m going, too.”</p> - -<p>“Sure,” said Ben, and they started to run after Jo.</p> - -<p>“Where are you going?” called Mr. Seymour. “The rain will be here soon.”</p> - -<p>“Jo thinks there is a fire down in the swamp,” Ben answered, “and we -are going to help him put it out.”</p> - -<p>“Well, don’t stay too long. Remember that the rain will be of more use -than you are.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">140</a></span> -“I want to go with them,” said Helen. “Mayn’t I, father?”</p> - -<p>“Take care of her, Ann,” cautioned Mr. Seymour.</p> - -<p>And then the three Seymours ran down the hill to where Jo was waiting -for them in the shadow of the woods, for he had turned to see whether -they were following. He was standing in a spot that was hidden from the -entrance to the path into the woods.</p> - -<p>Vaguely Ann wished that Helen had not come; she was such a little girl.</p> - - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">141</a></span> -</div> - -<div class="figcenter width600"> -<img src="images/p141.jpg" width="600" height="333" alt="Page 141" /> -</div> - -<h2 class="page-break-avoid"><a name="x" id="x"></a>CHAPTER X -<span class="sub"><em>THE FIRE IN THE WOODS</em></span></h2> - - -<p><span class="smcap">Just</span> beyond lay the deer trail that had grown so familiar to them all. -A little fringe of undergrowth to be broken through with the utmost -caution, stooping low to avoid as many branches as possible, and then -they were on the trail in Indian file creeping stealthily toward the -swamp pond with Jo ahead. As they drew nearer they could smell the wood -smoke in the air.</p> - -<p>This was even more exciting than stalking deer, Ann thought, as she -went forward noiselessly, hardly daring to draw a full breath.</p> - -<p>Jo stopped for a whispered conference.</p> - -<p>“As we draw close,” he instructed, “we had better scatter, so the -noise won’t come always from the same direction if we step on twigs or -stumble. And that will give us all a chance to light out and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">142</a></span> make our -getaway if somebody is there by the fire. I’ll take the center. Ben and -Ann swing out on either side of me and Helen had best stay right here -behind me.”</p> - -<p>So the band took the formation that Robin Hood suggested and bore -down upon the fire in a wide semicircle, within sight of one another, -if one knew where to look and peered through the green leaves of the -underbrush. Through the scrub growth and briers, now, they could see -the glow of flames and hear a murmur of men’s voices speaking in low -tones.</p> - -<p>Jo dropped flat on his stomach and pulled Helen down beside him and the -others followed his example. Slowly they crept forward and came to the -edge of the little clearing on the edge of the pond.</p> - -<p>Two men were seated before the crackling sticks of a small fire. Ann -had never seen either of them before. They were dressed in dark blue -wool and she felt sure that the cloth was like the torn piece that Jo -carried constantly in his pocket. Were they sailors from the wreck? And -where had they been all the time since the boat came ashore last winter?</p> - -<p>The nearer man was big. His shaggy hair was tumbled and long on his -bare head and a heavy beard covered the lower part of his face. Ann -knew that he would be an ugly customer, and quieter than ever she lay -motionless under the bushes. The other man was small and lithely thin -like a weasel. He had a weasel’s tiny pale eyes that darted nervously<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">143</a></span> -everywhere while he talked. He was very white with an unnatural pallor -and as the glow of the fire leaped up in his face Ann could see a long -newly healed scar that ran from one eye down across his cheek to his -small receding chin.</p> - -<p>The men were talking in low tones, the big man gruff and hoarse, the -smaller one in a screechy weak whine. At times their voices rose louder -as their argument became intense, and then dropped back into a low -rumble. Finally the small man looked up at the sky.</p> - -<p>“It’s going to be a terrible blow,” he said bitterly.</p> - -<p>“What of it?” demanded the big one. “The darker the night the easier it -will be to take care of that butting-in detective, and no one will be -the wiser. What’s the matter with you, Charlie? Your yeller streak is -comin’ forninst, now that the real job is ahead of us.”</p> - -<p>Charlie’s weasel eyes jumped furtively as he looked into the big man’s -face. “I ain’t no squealer,” he snapped. “You know that. I ain’t the -one to shy off when I can see my way clear. You found me ready enough -with my bit against the captain and the mate. But this guy you’re -planning for now is something different. You can’t knock off men like -him; it doesn’t do any good. Some one else steps into his place and -then they hunt you until they get you.”</p> - -<p>“I ain’t arguing that,” Tom answered soberly.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">144</a></span> “But who is going to -know what happens to one lone man? If he falls off the deck of that -wrecked schooner and hits his head against a rock as the sea washes him -about, who is going to connect us with the accident? That farmer will -bury him alongside the captain and the mate and blame nobody but the -boat itself, blame that figurehead, probably. And you and me will be -living like kings down in Boston.”</p> - -<p>“That sounds first-class,” the other sneered scornfully. “But I been -noticing that things aren’t going quite so much your way as you -expected they would.”</p> - -<p>“What do you mean?” growled Tom.</p> - -<p>“You haven’t found much as yet, have you? You’ve come this far with -your plans, and here you’ve stuck. Find the money, why don’t you? -What’s the use of getting rid of Bain before you get the money that’s -hidden?”</p> - -<p>“He might find it first,” answered the big man.</p> - -<p>Ann heard, but she was too astonished and excited to realize that the -secrets of the wreck were being revealed to her at last. The great -surprise that eclipsed all the others was the news that Warren Bain was -a detective. Had he known everything from first to last?</p> - -<p>But she must listen and learn all she could. This was no time to be -wondering about things; what was Charlie saying? She had missed part of -it already, but he ended with a sneering laugh, “And I noticed that you -ran as fast as I, the minute you<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">145</a></span> heard that noise last night, on the -boat. You didn’t wait to see what made it, did you?”</p> - -<p>In reply the big man muttered something that sounded to Ann like -nothing but a savage roar.</p> - -<p>“I tell you,” said Charlie, “it was that blamed figurehead. Him and -the captain was friends; I seen them talking to each other on many an -evening.”</p> - -<p>“You did not! Maybe the cap’n talked but no wooden figure ever -answered. Come along now, you coward. I’ll admit that Bain scared me -off last night, but now I’m ready for him!”</p> - -<p>“Bain!” echoed Charlie.</p> - -<p>“It was, too, Bain. He was dragging something along the deck to make -that ssush-ssush to scare us.”</p> - -<p>“But it wasn’t Bain,” thought Ann, “because we were watching him.”</p> - -<p>The men had risen and begun to scatter the fire, kicking the burning -wood into the pond. The gulls rose even higher, screaming.</p> - -<p>Under cover of the noise that the men were making Jo and Helen began to -creep slowly backward into the denser shadows. Ann became aware of what -they were doing and she, too, made a successful retreat. She reached -the deer path and stood beside the others.</p> - -<p>Ben, however, was not so lucky. His foot slipped on a stone and he -crashed down into the underbrush.</p> - -<p>Instantly Charlie was after him, while Jo and Ann stood as if -paralyzed. There was nothing that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">146</a></span> they could do to help. Helen, in -agonizing fear and excitement, put both hands over her mouth so that no -sound could escape.</p> - -<p>“It’s a boy,” called Charlie. He had caught Ben’s arm and was pulling -him roughly toward the fire.</p> - -<p>Ann’s courage had come surging back, but Jo leaned toward her and put -his lips close to her ear; he seemed to know that she was going out to -Ben. “Hush! We can’t do a thing now. Wait!”</p> - -<p>Tom yanked Ben by his coat and turned his face toward the light. “What -kid is this? What are you doing here, spying on us?”</p> - -<p>Ann thought that she would have been frightened nearly out of her wits -if that black unshaven face had been so near hers, but Ben drew back as -far as he could and answered bravely.</p> - -<p>“I saw the smoke and came to put out the fire.”</p> - -<p>“Did you come alone?” demanded Tom, giving him a shake. “Don’t you dare -to lie to me!”</p> - -<p>“Yes, I am alone!” answered Ben. “Do you see anybody with me?”</p> - -<p>Ann felt her heart swell with pride. She caught Jo’s hand and squeezed -it and he answered with a like pressure.</p> - -<p>“What are you doing here?” asked Ben in his turn. He took care to shout -it as loudly as possible, knowing well that the men had tried to be -quiet.