Aboard the Hylow on Sable Island bank

XVIII. • •

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• iii

ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE

Leaving Sable Island Frontispiece

How Long Have You Been There? . . . . 44 ✓

The Dory Struck Amidships, Throwing the Cook and

His Two Assistants into the Water , , . 106 ^ Captain Ben in Search op the Missing Dory * . 196 ^ The Hylow in Bad Weather 338

V

ABOARD THE “HYLOW” ON SABLE ISLAND BANK.

Chapter I. Dwtrict Messenger One-one-four

Tim Jones should have gone directly back to the office after delivering the message, and no one was better aware of such fact than Tim himself. It was well known among the corps of district messengers at the station on Exchange Street that No. 114 could never resist the temptation, when in pursuance of duty he found himself on one of the piers, and many times had the manager distinctly told him that unless he reformed in this respect his services would be dispensed witji regardless of the commercial interests of the city.

Tim Jones had not entered the employ of the Western Union Telegraph Company with any idea

ABOARD THE HYLOW.

of distinguishing himself in that particular field of labor. It had become necessary, so his mother declared, that he earn something toward the support of the family, and she had been very emphatic in her refusal to allow him to become a sailor.

Tim’s one desire was to ship, in whatsoever capacity might be possible, on one of the many vessels sailing from Portland; given his choice he would have preferred to have become a fisherman ; failing in an advantageous opening in that career, he was willing to join any vessel, believing firmly that he was destined by nature to become one of the most skilful, daring, and successful ship-masters known in history.

However, Tim’s mother stood between him and his great ambition, and, as has been said, whenever his duties as district messenger carried him to the water front of the city, he spent much more time in admiring the fishermen, coasters, and yachts, than the rules of the office permitted.

Now all this is by way of explanation as to how Tim Jones chanced to be on Custom-House wharf at nine o’clock in the morning on the fifth day of last May, having delivered a message to Messrs. Leavitt & Bangs, dealers in fish, fully half an hour before the moment when he began to play a part in this story.

Tim had been spending the time, which rightfully belonged to the telegraph company, in inspecting a new addition to the fishing fleet which lay alongside the pier near the office he had visited. In order to satisfy himself thoroughly regarding this new craft, it seemed necessary he should gain a point of view on the opposite side of a large number of casks which had been tiered up as if to be put on board this particular vessel which had attracted his attention. Almost any other lad would have walked around the obstruction ; but Master Jones was ever ready to show his agility, believing it his one strong recommendation in case he should ever be so fortunate as to ship as a sailor, and therefore clambered directly over the top.

In so doing he discovered, much to his surprise, in a space which had been left by the awkward stowing of the casks, a lad apparently about his own age, who seemed to be in hiding there.

“ Hello,” said Tim, coming to a full stop with the air of one who is not pressed for time. “ Who sent you below so early in the morning.? ”

The stranger looked up as if in alarm, but made no reply, and Tim clambered down among the casks until standing face to face with this fellow who to his mind was acting so oddly. Then, deliberately taking a newspaper from his pocket, he folded it carefully, saying half to himself:

ABOARD THE HYLOW.

“ I ’m a duffer if you ain’t the very fellow ! ”

‘‘ Have they got it in there ? ” the stranger asked with every evidence of alarm.

“ True as you live. I was readin’ it this mornin’, an’ thinkin’ what a mighty lucky kid you was.”

“ Did they send you to hunt for me ”

“ Of course they did n’t. I don’t go ’round huntin’ for folks. I ’m Messenger One-one-four, an’ came down here on business ; but of course the steamship people are goin’ to stop you if they can. Mike Ahearn told me it was a mighty serious thing for them to lose a fellow like you. There was a man here last winter who got away, an’ I don’t know how many hundred dollars the company had to pay ’cause he skipped.”

“ Did they catch him.^ ” the stranger asked eagerly.

“ I did n’t ask Mike about that ; but see here, why would n’t they let you land ? ”

“ Don’t it tell in the paper.? ”

‘‘ Perhaps it does. I did n’t have time to read it over more ’n once.”

“ Look an’ see. It may be I ain’t the fellow you think I am.”

Tim looked carefully over the paper, passing the end of a much soiled finger down each column until having found that which he sought, and then, with no slight difficulty, for Master Jones was not a highly educated lad, he read the following, spelling out the long words and giving to others a pronunciation which would not have been recognized by ordinary students :

“Another Case of Deportation.

“ When the steamship Levonia arrived yesterday morning there was among her passengers a boy of fifteen years old or thereabouts who, if his story be true, is in a sad plight. His name is Seth Garland, and he claims to have been born in Meredith, New Hampshire. According to his story, his father died two years ago, and his mother, an English woman, took him with her to Liverpool where her parents reside. Two months ago Joshua Garland, the lad’s uncle, visited the old country, and then decided, with the consent of the mother, to legally adopt the lad Seth, intending to bring him home — but where, the boy is unable to say.

“ Now it seems, and in this portion of the story the purser of the Levonia bears out the lad’s statement, Joshua Garland secured second-cabin passage on the Levonia for himself and his nephew, paying for the tickets several days in advance of the day of sailing. These passengers came aboard the steamer two hours before the advertised time for departure, and, so the boy says, Mr. Garland left him in their cabin, stating that it was his purpose to go ashore to transact some business near by the dock. Certain it is he went ashore, and equally certain that he failed to return ; but whether by accident or intention it is impossible to say. The stand which the Immigration Commissioners take is that the uncle intended to abandon the boy, although that seems hardly probable inasmuch as he paid for two tickets when he might equally as well have purchased only one. However that may be, when the Levonia arrived the boy was detained, and, in fact, there was nothing else which could well be done since he was penniless and had no idea as to where his uncle lived.

“ Communication was at once opened with the authorities at Meredith, where young Garland said he was born, but no person of that name is residing there. The result is that the steamship company will be forced to hold the lad during the stay of the Levonia in port, and then take him back to Liverpool.”

“Yes, that ’s me — I ’m Seth Garland,” the stranger said when Tim ceased reading. “ They ’re goin’ to send me back, when I know my Uncle Joshua will come over on the very next steamer he can catch, for he told mother he had considerable money, an’ was willin’ to give me a chance to make my way in the world.”

“ If they ’re goin’ to send you back, how does it happen you ’re sneakin’ in here among these barrels? ” Tim asked as he rubbed his nose reflectively. “ I thought when a fellow was n’t allowed to land in this country, the folks what owned the steamer had to look after him mighty sharp else they ’d get into trouble with the President.”

“ They locked me up in the cabin last night, an’ said I had to go back. Would n’t even let me go on the dock ; but it was no kind of a trick to get the door opened with this,” and Seth took from his pocket a horseshoe nail which had been bent to form a picklock. I crept out before daylight this mornin’, an’ did n’t know where to go. Must have walked much as an hour when I brought up here. Of course when the sun came up I had to hide somewhere. Am I very far from the steamer?”

“ Well, I reckon you could walk down to her dock in three minutes, an’ not hump yourself very much at that.”

‘‘ I thought I must be miles an’ miles away from her!”

‘‘ Well, say, a fellow that can get mixed up in a little old burg like this can’t have done much travellin.’ Why, I could go ’round it with my eyes shut.”

“ Perhaps you could n’t if it was the first time you was ever in the town,” Seth said mournfully, and

ABOARD THE HYLOW.

then ensued a time of silence during which Tim stroked his chin as he gazed almost enviously at this lad who, without having committed any offence against the laws of the country, was actually fleeing from the officers of the law.

“ Well, you ’ve got off so far,” Tim said finally, “ an’ now what ’re you go in’ to do ? ”

“ That ’s just what I don’t know. I won’t go back to Liverpool if I can help it, ’cause Uncle Joshua will be cornin’ over mighty soon, an’ if I could get a letter from mother she ’d tell me where he lives.”

“ Got any money ? ”

“Not a penny.”

“ I don’t reckon you had any breakfast, seein’ as how you lighted out from the steamer so early.”

“ I can go hungry a good long spell rather than let them take me back. Say, can’t you tell me where is a good chance to hide.^ ”

Tim studied over the matter before replying, and then it was as if a happy thought came to him, for he cried suddenly:

“ Say, it strikes me you ’ve got the chance of your life ! I ’d give a pile if I had it ; this vessel layin’ right in sight of you is the Hylow, an’ she ’s a corker! Captain Ben Willard built her for a fisherman, an’ I heard them say, back there in the office.

that she was likely to leave between now an’ to-morrow mornin’. These barrels are goin’ aboard her. They ’re filled with bait. Now it ’d be the easiest thing in the world to sneak on board her an’ get into the hold. I ’ll bet you great big money they ’d never find you, an’ if it was n’t for mother I ’d go partners with you; but no, I ’ve got to hang ’round here an’ be One-one-four for four dollars a week, when I might start in as a fisherman an’ be somebody.”

“ What kind of a man is this Ben Willard.^ ” Seth asked, as if he was seriously considering the suggestion.