</p> - -<p>In reply Tom cuffed him sharply. “Be still, there.” The hard-muscled -seaman could hold the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">147</a></span> boy at arm’s length and Ben kicked and struggled -in vain. “What’ll we do with him?”</p> - -<p>“Let him go home,” said Charlie.</p> - -<p>“Go home and tell, and have a batch of farmers chasing down here to -look for us? Not on your life.”</p> - -<p>“What’s he got to tell? We aren’t doing any harm, two men sitting -peacefully in the woods.”</p> - -<p>“You don’t know how much he heard.” And again Tom shook Ben -vindictively.</p> - -<p>Ann had to clench her fingers; how she wished she had a gun! Those -men could be frightened easily. Their conversation had told her how -superstitious they were. Just one shot to scare them off and they would -run like deer. But there wasn’t any gun. The house was so far away. How -could she get word to her father?</p> - -<p>“Tie him up and leave him here. We can stop his noise.”</p> - -<p>But Tom never seemed to care to profit by Charlie’s suggestions. -“What’ll we tie him with? No; we’ll take him along to the boat. I want -to know where to put my hand on him, I do.” He lifted Ben and set him -on the ground again, although Ben made his legs limp as a child does -when it refuses to be led along by the hand. “Stand up there!” ordered -Tom.</p> - -<p>Evidently Ben thought he had better do as he was told. It was easier to -walk than to be dragged through the woods.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">148</a></span> -“You march between me and Charlie, and step along now!”</p> - -<p>Silently the remaining three of the band waited in the shadows until a -moment or two after the bushes had stopped waving behind Charlie’s back -as he, the rear guard, disappeared.</p> - -<p>Helen turned and threw her arms around Ann, seeking comfort. “Ben’s -gone! What will they do to him?” she whispered, even in her distress -remembering to be quiet.</p> - -<p>Ann had no answer. She hugged Helen tight and patted her back as though -her little sister were a kitten, but her own anxiety looked toward the -sturdy, resourceful Jo. “Will they hurt him?”</p> - -<p>“Not if he does as they tell him.” Jo shook his head thoughtfully. “He -seemed to catch on to that and stopped kicking when he found it got -him nowhere. Probably they will take him down to the boat and tie him -somewhere there while they search for the money.”</p> - -<p>“What money is it?” asked Helen.</p> - -<p>“I don’t know any more’n you do. Seems like they thought Bain was -coming there to-night.”</p> - -<p>“Did you hear them say that Bain is a detective?” said Ann excitedly. -“Perhaps he’s there now and can save Ben!”</p> - -<p>“Maybe,” answered Jo. “But we can’t wait on the chance of that; we’ve -got to do something right now.”</p> - -<p>In the shelter of Ann’s arms Helen had stopped<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">149</a></span> sobbing. “They mustn’t -hurt my brother Ben even though he does tease me all the time.”</p> - -<p>“What can we do?” Ann spoke with a small quaver in her voice although -she had grown calm in this real danger.</p> - -<p>“Don’t you worry too much,” Jo assured her stanchly. “Things always -seem worse than they are and we’ll get Ben, don’t you fear!”</p> - -<p>“If only the house wasn’t so far away,” said Ann despairingly. All -possible help seemed so remote.</p> - -<p>“It ain’t more’n a mile,” said Jo. “Now, Helen, you go just as fast as -you can to get pop and Mr. Seymour. Tell pop to bring his gun. And tell -them that Ann and I are going straight to the ship.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, Helen,” cried Ann, “run across the meadow and don’t mind wetting -your feet!”</p> - -<p>“Yes, I’ll go a short cut, right through the brook!” And Helen was off, -following the more direct path by the river, the path by which Jo had -taken them home the first day they saw the deer.</p> - - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">150</a></span> -</div> - - -<h2><a name="xi" id="xi"></a>CHAPTER XI -<span class="sub"><em>THROUGH THE PORTHOLE</em></span></h2> - - -<p><span class="smcap">Jo</span> and Ann dashed across the clearing and down the path that the men -had taken. There was no danger of their being heard, if the men had -kept up the pace at which they started. When the two reached the edge -of the woods they paused a moment or so, to see whether the coast was -clear, but there was not a sound or a trace to indicate that any one -had lately passed that way.</p> - -<p>Night had fallen by that time and Ann was glad of its shelter. She -would not have wished to cross the road and the narrow strip of beach -with an uncomfortable feeling of certainty that she was being watched -from some crack in the warped hull.</p> - -<p>“You stay here,” commanded Jo. “I’m going to take a look around.”</p> - -<p>Obediently Ann settled herself in the deeper darkness under the side -of the boat. There was a gentle rattle as Jo swung himself up into the -irons and then absolute silence, so far as any human sounds came to her -ears. It seemed as though she waited for ages, alone in the dark. There -was plenty of time<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">151</a></span> to think and to worry. Helen must be nearly there -and it wouldn’t take long for father and Mr. Bailey to get started -after they heard the news of Ben’s capture. They must hurry, hurry! -Perhaps she ought to have gone for them, she could run so much faster -than Helen and she surely wasn’t being of much use now, sitting under -the side of the boat! Perhaps Helen had fallen, stepped into a hole in -the turf and broken her leg, so she could not go on for help.</p> - -<p>Something was making a slight noise, something was coming across the -pebbles toward her! She half rose to her feet to meet it—and then she -saw that it was Jo cautiously creeping along, bent almost double in his -efforts not to be seen from the deck of the schooner.</p> - -<p>“I found Ben,” he whispered. “I know where he is—in the hold. He ought -to be about here, behind where you are sitting.”</p> - -<p>“Did he see you?”</p> - -<p>“No. And I didn’t see him, but there isn’t any other place for them to -hide him. You both know the Code, don’t you? You let him know that we -are here while I get the ladder.”</p> - -<p>It seemed a slight chance to Ann. But Jo was certain that Ben was there -and so Ann began to tap against the plank nearest her right hand. It -sounded fearfully loud in the stillness and she could only hope that -the thunder of the waves and the rattle of the pebbles as each wave -receded might<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">152</a></span> keep the men from hearing. It seemed to her almost too -great a risk to run. But if Jo told her to rap, rap she would.</p> - -<p>“Ben! We are here!”</p> - -<p>Three times she tapped it out and then the SOS signal. Each time she -listened and received no reply.</p> - -<p>And at last an answer came, clear, but fainter than the taps she had -given. “OK, OK, OK.”</p> - -<p>That was enough; she was not taking any unnecessary risks. As softly as -possible she went to join Jo.</p> - -<p>He had hoisted the ladder already and climbed up, and he motioned to -her to follow. In another minute Ann was looking through the porthole -of the captain’s cabin.</p> - -<p>She wouldn’t have thought of speaking in any case but Jo’s finger on -his lips cautioned her to be quiet as possible. As she stepped on to -the ladder with her eyes lifted toward the porthole she realized that -there must be a light in the room and when she could see over the rim -she was not surprised to find the two men hard at their search.</p> - -<p>Tom was running a knife through the cracks and crevices of the berth. -Not a sound could be heard except his heavy breathing, and Charlie -stood close by, watching.</p> - -<p>“I tell yer it ain’t there,” said Charlie as Tom straightened his back -at last and stood glowering at the berth.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">153</a></span> -“It’s—” And then Tom stopped, giving every thought and attention to a -strained listening. “Hist!”</p> - -<p>Charlie heard it, too, whatever it was, but Ann could catch no faintest -echo. Was the ssushing sound coming?</p> - -<p>Suddenly the light went out and with utter darkness came perfect -silence in the cabin. Ann wished that she could keep her heart from -beating so loud. It seemed as though the thuds must be noisy enough to -be heard by the men below. But this complete silence did not last long. -Suddenly came the sound of thuds and blows, and light came again.</p> - -<p>Warren Bain was stretched out on the cabin floor, unconscious. Tom was -glaring angrily at the man whom he had knocked down. “He’ll come back, -all right. Gimme some blanket strips to tie him fast.”</p> - -<p>Charlie scurried to the berth and with his knife ripped one of the -blankets into strips and with these Tom began to tie Bain’s arms and -legs.</p> - -<p>Ann had no time to think; things were happening too fast.</p> - -<p>First Tom tied Bain’s ankles together, then used another strip for his -wrists, and then tied the two together using a peculiar slip knot that -seemed to tie the tighter the more it was strained.</p> - -<p>“Now you”—and Tom swung about toward Charlie with a suddenness that so -startled Ann that she nearly fell off the ladder—“you rout out them -blankets and tear the berth to bits and I’ll take care<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">154</a></span> of the floor. -There’s a secret hiding hole in here somewheres and the money is in it.”