‘VWho? Captain Ben.? Why, he’s a dandy! He ’ll bring back more fish than any other man that goes to the Banks, an’ his vessels don’t lay at anchor waitin’ for a crew, I can tell you. By jimminy! I wish I was you ! ”

“ I wish you was,” Seth said with a long-drawn sigh. “ If you think it ’s any fun to have to go back to England, where mother’s just about as poor as poor can be, when you had a chance to live with your Uncle Joshua, it ’s a pity you can’t have a piece of it.”

‘‘ Well, go off on the Hylow, an’ by the time you get back your Uncle Joshua ’ll be here. I ’ll keep my eye out for him.”

ABOARD THE HYLOW.

“ How long do you suppose I ’ll have to hide in the hold before I can get out again?”

“ Well, if they have any kind of weather it can’t be more ’n two or three days. Look here, Seth,” and now Tim assumed a business-like tone as if he had mapped out the entire scheme in his mind. “ If you go fishin’ of course you ’ll make lots of money, ’cause they tell me that Captain Ben takes his men on shares. Now I ain’t so terribly well heeled; but I know mother ’d be willin’ to have me help you out of the scrape, an’ I ’ll do it. I ’ll go back to the office, an’ tell them that I ’m terrible sick, then I ’ll snoop ’round to get somethin’ for you to eat. If there ’s a chance, sneak right down into the hold. You don’t want to loaf ’round here any, ’cause there ’s no tellin’ when the officers of the steamer ’ll be lookin’ for you, an’ the crew ’ll more ’n likely put these casks aboard in a little while. I ’ll find you out wherever you are, an’ fix you up for the voyage. Then when you come back, it ’ll be a case of payin’ me off.”

“ I ’ll do it too,” Seth said earnestly. “ The very first money I can earn shall be yours if you ’ll only help me now.”

“ I ’ll do what I can, but you ’ve got to wiggle quite a bit yourself, old man, ’cause it ain’t no slouch of a scrape you ’re in. Now remember what I told you, an’ get into the hold just as quick as you can. I ’ll be back before night.”

Then Master Jones set off in the direction of Exchange Street, and if any of his business associates had chanced to see him at that time they would have been decidedly surprised, if not alarmed, because of the rapid progress he made through the streets.

It is to be regretted that Tim Jones did not look upon a wrong story such as he intended telling the manager in a very serious light; he allowed that the end justified the means, and had a vague idea that a lie was not a lie until it had been found out.

“ I suppose you will have to get off if you are sick,” the manager of the office said when Tim, in a faltering voice, had said that he was suddenly “ took bad ” ; “ but I ’ve got my eye on you. One-one-four, and have had it there since your grandmother was ill and needed you for a nurse. We ’ll give you a chance to loaf if you put up many more games.”

“ Who ’s a-puttin’ up games ? ” Tim asked indignantly. “ Do you think jest ’cause I ’ve hired out for four dollars a week I ain’t got the right to have an ache in my stomach ? ”

“ Go on, and see to it that you are back here at six o’clock to-morrow morning.”

Tim obeyed, walking feebly as if his strength had already forsaken him, until having turned the corner

ABOARD THE HYLOW.

into the alley, when he set off at full speed for his home on Kennebec Street, arriving there, heated and breathless, much to the surprise of his mother.

In his eagerness to tell the story quickly he lost no little time, for she was forced to ask many questions in order to get at a thorough understanding of the situation, and very serious did the good woman look after having gathered all the supposed facts.

“ Of course I ain’t sayin’ a thing against your helpin’ a poor lad what ’s in trouble, Timmy, for that ’s your duty in this world, as I look at it ; but I ’m thinkin’ you had better wait till your father comes home, an’ we ’ll see what he has to say.”

“ What ’s the need of waitin’ for him.? ” Tim asked impatiently. “ He won’t be here till twelve o’clock, an’ before that time the folks from the steamship company may gobble up Seth.”

“ I ’m not so certain, Timmy, but that you ’d be gettin’ yourself into trouble by doing this thing. The officers might put you in jail for helping a boy run away like that.”

“ Now see here. Mother, don’t let anything of that kind worry you. I can waltz ’round any policeman in this town. Who ’ll know I ’m helpin’ him ? I ’m goin’ to do it on the sneak, an’ it’ll be a good job too! I made thirty cents this momin’ outside of my week’s pay. Do you think that ’ll buy bologna

DISTRICT MESSENGER ONE-ONE-FOUR. IS enough for him to eat while the Hylow is gettin’ out to sea? ”

“ Thirty cents’ worth of bologna would go a good ways toward stayin’ even a growin’ boy’s appetite,” Mrs. Jones replied thoughtfully, forgetting her fear that Tim might get into difficulty with the officers of the law by thus aiding the fugitive. “ I can spare him quite a bit of bread an’ butter, an’ doughnuts, so you can put your money into hearty food.”

^‘All right,” Tim replied as if he was doing his mother a favor by thus allowing her to assist him, when, as a matter of fact, the one great reason why he had told the story was that he believed she would propose to add something to the stowaway’s outfit. “ I wish you ’d hump yourself, ’cause Seth can’t stay out there on the dock very long.”

“ But what about tellin’ your father, Timmy ? ”

“ What ’s the use of bangin’ ’round here to do that? You can give him the whole yarn when he comes home, an’ perhaps I ’ll be back by that time. Anyway, it won’t do to wait a great while.”

Mrs. Jones’s sympathies had been aroused by the story which her son told regarding Seth Garland, therefore because of such fact she put aside the possibilities suggested by prudence, and set about making ready a fairly generous store of food.

Tim was too much excited to remain silent while u his mother was working; from his point of view the lad who would thus be forced to stow away on board a fishing vessel was one of this world’s fortunates, and again and again did he reiterate the wish that he might be permitted to join Seth in his somewhat desperate undertaking.

“ I ’m not allowin’ but that a fisherman’s callin’ is an honest one,” Mrs. Jones said as she spread a generous amount of butter upon the overly thick slices of bread. ‘‘ The trouble with sailors generally is that they ’re a shiftless lot, an’ as much as your heart is set on goin’ to sea, I can’t bear the thought of it. Your father an’ I are hopin’ you ’ll get into some business ashore where you can become a prosperous man.”

“Don’t you call Cap’n Ben a prosperous man.?* ” Tim interrupted.

“ Why, certainly ; but then he owns three or four vessels, an’ is master of one of them.”

“ Well, how do you suppose he got there.? Workin’ in a telegraph office for four dollars a week.? He had to go to sea same as other fellows did. I bet he ain’t shiftless when he comes ashore! Look here. Mother, Mike Aheam’s brother Bob earned a hundred an’ sixty dollars last year on the Banks, an’ he ’s gettin’ a better lay this season with Captain Ben. Mike pays he ’ll make three or four hundred dollars if the

Hylow comes back with a full fare. While he ’s doin’ that I ’ll be just nothin’ but One-one-four, gettin’ about enough to pay for my uniforms and shoes.”

“ It ’s no use to talk, it ’s no use. I won’t allow you to go as a sailor, leastways, until you ’re older.”

Then, as if realizing for the first time that Tim was at home during working hours, she asked suddenly:

“ How is it you ’re out of the office ? ”

“ Well, you see. Mother, I did n’t feel very well in the first place, ’cause the sun ’s mighty hot when a fellow ’s runnin’ ’round town. Then again, I had to help Seth, an’ I could n’t do it if I stuck to my job.”

“ So you ’ll lose nearly a full day’s pay? ”

“ Well, I will if they ’re mean enough to hold it out when a fellow ’s sick, an’ I should n’t think they ’d do that ! ”

At this moment Mrs. Jones, having made ready the store of food for the stowaway, came to understand that her son had told an untruth in order to assist the friendless lad who was hiding among the casks of bait on Custom-House wharf. As a matter of course it was her duty to read the boy a lesson on the subject of honest speaking, and this she began to do very earnestly, almost tearfully, but Master Tim was in far too much of a hurry to listen just then.

“ You ’ll have to wait till I get back. Mother, indeed you will. After I ’ve fixed Seth so he ’s all right, I ’ll come home an’ you shall have it out ; but I don’t think it ’s so bad to say I was sick, as to let them carry that poor fellow to Liverpool when he could go fishin’ with Cap’n Ben Willard.”

Tim had gained possession of the package of food while speaking, and before his mother could make reply left the house at full speed, literally trembling with apprehension lest the lad who the Immigration Commissioners had decided must be deported was already a prisoner again.

His fears were increased rather than diminished when, arriving at the pier, he foimd the crew of the Hylow already putting aboard the casks of bait, and Seth nowhere in sight. To his mind it would have been in the highest degree imprudent to ask boldly if any one had seen a stray lad in the vicinity, and yet it was necessary he should know as soon as might be whether Seth had succeeded in gaining the schooner’s hold.

While he stood there irresolutely, gazing at the beautiful little vessel with a desire to go on board of her plainly written on his face, the master of the Hylow came down the dock. Tim was not personally acquainted with this tall, thin man, whose browned face told of exposure to sun and storm, and who wore an expression of satisfaction with the world in general and himself in particular ; but he had met him many times, and always with the hope that the most successful sailor out of Portland might become so impressed with his abilities as to offer him a berth aboard one of his vessels.