</p> - -<p>Charlie obediently threw the remaining blankets and the mattress and -pillow into a pile outside the cabin door and began to wrench and tear -at the boards. But apparently he was not convinced of the value of -what he was doing. “What makes you so sure the cash is down here?” he -snapped.</p> - -<p>“Captain Jim had it on him when the men started rioting, up forward,” -Tom answered. “He came down here to the cabin to hide it, I reckon. Why -else did he come down? And after he was on deck again he went no place -but overboard.”</p> - -<p>“And he put three good men there, before him,” commented Charlie dryly. -He seemed to have a wholesome respect and fear of the captain, even now.</p> - -<p>“Any one of ’em was a better man than three of you!” Tom growled. He -had taken a short iron from his pocket and now began to pry up big -pieces of floor boards.</p> - -<p>Jo touched Ann’s shoulder to call her attention to Warren Bain. He was -stretched just within the circle of light cast by Tom’s torch and Ann -saw at once that he had regained consciousness. Not only that, but as -she looked down into his open eyes he stared straight up into hers. He -smiled slightly, but instantly his face became expressionless as Tom -turned in his work.</p> - -<p>But he was not quick enough. Tom caught the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">155</a></span> flicker of Bain’s eyelids. -The sailor dropped his iron and stood upright over the detective. -“None of that faking!” And he kicked the bound man in the side. “You -ransacked this place and we want what you found!”</p> - -<p>To Ann’s amazement Bain opened his eyes and answered, “Yes, I found it. -What are you going to do about it?”</p> - -<p>Tom seemed as much surprised as Ann and for a moment he gaped stupidly -down into Bain’s face.</p> - -<p>“There is not a thing you can do,” Bain went on. “Kill me if you like -but the secret of the money goes with me—Tom Minor.”</p> - -<p>Charlie leaped to his feet with a cry of terror. “He knows us! Knock -him off, Tom, knock him off! He’ll tell on us.”</p> - -<p>“Not until we get what we’ve come for,” answered Tom, with one shove of -his hand pushing Charlie back into the wrecked berth. “There is ways of -making people tell secrets.”</p> - -<p>Into Ann’s mind came all the tales of days gone by when men were -tortured and put on the rack; historical tales were her great love in -reading, Crockett and Scott and the others. What were she and Jo going -to do to save Warren Bain? Run to the house? There wasn’t time for that -to be of the slightest use. Her father and Mr. Bailey should be here -now.</p> - -<p>Ann had no idea how long it was since Helen had left them. She knew -well enough that it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">156</a></span> could not be as long as it seemed, but surely it -wouldn’t have taken Helen more than half an hour to get home. Half an -hour, and then five minutes for Mr. Bailey to get his gun—Ann was sure -that her father hadn’t one—and then ten minutes across the sloping -field from the house. But all those minutes had seemed like an hour -each, with all the excitement and all the happenings. Help would come -in a minute, but it seemed as though time had stopped. Anything could -be done in a minute, and no one was there but Jo and herself.</p> - -<p>All at once she knew. The strange noise! It had frightened the men last -night; she had heard Tom admit it, she had heard Charlie taunt Tom with -his fear of it.</p> - -<p>“Jo!” She hardly breathed the words. “Get two sticks, two dry sticks!” -He could go more silently than she; pebbles seemed never to rattle -under his feet.</p> - -<p>Jo did not stop to ask why. Down the ladder he went while Ann tried to -press more firmly against the hull of the ship, so that no sound of a -ladder bumping against the planks of the side could be noticed by the -men. It was only now that Ann realized that the storm had come at last. -The rain was pouring in torrents and she was wet through.</p> - -<p>Jo came back with several small rough branches from the hedge beside -the road where they kept the ladder hidden. Taking one branch from him -Ann reached out as far as possible along the side<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">157</a></span> of the wreck and -rubbed it harshly against the boards. She tried to make it sound like -the weird haunting shuffle, a noise that there was no danger of her -forgetting as long as she lived.</p> - -<p>Sussh—she rubbed the branch away to the length of her arm and the wet -leaves on the little twigs added to the effect that she hoped to give. -Sussh, she went, making it hard and scraping, then sussh, she pulled it -back with a slight rasp.</p> - -<p>She was afraid to peek into the porthole, for surely the men would be -looking in the direction from which the noise came. But she could hear -what they said.</p> - -<p>Charlie gave a squeal of fright. “There it is!” he cried.</p> - -<p>“That devil figurehead!”</p> - -<p>“The captain’s sent him after us!” Charlie’s voice rose in a shrill -yelp.</p> - -<p>It was impossible to hold her hand steady, but she kept on with scrape -after scrape as rhythmic as that dread sound she had heard on the first -day they visited the ship.</p> - -<p>“Put the table against the door, Charlie,” ordered Tom.</p> - -<p>“You can’t keep him out with that,” Charlie shouted. “That table would -have been just kindling wood to Cap’n Jim and it won’t be even that -much to the figurehead. I’m going!”</p> - -<p>“Hands up!”</p> - -<p>Heads up, too, for it was Mr. Seymour’s voice<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">158</a></span> and instantaneously Jo’s -and Ann’s eyes came level with the porthole.</p> - -<p>In the doorway stood Mr. Seymour with a shotgun in his hands and behind -him, his lean face grimly set, Mr. Bailey stood with a long rifle held -above Mr. Seymour’s shoulder. The shadows in the cabin were strange, -for Tom and Charlie had dropped their torches as they raised their -hands and all the light in the room came from the two circles on the -floor. Warren Bain, still trussed like a fowl, had been shoved into a -corner.</p> - -<p>“Where are the children?”</p> - -<p>Ann could hardly believe that it was her father’s voice that said those -words, so changed it was from the voice she knew.</p> - -<p>“Here we are!” she called.</p> - - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">159</a></span> -</div> - - -<h2><a name="xii" id="xii"></a>CHAPTER XII -<span class="sub"><em>THE FIGUREHEAD’S SECRET</em></span></h2> - - -<p>“<span class="smcap">Gee</span>, this is a terrible storm, for the summer-time,” exclaimed Jo as -they reached the deck.</p> - -<p>He and Ann had been sheltered by the great hull of the schooner, for -the wind and rain were driving from the direction of the sea, but now -they felt its full force. The sweeping blasts almost carried Ann off -her feet. A steady sheet of rain was sweeping across the bare deck and -hissing out through the scuppers. She had to lean against the storm as -she pushed her way to the ladder that led below.</p> - -<p>“Ann!” her father cried at sight of her. “Are you all right? Where’s -Ben?” He held her tightly, as if he wanted to make sure that his -daughter was once more safe beside him.</p> - -<p>“Ben’s down in the hold. Oh, dad! I thought you’d never get here! I -won’t try to solve another mystery without telling you beforehand.”</p> - -<p>“‘Mystery’?” repeated Mr. Seymour. “Why are you children here? I -thought that you went to put out a fire in the woods.” In spite of -his relief at seeing Ann unharmed he kept his gun<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">160</a></span> pointed in a very -businesslike manner. “Who are these men? And who is this, tied up?”</p> - -<p>“That chap is Warren Bain,” said Mr. Bailey. “He’s been hanging around -the cove all season. No one knows aught of him.”</p> - -<p>“He’s a detective!” announced Ann in great excitement.</p> - -<p>“You’d better fasten those two before you do much talking,” advised -Bain dryly, speaking for the first time. “In my coat pocket, Bailey.”</p> - -<p>A bit doubtingly Mr. Bailey put his hand into Bain’s pocket and took -out two pairs of handcuffs. Finding them there seemed to assure him of -the truth of Ann’s statement and his manner was quite different as he -snapped them around the wrists of Tom and Charlie. Ann and Jo, and Mr. -Seymour, too, never had seen that done and for the moment all their -attention was given to that grim proceeding.</p> - -<p>Then, “Where’s Ben?” Mr. Seymour asked again.</p> - -<p>“In the hold,” answered Jo, “and I guess we’d better be getting him -out. He’ll be pretty cold and wet.”</p> - -<p>Mr. Bailey had cut the strips of blanket that bound Warren Bain, and -now the detective stood on his two feet again, stretching his aching -arms and legs and back. “Boy in the hold,” he said. “I was wondering -where the third one of you was keeping himself. Well, with the tide -that there’s likely to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">161</a></span> be to-night, it is lucky we can get him up -before the hold is half full of water.”</p> - -<p>“You’re right,” said Mr. Bailey. “We don’t often get such a storm as -this in summer. It’s a hummer, all right. Can you take care of these -fellers alone?”</p> - -<p>“Just watch me,” answered Bain, bringing out his automatic.</p> - -<p>The heavy driving rain had settled to a drumming downpour. The sea -seemed to be flattened under the weight of it, to be spreading out like -a pond when the water rises. The tide had turned and the waves were -breaking nearer and nearer the stern of the wreck.</p> - -<p>They reached the open hatchway and Mr. Seymour called, “Ben?”</p> - -<p>“Hey, there!” The boy’s voice came faint but cheerful. “Have you really -come at last? I thought a week had gone by!”</p> - -<p>“We’ll have you out in a jiffy,” shouted Jo. “Come on up, the coast is -clear.”</p> - -<p>“I can’t,” answered Ben. “The ladder’s broken and I can’t reach high -enough.”</p> - -<p>Mr. Bailey and Mr. Seymour looked anxiously about. “Any rope?” asked -Mr. Bailey. The bare rain-swept deck offered nothing.</p> - -<p>“Get our ladder!” exclaimed Ann, and Jo dashed after it.</p> - -<p>That, dropped down to the bottom of the hold<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">162</a></span> and placed against the -ship’s ladder, enabled Ben to climb to safety.</p> - -<p>“Did they hurt you, my son?” asked Mr. Seymour, his hand on Ben’s -shoulder.</p> - -<p>“Oh, they banged me around a bit—a few black and blue spots, I -suppose, but nothing permanent. What’s been happening, Jo? Tell a -feller, quick!”</p> - -<p>“We all want to know,” said Mr. Bailey. “What’s been goin’ on here, -anyway?”</p> - -<p>“Those men were robbing the ship—” began Ann.</p> - -<p>“Of what?” demanded her father.</p> - -<p>“That’s what we don’t know, exactly,” said Ann.</p> - -<p>“I don’t believe that anybody knows the whole of it,” Jo said. “Let’s -go back to the cabin; each person can tell what he does know and we can -piece it all together.”</p> - -<p>“Great idea,” said Mr. Seymour.</p> - -<p>They found Warren Bain grinning sardonically at his two captives.</p> - -<p>“Well, I swan!” said Bailey. “An’ you’ve been laying by this wreck all -these weeks, and no one had any notion of what you were here for. We -thought you was a-buttin’ in on our lobster fields.”</p> - -<p>“I thought that was how you folks figured; you didn’t act any too -welcoming. But I’d be some sleuth if I went telling my business to -every Tom, Dick, and Harry. I have to count on a little unpopularity -once in a while. Yes, we knew the boat as soon as we came here and -looked her over. She was just the boat we expected she would be. A<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">163</a></span> -government cutter had been trying to pick her up before the blizzard -came down.”</p> - -<p>“Then she wasn’t a phantom ship at all,” Ann remarked. And her -disappointment must have shown in her voice, because her father and -Warren Bain seemed to think that was one of the funniest things they -ever had heard. But was all that excitement and anxiety over nothing -but an ordinary boat that had been wrecked in a perfectly natural way?</p> - -<p>Bain went on with his story.</p> - -<p>“She ran under the name of <em>The Shadow</em> although she carried no name, -and her owner, Jim Rand, captained her. She carried a crew of five men -besides himself and she ran a good trade, smuggling Italian silk and -Indian spices into the North Atlantic harbors. She wasn’t hard to pick -up because of that figurehead, but Rand wouldn’t give it up. It was -his mascot and the crew believed that he talked things over with that -wooden image. Rand was a clever one. This boat was stopped many a time, -but when the men from the government cutter climbed aboard to examine -her they never found anything. She seemed to be running empty. We never -found a cargo and consequently we never could pin anything on Rand.”</p> - -<p>“Well, you got it on him now,” Fred said heartily. “Which one o’ these -is Rand?”</p> - -<p>“Neither one,” and Warren sounded contemptuous. “Rand was a lawbreaker -but he wasn’t like either of these two low-down thieves and murderers<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">164</a></span> -here. Rand is up in your burying ground. You put him there with the -mate and two of the crew.”</p> - -<p>“So, one o’ those was the captain, hey?” Fred rubbed his chin -thoughtfully. “Well—I guess he’s glad to be resting in the ground.”</p> - -<p>“He made the worst mistake of his life when he shipped these two,” went -on Bain, “both of them with criminal records, although he didn’t know -it. Of course he couldn’t expect to get too high-class sailors for his -business, but those he’d had were harmless, at least. As near as I can -make out from what Tom tells me, Rand had just sold a cargo of silk -in Boston and for some reason or other refused to divide the cash the -minute the crew wanted it. So they mutinied, on the advice of these two -jail birds. The captain went overboard, but he accounted for three of -the crew before he went. Tom and Charlie hid on the wreck until after -you searched her”—he nodded to Fred—“and then they blew for shore to -wait until the excitement cooled down and our hero Charlie was tucked -into jail, somewhere upcountry, for taking a lady’s pocket-book while -he was stealing her chickens.”</p> - -<p>They all turned to look at Charlie, who acted very sheepish. Ann had a -suspicion that his shame came from having been caught, rather than from -the actual crime. So that was why his face had that queer pallor.</p> - -<p>“They were hidin’ on the boat when we came on?” Mr. Bailey demanded -incredulously. “We<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">165</a></span> looked her over well; there weren’t a cubic inch in -her that we didn’t see.”</p> - -<p>Charlie snickered and Tom growled, but both sounds gave Ann to -understand very clearly that Tom and Charlie knew things about that -boat that would be forever hidden from Mr. Bailey.</p> - -<p>“It wasn’t strange you didn’t find them,” said Bain, “if our government -inspectors couldn’t find where the men had tucked away whole cargoes.”</p> - -<p>“Well, God was good to the whole of us, that is all I have to say.” And -Mr. Bailey gripped his rifle tighter as he looked at the two captives. -Sailors they were not; they were just two criminals who had gone to sea -for a time.</p> - -<p>“So that was why you felt as if some one was there!” exclaimed Ben. -“They were peeking at you, and you didn’t know it!”</p> - -<p>Tom must have been on the boat the day she and Jo so strongly felt -that impression of eyes upon them, thought Ann, and shivered as she -thought it. Anything might have happened if Tom had chosen to come out -and frighten them. Her mother had been right, after all, when she had -worried about their playing on the wreck.</p> - -<p>“And we peeked at you, Mr. Bain, when you didn’t know it,” Ben went on. -“Will you tell us, please, what you meant when you said, ‘Stay there, -babies, and wait for me.’”</p> - -<p>“Yes!” cried Ann. “What was in the closet? We couldn’t find anything -there.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">166</a></span> -Warren Bain looked at Ann and Jo with a wide smile. “You kids were on -the job all right, weren’t you! So you saw me at that! Well, I’ll show -you something pretty.”</p> - -<p>Tom had wrenched the closet door from its hinges and now Bain took -it in his hands. “This panel looks exactly like the others, but it -actually is a sliding panel that goes back like this.” Under Bain’s -fingers the thin board slid back and revealed a space filled with -papers closely covered with writing. “These are Jim’s bills of lading; -I tell you, he knew how to hide his stuff.” Bain put the door down and -looked at Tom and Charlie. “Even after he was dead you couldn’t beat -him. You were foolish to try.”</p> - -<p>Charlie nodded his head miserably, but Tom did not deign to acknowledge -that he had heard.</p> - -<p>“As you children are so interested,” Bain continued, “it won’t do any -harm to let you see the whole of it. Do you want to see where Rand hid -the money?”</p> - -<p>“You’d better believe we do!” exclaimed Jo.</p> - -<p>Even Tom showed signs of excitement at this, although any chance of his -getting any of that money had vanished, money for which he had thrown -away all freedom for the rest of his life.</p> - -<p>“It is just where Rand left it,” said Bain, “double safe and out of -his cabin. I knew that Tom was around because the blankets here were -shifted.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">167</a></span> -“But it wasn’t Tom,” Ann said quite defiantly. “We did it, to see if -they were being used.”</p> - -<p>“H-u-mm—” said Bain.</p> - -<p>“And you aren’t solving any of our mysteries,” Ann went on. “You’re -clearing things up for the sailors and Mr. Bailey, but I want to know -what made the noise that frightened us, and frightened you, too, last -night.”</p> - -<p>“That’s true,” admitted Bain. He rumpled the hair on his head, knocking -his cap sidewise. “And I knew that you must have heard it, some time -or other, when you used it just now to scare the men away from me.” He -looked at Mr. Seymour. “You haven’t heard the half of it yet. These -children had the wit to imitate this strange noise in order to frighten -these gentlemen away from trying to make me tell where to find Rand’s -money. The scheme would have worked, too; Charlie’s nerve was gone and -Tom’s was growing weak. Our Charlie was half paralyzed with fright when -you came. That’s why you held them up so easily.”</p> - -<p>Ann and her father exchanged a glance; she was glad he knew without her -telling of her splendid idea. It might have sounded like boasting. And -to have her father proud of her was one of the things Ann most desired.</p> - -<p>“When we were watching them by their camp fire I heard them say that -the noise frightened them,” she explained modestly.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">168</a></span> -“What made the noise?” inquired Mr. Seymour.</p> - -<p>“Nobody kn—” began Ben, but Charlie interrupted him.</p> - -<p>“That blasted figurehead makes it, coming to scare folks away from the -captain’s money. I told you, Tom Minor, that no good would come from -signing on a ship with that figurehead.”</p> - -<p>“Do you suppose the figurehead really walked about?” asked Jo, his -confidence shaken by Charlie’s firm belief. “The sound was just like -scaly feet rubbing over the deck boards.”</p> - -<p>Instead of laughing at him, Bain was considerate enough of the boy’s -feelings to answer soberly, “No, I can’t think that. But it is a queer -noise, I’ll admit that much. You see, the other night I thought it -was made by the men, so it didn’t occur to me to attribute it to the -figurehead.”</p> - -<p>“And who took Mr. Bailey’s milk and our cheese?” asked Ben.</p> - -<p>“Foodstuff stolen from your place?” inquired Bain of Mr. Bailey.</p> - -<p>“I never touched a crumb of it!” denied Tom. “Don’t you say I did. -Everything I ate I bought! Don’t you dare say I stole your milk!” He -glared at Mr. Bailey.</p> - -<p>“Yes,” said Mr. Bailey, “enough was stolen so it wasn’t safe to leave -anything about; but nothin’ else ever was took.”</p> - -<p>“That’s curious,” commented Bain thoughtfully. “Well, who is coming to -see where Rand hid the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">169</a></span> treasure? How about it, Bailey? Will you stay -down here to guard the prisoners and let these young people have the -first look?”</p> - -<p>“Sure,” Fred answered, and settled himself on the broken edge of the -captain’s berth.</p> - -<p>“It makes me laugh,” said Jo as he crossed the deck with the others, -“to think of pop holding a gun on them down in the cabin!”</p> - -<p>They had left the lantern with the men below but Bain’s torch carried -ample light. It gave Ann a thrill to think that she should be crossing -the deck with a moving light. How often she had looked toward the wreck -before she climbed into bed, hoping to see a pin prick of yellow there -as she had seen it on the night she arrived at the Bailey house! And -now that the light was here she was here with it! Not she, but her -mother, was looking at it from the house windows, looking out through -the rain and wondering what was happening down here.</p> - -<p>She wondered where Bain could be taking them, and then she realized -that they were headed straight for the demon figure.</p> - -<p>Bain strode up to it and flashed his light over its grotesque outlines. -He looked back over his shoulder to the Seymours and laughed. “Jim Rand -knew his best friend aboard this boat.”</p> - -<p>Reaching forward he thrust his hand into the mouth of the figurehead, -fumbling and stretching to the end of his reach, and when he brought -his hand back it held a huge roll of paper money.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">170</a></span> -“All in hundreds” he explained. “A pretty good haul for Uncle Sam. I -never found it until to-night! And it was a lucky thing that I left -them where they were before I went down to the cabin.”</p> - -<p>“Oh—may I touch them?” asked Ann with a shiver of excitement.</p> - -<p>Bain handed them to her. “Take them, if you like.” And to Mr. Seymour -he said, “I’ll be glad to get that safely into some one else’s care.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t doubt it,” replied Mr. Seymour. “Hold them tight, daughter; we -can’t have the wind blowing any of it away.”</p> - -<p>Ben and Jo crowded around, and the three children looked at the money -with silent awe. Suddenly the sharp-eared Jo lifted his head. Then they -all heard.</p> - -<p>Again that sound! Sussh-sussh, sussh-sussh.</p> - -<p>“It’s the money,” Jo exclaimed. “He’s after the money.”</p> - -<p>The shuffle did not waver this time nor did it stop. It came steadily -down the deck toward them although whatever made the noise was veiled -by the storm. Warren Bain snatched the bills from Ann’s paralyzed hands -and dropped them into his pocket.</p> - -<p>The sound was very near the group by the figurehead when it stopped.</p> - - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">171</a></span> -</div> - - -<h2><a name="xiii" id="xiii"></a>CHAPTER XIII -<span class="sub"><em>A REASON FOR EVERYTHING</em></span></h2> - - -<p><span class="smcap">Ann</span> was most dreadfully afraid, but her feelings were not in the least -like those when she heard the noise last night. She had no sense of -panic, no desire to run away. Her father was here now and she would -stand by him, come what might. He wasn’t running. Neither were Ben and -Jo. The three children stood as firm as the two men.</p> - -<p>Without warning, Bain shut off his light, for they stood in its circle -of brightness while anything beyond its rim was invisible in the -darkness of the stormy night. Suddenly he flashed it on again.</p> - -<p>A big black dog was there.</p> - -<p>His teeth were bared and he was crouched to spring.</p> - -<p>Jo was the first to recover. He knew dogs and he saw at the first -glance that this one was more terrified by their presence on the boat -than he and Ann and Ben had been by the strange noise. He walked -steadily toward the animal, reaching quietly into his pocket.</p> - -<p>What was he going to do? Ann was afraid that anything he could do -wouldn’t be enough. The dog<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">172</a></span> would spring and then— Why didn’t Warren -Bain shoot?</p> - -<p>But Jo knew what he was doing. Out of his pocket he took two or three -crackers. “Come, boy,” he said gently. “So-o-o-o, puppy, it’s time to -eat.”</p> - -<p>The dog snarled but Jo paid no attention to threats or growls; he put -the crackers in a small pile on the deck and backed slowly away. The -dog drew nearer by one stealthy step and sniffed suspiciously toward -Jo’s offering. Then he slunk forward within reach of it and crunched it -ravenously.</p> - -<p>“Want some more?” Jo reached again into his pocket and the dog wagged -his tail.</p> - -<p>“He is starved!” Mr. Seymour at last found his voice. “That dog has -been without proper food for weeks.”</p> - -<p>Bain looked at the gaunt wild-eyed creature whose ribs showed plainly -under his shaggy matted coat. “He is that,” he agreed. “I shouldn’t -wonder if he isn’t the answer to Bailey’s stolen milk and your cheese. -He must have come in with the boat and hung around here ever since.”</p> - -<p>To think that noise was made by a dog as it slunk across the deck! Even -though Ann had seen and heard at the same instant she could hardly -credit her senses. A dog? Robin Hood’s band had been utterly routed -by a starving dog? Never again would she run from anything unless she -actually saw with her own eyes that there was need<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">173</a></span> of fear. She looked -at Ben and in spite of the rain streaming down his face she could -see that his thoughts were very much like her own. They hadn’t been -cowards, exactly, and those men down below had been frightened, too, -but nevertheless she was ashamed of herself.</p> - -<p>The noise of the breakers had risen until now it was a roar; it was -hard to talk against the combined crashes of storm and gale and sea. -And it was high time to seek better shelter than the wreck afforded.</p> - -<p>When they returned to the cabin to relieve Fred and to get Bain’s -captives the dog hung close to Jo’s heels and could not be persuaded -to leave him for an instant. The dog followed at his heels down the -companionway and stood behind him in the passage outside the cabin.</p> - -<p>“Ready?” asked Bain. “Come along now, men. We’ll be moving along to -where you can stay awhile without being disturbed. A fine evening for a -stroll of three or four miles.”</p> - -<p>But Tom did not move. “If you want me, get me up,” he growled.</p> - -<p>At sound of his voice came a scratching of paws in the passage and -through the doorway leaped the dog, making straight for him. Jo sprang -as quickly and seized the shaggy coat of his new friend. And in the -meantime Tom had scrambled to his feet without any more argument.</p> - -<p>“Captain Jim’s dog,” Charlie crowed with shrill<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">174</a></span> laughter. “He -remembers you all right, Tom. You forgot to heave him overboard with -the rest of ’em!”</p> - -<p>Under Fred’s vigilant gun the men were herded up the ladder and across -to the side of the ship. The rain still poured ceaselessly and the -wind blew in gusts that pierced Ann’s wet clothes and made her shiver. -But she was not too uncomfortable and tired to lose her desire to know -every detail of what had happened on the wreck.</p> - -<p>“There’s one thing you haven’t told us,” she said to Bain. “What was it -that you found in the leg of the table?”</p> - -<p>“You children had better be trained to be first-class detectives. There -wasn’t much you didn’t see last night, I should say. Well, it won’t do -any harm to tell you and I think you deserve to know. The papers were -a sort of log that Rand kept; told where he got his cargoes and how he -disposed of them and for how much. It is much more important than the -money, to the government.”</p> - -<p>Ann hadn’t thought of that; of course, a man who was willing to buy -smuggled goods was exactly as dishonest as the person who sold them. -It made it seem to her as though Captain Rand wasn’t quite as—as—— -She didn’t like to say “bad” even to herself, for surely a man couldn’t -be really bad if he had made his dog so fond of him that the dog had -rather starve than go away from the place where he’d last seen his -master.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">175</a></span> -As they left the wreck Warren Bain flashed his torch into the face -of the figurehead, high above them as they stood on the beach. The -light shone straight up into the huge ugly face and, to Ann, the demon -still grinned with its eyes looking far out and away, as though it -saw something they couldn’t see and knew a great deal more than human -beings ever could know. Suddenly Ann wished that she might never have -to see that demon again. His work was done; he had taken care of the -captain’s money, and now was there any use of his staying there to -frighten people? Perhaps to-morrow Mr. Bailey would carry out his -intention of burning him with an accompaniment of lobsters and corn and -roast potatoes. What a wonderful plan that was, because then she would -remember that glorious picnic and let that memory offset some of her -other recollections of the figurehead!</p> - -<p>Ben was the last to leave the boat and when he landed from his jump he -was wet to the knees by a swift unexpected sweep of undertow from the -rising tide. He ran clear of the water, but the next wave, chasing him, -met him around the bow of the boat. Not that a little fresh wetness -mattered to a soaked-to-the-skin Ben; the interest lay in the fact that -the Seymours never had seen the water so high on the beach.</p> - -<p>Fred Bailey had offered to lend Jerry to Bain so that he could drive -his prisoners to the village instead of having to walk all that -distance in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">176</a></span> stormy night and Bailey had offered, too, to go with -him.</p> - -<p>Jo went ahead to hitch Jerry for the trip. “Shall I tell Mrs. Seymour -that everything is all right?” he asked.</p> - -<p>“Thank you, Jo, yes,” said Mr. Seymour. “Just call out to her as you go -by and let her know that we are coming.”</p> - -<p>Away went Jo, with the black dog at his heels.</p> - -<p>“Jo’s found a new friend,” said Warren Bain with a smile.</p> - -<p>“Jo!” called Ann, for she had just remembered. “Has Jerry another -harness?”</p> - -<p>“Sure!”</p> - -<p>When they reached the house door Jerry stood waiting for his load while -Jo talked with Helen and Mrs. Seymour, who, in raincoats, were standing -on the porch.</p> - -<p>“You haven’t told mother everything before we came?” asked Ann, greatly -disappointed that such exciting news should be told without her having -been there to share the thrill.</p> - -<p>Jo shook his head, the reliable Jo who could be counted on to do the -right thing. “No, marm, I didn’t tell,” he answered gayly. “That’s your -job, not mine. I was only saying that you were all right, and Mrs. -Seymour is mighty hard to convince. I had to say that all of you were -safe, all of you together, and then each one separately.”</p> - -<p>But Mrs. Seymour was not ready to smile, even<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">177</a></span> yet. Her face was pale -and her eyes widened as she saw Tom and Charlie slouch handcuffed -into the light that spread from the door in a wide semicircle of -welcome through the driving rain. As she realized her mother’s anxiety -Ann dashed across the intervening space and flung herself into the -outstretched arms.</p> - -<p>Ben followed, and for an instant no one of the three spoke.</p> - -<p>After Fred and Warren Bain had driven away they all sat around the fire -to tell the story. Like powwowing Indians in blankets and bathrobes -they sat before the snapping black stove, the storm shut outside.</p> - -<p>Jo had turned red man with the rest and was bundled in one of Mr. -Seymour’s big wool robes, his thick hair on end and his blue eyes -dancing with excitement and happiness. The dog lay at his feet.</p> - -<p>“And now,” said Mr. Seymour, “what are you children going to do with -the wealth that the capture of these men will bring you?”</p> - -<p>“I didn’t know there was going to be any,” answered Jo in astonishment, -and Ann and Ben, and Helen, too, pricked up their ears. “Gee! Money?” -said Ben.</p> - -<p>“Bain insists that he never could have got the men if it hadn’t been -for the way you two worked on their superstitious fears, and he says -that he is going to share the reward. What will you do with it? There’s -something practical for you to think about<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">178</a></span> and change your line of -thought before we all go to bed.”</p> - -<p>Ben put his hand on his father’s knee. “You know what I want more than -anything else in the world,” he said, with his fascinated eyes resting -on the finished portrait of Jo that Mr. Seymour had set against the -wall only a day or two before. “If I could only learn to paint! Would -there be enough money for me to do that?”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know, Ben. It will be only a few hundred at most, after it is -divided, and you understand, of course, that we aren’t going to let -Mr. Bain rob himself more than seems absolutely necessary to him. But -you’ll go on painting at home for a long time yet and if we put your -share away it will have grown before you are ready to use it. It will -help a great deal, anyway.”</p> - -<p>“What about you, Jo?” asked Mrs. Seymour gently. It seemed as though -the farm boy had suddenly grown lonely as new plans began to be talked -over. “Have you any idea about what you wish to do with your share?”</p> - -<p>“I have always wanted to go to a bigger school than we have here,” Jo -answered slowly, “but pop never seemed to be able to get ahead enough -to send me and hire help in my place. Perhaps he might be able to -manage without me for a while now.”</p> - -<p>“Father!” exclaimed Ann. She had not said anything about her own plans; -it seemed as if everybody<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">179</a></span> ought to know what she would do with her -money, she had wanted one thing for such a long time. Any share given -to her would go toward her western ranch; five minutes ago she wouldn’t -have supposed that any other use of it would be possible. But now she -knew differently. “Father! I am going to lend mine to Jo, to make his -last longer.”</p> - -<p>Mr. Seymour looked at Jo. “Will you accept Ann’s offer?” he asked.</p> - -<p>The boy was dazed; it took him a moment to answer. “I don’t rightly -know why she should do that for me,” he said finally, “but I do think -kindly of her for being so generous.”</p> - -<p>“I want to do it, Jo! Why shouldn’t I? Think of all you have done for -us this summer. And besides that, if we are going to have a ranch -together sometime, one of us will really have to know something. I am -sure I couldn’t learn how to add or subtract any better than I do now.”</p> - -<p>At last they all trooped to bed and slept soundly. Now that the haunted -ship had become a solved puzzle each one of them had his own new dream.</p> - -<p>The next morning broke clear and bright. The rain of the night had -painted the grass a new green, the sky was cloudless. The sun woke Ann -and she dressed hurriedly.</p> - -<p>What a glorious day! She peered out of the window, glad that she was -alive.</p> - -<p>Something out there was different. What?</p> - -<p>Then she saw Jo coming from the barn.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">180</a></span> -“I thought you’d never wake up,” he shouted excitedly. “Do you see -what’s happened? The wreck’s gone!”</p> - -<p>“The wreck?” repeated Ann.</p> - -<p>“It went adrift in the storm last night.”</p> - -<p>Quickly Ann climbed through the window that she might see better. It -was true. The beach at the foot of the sloping meadow was bare. And as -far as the eye could see there was no sign of a boat on land or ocean.</p> - -<p>“I’m glad! I’m glad!” she cried. “I didn’t want that old demon to stare -at us all of the time.”</p> - -<p>“Well, he won’t stare no more,” answered Jo. “He’s gone to Davy Jones’ -locker, where all good sailormen go.”</p> - - - - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -</div> -<div class="tn"> -<p class="center"><a name="Transcribers_Note" id="Transcribers_Note">Transcriber’s Note:</a></p> - -<p class="noi">Punctuation has been standardised. Spelling and hyphenation have been -retained as in the original publication.</p> -</div> - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Haunted Ship, by Kate Tucker - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HAUNTED SHIP *** - -***** This file should be named 50794-h.htm or 50794-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/0/7/9/50794/ - -Produced by Stephen Hutcheson, Dave Morgan, Rod Crawford -and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at -http://www.pgdp.net - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part -of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm -concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, -and may not be used if you charge for the eBooks, unless you receive -specific permission. If you do not charge anything for copies of this -eBook, complying with the rules is very easy. You may use this eBook -for nearly any purpose such as creation of derivative works, reports, -performances and research. They may be modified and printed and given -away--you may do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks -not protected by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the -trademark license, especially commercial redistribution. - -START: FULL LICENSE - -THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE -PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK - -To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free -distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work -(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project -Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full -Project Gutenberg-tm License available with this file or online at -www.gutenberg.org/license. - -Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works - -1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to -and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property -(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all -the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or -destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your -possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a -Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound -by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the -person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph -1.E.8. - -1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be -used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who -agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few -things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See -paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this -agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below. - -1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the -Foundation" or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection -of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual -works in the collection are in the public domain in the United -States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the -United States and you are located in the United States, we do not -claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing, -displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as -all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope -that you will support the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting -free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm -works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the -Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with the work. You can easily -comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the -same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg-tm License when -you share it without charge with others. - -1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern -what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are -in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, -check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this -agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, -distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any -other Project Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no -representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any -country outside the United States. - -1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: - -1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other -immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear -prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work -on which the phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the -phrase "Project Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, -performed, viewed, copied or distributed: - - This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and - most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no - restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it - under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this - eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the - United States, you'll have to check the laws of the country where you - are located before using this ebook. - -1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is -derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not -contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the -copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in -the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are -redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase "Project -Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply -either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or -obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg-tm -trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted -with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution -must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any -additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms -will be linked to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works -posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the -beginning of this work. - -1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm -License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this -work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. - -1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this -electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without -prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with -active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project -Gutenberg-tm License. - -1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, -compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including -any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access -to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format -other than "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official -version posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site -(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense -to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means -of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original "Plain -Vanilla ASCII" or other form. Any alternate format must include the -full Project Gutenberg-tm License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. - -1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, -performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works -unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing -access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -provided that - -* You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from - the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method - you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed - to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he has - agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid - within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are - legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty - payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in - Section 4, "Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg - Literary Archive Foundation." - -* You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies - you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he - does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm - License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all - copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue - all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg-tm - works. - -* You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of - any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the - electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of - receipt of the work. - -* You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free - distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. - -1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work or group of works on different terms than -are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing -from both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and The -Project Gutenberg Trademark LLC, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm -trademark. Contact the Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. - -1.F. - -1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable -effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread -works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project -Gutenberg-tm collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may -contain "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate -or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other -intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or -other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or -cannot be read by your equipment. - -1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right -of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project -Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all -liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal -fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT -LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE -PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE -TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE -LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR -INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH -DAMAGE. - -1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a -defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can -receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a -written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you -received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium -with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you -with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in -lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person -or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second -opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If -the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing -without further opportunities to fix the problem. - -1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth -in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO -OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT -LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. - -1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied -warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of -damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement -violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the -agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or -limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or -unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the -remaining provisions. - -1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the -trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone -providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in -accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the -production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, -including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of -the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this -or any Project Gutenberg-tm work, (b) alteration, modification, or -additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any -Defect you cause. - -Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm - -Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of -electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of -computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It -exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations -from people in all walks of life. - -Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the -assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's -goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will -remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure -and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future -generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see -Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at -www.gutenberg.org - - - -Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation - -The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit -501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the -state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal -Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification -number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by -U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. - -The Foundation's principal office is in Fairbanks, Alaska, with the -mailing address: PO Box 750175, Fairbanks, AK 99775, but its -volunteers and employees are scattered throughout numerous -locations. Its business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, Salt -Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up to -date contact information can be found at the Foundation's web site and -official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact - -For additional contact information: - - Dr. Gregory B. Newby - Chief Executive and Director - gbnewby@pglaf.org - -Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg -Literary Archive Foundation - -Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide -spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of -increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be -freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest -array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations -($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt -status with the IRS. - -The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating -charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United -States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a -considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up -with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations -where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND -DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular -state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate - -While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we -have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition -against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who -approach us with offers to donate. - -International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make -any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from -outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. - -Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation -methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other -ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To -donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate - -Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. - -Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project -Gutenberg-tm concept of a library of electronic works that could be -freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and -distributed Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of -volunteer support. - -Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed -editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in -the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not -necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper -edition. - -Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search -facility: www.gutenberg.org - -This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, -including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to -subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. - - - -</pre> - -</body> -</html> diff --git a/old/50794-h/images/colophon.jpg b/old/50794-h/images/colophon.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 7b90fa4..0000000 --- a/old/50794-h/images/colophon.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/50794-h/images/cover.jpg b/old/50794-h/images/cover.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 1f37f7b..0000000 --- a/old/50794-h/images/cover.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/50794-h/images/frontis.jpg b/old/50794-h/images/frontis.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 2734a53..0000000 --- a/old/50794-h/images/frontis.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/50794-h/images/p1.jpg b/old/50794-h/images/p1.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index b5e293d..0000000 --- a/old/50794-h/images/p1.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/50794-h/images/p109.png b/old/50794-h/images/p109.png Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 5a9f0fa..0000000 --- a/old/50794-h/images/p109.png +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/50794-h/images/p135.jpg b/old/50794-h/images/p135.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index ff94a53..0000000 --- a/old/50794-h/images/p135.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/50794-h/images/p141.jpg b/old/50794-h/images/p141.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 813e580..0000000 --- a/old/50794-h/images/p141.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/50794-h/images/p15.jpg b/old/50794-h/images/p15.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 8593343..0000000 --- a/old/50794-h/images/p15.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/50794-h/images/p53.jpg b/old/50794-h/images/p53.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index a77c8fb..0000000 --- a/old/50794-h/images/p53.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/50794-h/images/p61.jpg b/old/50794-h/images/p61.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index dd8916a..0000000 --- a/old/50794-h/images/p61.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/50794-h/images/title.jpg b/old/50794-h/images/title.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 868d942..0000000 --- a/old/50794-h/images/title.jpg +++ /dev/null |