Rouse that bait in there lively, boys, there ’s no time for sogerin’ with this wind ! You need n’t try to make very snug storage, for if the luck holds we ’ll soon have them casks unheaded.”

Then the captain went on toward his office farther down the pier, and Tim understood that if he was to search for Seth now was the opportunity to gain permission.

“ Can I go aboard your vessel, sir ? ” he cried, running along by the side of the tall man in order to attract his attention.

“Want to see the Hylow, eh.? All right, lad, go aboard, but don’t get into mischief, an’ have a care not to meddle with what don’t concern you.”

Tim turned back, and was over the rail in a twinkling, coming to a stand by the combing of the hatchway.

No more than four or five casks yet remained to be taken aboard when, at a favorable opportunity, he scrambled down by aid of the fall and tackle, holding the store of food so tightly under one arm that the bread and doughnuts must have been pressed into a comparatively solid mass.

What ’re you doin’ down here, kid ? ” a familiar voice cried as he scrambled over the casks, and when his eyes had become somewhat accustomed to the gloom of the hold, Tim uttered a cry of delight as he recognized Bob Ahearn, the brother of his friend.

“ Cap’n Ben said I might look at the Hylow,^* Tim replied, feeling positive he would not be sent ashore immediately, and Bob Ahearn, more intent on his work than upon the visitor, said gruffly:

‘‘ Goin’ into the hold of a schooner is a queer way of lookin’ at her, but everybody to his taste. Move lively, lad, and see that you don’t get a tumble.”

Chapter II. In Hiding

The hold of the Hylow was broken at the bow by a small cuddy which served as the cook’s quarters, and aft was the cabin, or living quarters of the crew. Both of these compartments were shut off from the hold by a stout bulkhead. The casks of bait, barrels of salt, and of water, made up all of the cargo which the Hylow was to take from port. The provisions were stored in what in larger vessels would be called the lazaret, meaning that space between the floor of the after-cabin and the skin of the vessel.

Therefore it was that Tim Jones would have little difficulty in ascertaining the whereabouts of Seth Garland, if so be that lad had not already been carried back to the Levoniay but he could not loiter around in the hold as if searching while Bob Ahearn and his mate were stowing the casks, lest they should suspect his purpose.

Still pressing the package of food tightly under his arm, he went forward and aft in an aimless way, clambering over the casks and barrels as if bent on ascertaining the condition of the ship’s timbers, until, fortunately, as it seemed, some one on the pier called to Ahearn, and his helper followed him on deck, leaving Master Jones alone in the hold.

Now was come his time, and believing it would be limited he moved quickly around, calling in a cautious tone the name of the boy he was so eager to befriend.

At the very moment when Tim had come to believe that the officers of the law had captured the lad, he saw dimly, in the gloom of the after part of the hold, a small figure rise up from amid the tier of water-casks, and his search was at an end.

“ I ’ve got some stuff here that mother sent,” Tim began hurriedly in a whisper, “ an’ I ’m goin’ to spend thirty cents on bologna. I ’d bought it on my way down, but I was n’t certain whether you had kept out of sight of the steamship folks, so did n’t want to take the chance of wastin’ the money. I ’ll go right back for it as soon as I see how you ’re fixed.”

Seth was not ‘‘ fixed ” in any very sumptuous manner. He had plunged himself into the first vacant space which promised to afford a hiding place, and this chanced to be very much the same as that on the pier — a small space between two of the casks and the bulkhead of the after-cabin.

“ Well, this is what I call pretty snug,” Tim said as he dropped over by the side of his friend, and so

IN HIDING.

small was the aperture that, when the two lads had stooped down to hide themselves from view of any who might come through the hatchway, they completely filled up the space. “No matter how much she may roll an’ pitch you can’t be knocked about a great deal.”

“ Do you suppose I ’ll have to stay here very long.? ” Seth asked anxiously, for he had already come to understand that this place was altogether too “ snug ” for comfort.

“ Well, I reckon it can’t be more ’n two or three days if they have fair wind. You see she ’s got to run down to the Banks before they take the hatches I off, an’ it won’t do for you to let on you ’re here till they ’ve got to the fishing grounds.”

“Where ’ll I sleep?”

“ Oh, there ’s plenty of chance for that. It would n’t be a bad bed right here on these barrels. You see it ain’t like as if the Hylow had a full cargo, for you ’ve got all the room a fellow could want. I wish I was goin’ with you ! ”

Just then the boys were startled by what sounded like a heavy blow on the deck, and at the same instant the hold was shrouded in darkness.

“ What has happened ? ” Seth cried in alarm, and Tim replied in a matter-of-fact tone: