The Outdoor Chums on the Gulf written by Captain Quincy Allen
C >>
Captain Quincy Allen >> The Outdoor Chums on the Gulf
Pages:
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 THE OUTDOOR CHUMS ON THE GULF
Or, Rescuing the Lost Balloonists
by
CAPTAIN QUINCY ALLEN
Author of _The Outdoor Chums_, _The Outdoor Chums on the Lake_,
_The Outdoor Chums after Big Game_, etc.
1911
CONTENTS
I UNDER SEALED ORDERS
II CAUGHT IN A FIRE TRAP
III HEADED SOUTH
IV JERRY MEETS TROUBLE HALF WAY
V THE FIRST CAMPFIRE
VI THE SWAMP FUGITIVE
VII A FLORIDA SHERIFF
VIII WILL DOES IT
IX THE MOTOR-BOAT AND THE PROWLERS
X BLUFF'S FIRST 'GATOR
XI ALL THE COMFORTS OF SALT WATER
XII THE BREAKDOWN OF THE MOTOR
XIII LOST IN THE FOG
XIV A CRY ACROSS THE LAGOON
XV A VISIT TO THE MYSTERIOUS SHARPIE
XVI JOE
XVII STUCK ON AN OYSTER BAR
XVIII TROUBLE
XIX WHAT HAPPENED TO JERRY
XX LYING IN AMBUSH FOR BIG GAME
XXI A STRENUOUS NIGHT
XXII THE MESSAGE FROM THE AIR
XXIII A DASH UPON THE GULF
XXIV THE "NORTHER"
XXV THE SECRET OF THE SEALED PACKET--CONCLUSION
CHAPTER I
UNDER SEALED ORDERS
"Now KEEP your word, Frank, and tell us the news!"
"Yes, you got us to come to your house tonight under a promise, remember.
What wonderful thing has happened to make you look so tickled?"
"Talk to me about the Sphinx! Frank has the old relic beaten to a
frazzle!"
Three boys gathered eagerly around the fourth as they bombarded him after
this fashion. Frank Langdon looked at the faces of his chums and laughed
again.
"Well, it would be a shame to keep you squirming on the anxious seat any
longer, boys, and I'm going to take you into my confidence just as fast
as I can. Sit down and hold your oars. Jerry, pull that stool up; Will,
the settee must do for you and Bluff. Now, are you ready?" he asked,
tantalizingly.
"Crazy to hear!" was the characteristic reply of Bluff, otherwise Richard
Masters, son of Centerville's greatest lawyer.
"Tell me about that, will you?" exclaimed Jerry Wallington.
"Please go on before we explode!" begged Will Milton.
"These things always have a beginning, you know. This one happens
to be founded on the fact that we are close to our annual Christmas
vacation, and that this year it happens that we're going to enjoy
two full weeks--you know that?" said Frank.
"Of course we do, thanks to that steam-heater getting out of order. But
don't rehash old stuff. That's history by now. What we want is the meat
in the cocoanut. Please hit for the bull's-eye, first chop," pleaded
Will.
"I was wondering what we would do with ourselves during that time.
There's old Jesse Wilcox, the trapper, who invited us up to spend a
week with him and see how he runs out his string of traps in cold
weather, catching muskrats, mink, 'coons, foxes and all such things in
more or less abundance. We had about decided that we would accept, and I
was even getting ready to go when something happened."
"Talk to me about your tantalizing chaps, did you ever meet up with one
as bad as Frank can be when he knows the rest of us are so keen to hear?"
cried Jerry.
"What was it?" demanded Bluff.
"I had a letter that changed my mind," replied Frank.
"Not from old Jesse?"
"Well, hardly, for I don't believe the old fellow can write. This was
from one of my cousins, a fellow several years older than myself. You met
him about a year ago when he stopped with us a few days."
"You must mean Archie Dunn," said Will.
"Go up head, Will. Archie it was. I was glad enough to get a letter from
him, but when I read what he had to propose I thought I should have a
fit."
"Just as we will, unless you hurry your yarn," growled Jerry, moving
uneasily.
"Well, Archie wrote that he had laid out a plan for his amusement this
winter. You know he is independent, having come into quite a snug
fortune. He is as fond of outdoor life as any member of this club, and,
having a tutor to accompany him, is able to do lots of splendid stunts
that less fortunate chaps can only dream about."
"The lucky dog!" commented Bluff, enviously.
"It seems that this year he was about to carry out a long-cherished plan
of his. He purchased a beautiful little motor-boat, about twenty-seven
feet long, and carrying a twelve horse-power engine. He says she can make
twelve miles an hour if pushed, but being beamy she is as steady as a
church floor and mighty comfortable; just the kind of a craft for
cruising along a river or the bays of a coast."
Jerry groaned.
"You're killing me by inches! To tell us all this and then ask us to
settle on going up there into the woods for a two-weeks' spin! It's a
crime, that's what!" he exclaimed.
"Wait!" said Frank, mysteriously; and the others immediately drew a bit
closer, almost holding their very breath with eagerness and anticipation.
"He had this boat taken to a Southern town on the railroad, where a
navigable river flows through Northern Florida into the Gulf. Here he
also shipped all his provisions, intending to make a start just before
Christmas, when the unexpected happened. He had an accident--broke
through the ice when skating, came near being drowned, and has been laid
up with pneumonia ever since!"
"Poor chap! That's awful!" declared Bluff.
"But that isn't the worst by any means, from our standpoint, boys. His
doctor has strictly forbidden him to take that voyage this winter and is
sending him off with his tutor to some baths in Southern Europe or some
old place where he may recover his strength."
The three boys groaned in concert.
"A rough deal all around," said Jerry.
"What a disappointment it must have been, and he with his heart set on
the trip!" exclaimed Will.
"But they tell us that 'it's a poor wind that blows nobody good.' So he
has written me this letter, making a proposal," went on Frank, calmly.
"What!" shouted Jerry, clutching the arm of his chum.
"Oh! he hates to leave his fine, dandy little launch there at that town,
where there is really no accommodation for her, and would like to have
some one take her over the course to Cedar Keys, Florida, to put her up
with a boat builder he knows. And so he wrote to me," continued Frank.
"Do you mean he has asked you to go down there and take that boat, just
as he intended doing?" gasped Bluff.
"Yes, only that instead of taking two months loitering along I could do
the job in ten days, perhaps," was the answer.
"Oh! what a lucky dog you are," sighed Will; "think of the innumerable
chances for taking magnificent snapshots along the way."
"Hold on. I didn't tell you that in his letter he says particularly, 'you
and those bully good chums of yours, the whole three--plenty of sleeping
accommodations for the lot aboard!'" cried Frank, with a smile.
Then there _was_ a scene! Jerry gripped Bluff, and gave him a hug a bear
might have envied, while Will was shaking Frank's hand as though it were
a pump handle.
"Glorious!"
"The finest ever!"
"It beats the Dutch how Frank runs into snaps!"
This last, of course, from Jerry, who was taking his turn now at
squeezing the hand of his chum.
"But, I'm afraid, fellows, that we won't ever get the consent of our
parents," sighed Will. "My mother would hate to have me go so far away.
You know she only has my twin sister Violet and myself. Oh! it's sure too
good to be true."
"Now don't cross a river until you come to it, fellows. To tell you the
truth, that part of the programme has already been attended to. My father
and myself have been the rounds unbeknown to any of you, and got the
consent of Will's mother, as well as the parents of Bluff and Jerry. It's
a settled thing, boys!"
They sat there and stared at each other. Evidently none of them could
fully grasp the wonderful proposition entirely. They thought they must be
dreaming.
"Please don't wake me up; this is too bang-up for anything," said Will.
"Frank, your equal never existed. Talk to me about your chums, no fellows
ever had such a boss comrade as your fellow-members of the Rod, Gun and
Camera Club!" declared Jerry.
"When do we start?" demanded Bluff, as though ready to run for the train
at that very minute.
"The day after to-morrow. School closes in one more day, and father
thought it wouldn't matter much if we slipped off a bit ahead of time. He
will fix it with the Head all right. So, now you've got to be as busy as
bees getting your duffle in readiness between now and the time the train
goes, eight A.M. sharp."
"That governor of yours is certainly the finest ever. How did it come
that he fell in with the idea so quickly? Did you have to beg hard?"
asked Will.
"That's the strangest part of it, as I'll tell you presently. He fairly
jumped at the idea when I told him about Cedar Keys. But we must spend
the whole evening settling just what we are to take along with us,"
ventured Frank.
"What did you say about grub?" queried Bluff, whose appetite never failed
him.
"Archie wants us to accept all he has laid in, and encloses the list. I
need add only a few little things that I happen to know one or the other
of us fancies especially, and we are fixed for two weeks. You see there
were two of them, and they expected to be afloat two months, so he laid
in a large quantity of bacon, coffee, tea, sugar, and all substantials,
much more than we can ever use; and I know Archie well enough to make
sure they came from the best grocery in New York."
"Oh! the darling, won't we remember him in our prayers, boys, and hope he
gets good and strong over at that cure in Europe? There will be never a
meal but that our thanks will ascend for this good deed of Cousin Archie.
He belongs to all of us; this club adopts him as its one honorary member;
and I hereby propose three cheers for the biggest-hearted chap going.
Hip, hip, hurray!"
Doubtless Frank's father and mother exchanged smiles when this hearty
cheer came to their ears from Frank's den; but Mr. Langdon, even though a
staid banker now, never forgot that he had once been a boy himself; and
they understood the enthusiasm that must inevitably sweep over the three
chums of Frank when they heard the glorious news.
So the boys proceeded to go into executive session, and jot down lists of
such things as they would be apt to need on the outing.
"I understand that Archie had some heavy fishing tackle in his supplies,
which we can count on to carry us through. Take your heavy rods only, and
your guns, with proper ammunition," suggested Frank.
"And I'll lay in a stock of films and such things, for I expect to get
lots of fine pictures among those wonderful Southern scenes. I've always
wanted to see that Spanish moss trailing from the swamp trees like it is
in all Southern views. I'm the happiest chap in Centerville tonight,
Frank!" exclaimed Will.
"But see here," interrupted Bluff, "how about that matter connected with
your good dad, Frank--why was he so pleased at the idea of you going to
Cedar Keys?"
"Yes, tell us about that," burst out Jerry.
"It's a big mystery, fellows. Father smiled and nodded his head when I
read him Archie's letter. 'What a remarkable coincidence. I was just
thinking of going to that city myself, or sending a trusted messenger,
and now you can do it all for me,' he said."
The boys exchanged looks.
"Don't it just beat all?" remarked Jerry, weakly.
"Why, we're having the luckiest streak of our lives, that's what. But see
here, Frank, didn't he tell you more?" remarked Bluff, who always wanted
to know, being the son of a lawyer.
"He gave me this little packet, done up in a stout manila envelope, and
told me not to open it until I came in sight of Cedar Keys. Inside would
be found full instructions as to what errand he wanted me to carry out."
"Better and better! We sail under sealed orders, fellows. That should add
a little zest to the voyage. I know I'll be consumed with curiosity every
minute of the time wanting to know what under the sun it can be that your
good dad has waiting for you to do," said Will, seriously.
"Well," remarked Frank, "you see me put the packet away, not to be opened
until the proper time; and now we'd better go on with our lists."
CHAPTER II
CAUGHT IN A FIRE TRAP
It was late that night ere the three visitors thought of going home.
There was so much to talk over that it seemed as though they could never
break away.
"Listen!" exclaimed Will, finally, as they were about to depart.
"That's the fire-bell, as sure as you live!" cried Bluff.
"Tell me about that, will you!" cried Jerry. "A cold night to get burned
out!"
Frank snatched up his coat and cap.
"I'm going with you, fellows, as far as the corner, anyway, and see if it
is a real fire, or a fake," he remarked.
Accordingly the quartette rushed out of the door and down the street.
There was snow on the ground, and the air was pretty keen.
"It's a fire all right; look, you can see the light, and the smoke!" said
Will.
"Say, fellows, isn't that the square, and doesn't it look like it might
be the Sherman House?" asked Frank.
"As sure as you live," replied Bluff. "That would be a tough thing, for
the people there to climb out near midnight, and the mercury hovering
half way down to zero!"
"Hurry! Perhaps we can help some!" exclaimed good-hearted Jerry, and they
increased their pace.
It was the hotel, beyond all doubt. As the boys came into the open square
they saw a scene of confusion that thrilled them. Smoke was pouring out
of the lower windows of the big frame building, and in some places it was
accompanied by red tongues of flame, licking up the dry wood.
"She's a goner!" announced Jerry grimly.
They saw people come hastily out of the doorway, some scantily clad, and
with blankets around their shoulders. Luckily there were only a few
guests in the hotel, since the best trade came in summer.
Loud shouts told that the local fire company was coming with their
hand-engine. Probably the Chemical Company would also be on hand,
although it was too late for anything to be done but try and save
adjoining buildings, none of which, fortunately enough, were very close
to the doomed hotel.
Frank and his chums thought that possibly they might help out at pumping,
or doing something of the sort. At a fire in a country town every one
assists to carry out furniture, or work the machine, while the regular
members of the organization enjoy the exclusive privilege of carrying the
hose and smashing in windows.
Amid the greatest excitement the water was finally started. By this time
one end of the building was all on fire, and every person knew it would
be a complete wreck before the flames ceased feeding.
It chanced that the boys were standing near some of those who had issued
forth from the hotel. Among them was the proprietor, plainly excited as
he saw his property going up in smoke and flames, and still getting some
consolation from the fact that he had a good insurance on it all.
Just then a man came limping and seized hold of the hotel proprietor.
"Have you seen my brother, the professor?" he demanded, in a trembling
voice.
"Oh! that you, Mr. Smythe? Your brother--no, I don't remember seeing him.
But I guess everybody got out all right. He must be around somewhere,"
replied the other.
"I've asked a dozen people, and nobody has seen him. I tell you, man,
he's asleep up in that room yet, and will be burned to death!" exclaimed
the gentleman, whom Jerry knew quite well. He was very lame and walked
with difficulty.
His brother, a balloonist of national reputation, had been visiting him
recently, and on account of some sickness at the house, had taken a room
at the hotel.
"But no sane man could sleep through all this beastly row; and sure we
haven't seen any one at the windows, have we, boys?" went on the fat
hotel man.
"But you don't understand. I tell you he has been unable to sleep for
several nights, and just before he left me early to-night he took a
sleeping powder that he said would make him dead to the world for eight
hours! He's up in his room yet, and will be lost unless some one goes
and drags him out!" cried Mr. Smythe.
"Which is his room, Mr. Ten Eyck?" demanded an eager voice.
The stout hotel man looked at the speaker, who was none other than Jerry.
"You see that window over there at the end of the house, third
floor--that's his room! But the stairs must be ablaze by now, boy! It
would be suicide to think of trying to go up there!" he cried.
"Come on, Frank; we'll take a look in, anyhow!" shouted Jerry as he
dashed off, followed by his chum, equally excited.
Still, Frank was ordinarily a cool-headed fellow, and accustomed to
weighing chances somewhat before imperiling his life. In this case, of
course, he knew that more or less risk must be taken if they hoped to
save the sleeping balloonist.
One look they took in at the front door. The whole place was ablaze.
"Get out of the way, boys; we're going to put the hose in there!" cried
one of the wearers of the fire-hats and coats, as he advanced.
"No chance there!" exclaimed Frank, in despair, as he moved back.
Jerry clutched his arm.
"Come along with me. Perhaps the back stairs may not be burning, yet.
They happen to be further along toward the safe side. There's a chance!"
he panted.
Half a minute later they had turned the corner, and were close to the
rear exit.
"See, the smoke is coming out, but no fire. Shall we risk it?" asked the
eager Jerry.
Frank swept a quick look above and around. He was weighing the thing in
his mind, so that they might not be carried by impulse to their doom.
"It's worth while. At the worst we can jump into that tree from the
window. And it's just terrible to think of the professor sleeping on
until he is caught. Lead the way, Jerry; you know about it better than
I do. Remember, on the third floor, and turn to the left!"
They darted in. Several persons near by shouted warnings, but the
words fell on deaf ears, for already the daring lads were rushing up the
narrow stairs. Around them the smoke was dense. It smarted their eyes
dreadfully, so that they were compelled to rub them from time to time in
order to see at all.
Reaching the first landing, Jerry turned to the left. Frank had hold of
his chum's coat, for he did not want to get lost in that smoky interior,
and Jerry was the one acquainted with the situation.
Now they had reached the second flight of stairs. A burst of red fire
further along the hall served to show them for a brief space of time how
matters stood. Up the stairs they stumbled, gaining the upper landing.
Again Jerry turned to the left.
"He said the last room, didn't he?" he gasped.
"Yes, go on!" answered Frank, still gripping his comrade's garment.
"Then here's the door!"
"Shut?"
"Yes, and locked, too! What shall we do?" exclaimed Jerry.
"Kick it in--any old way, but we must be quick!" answered the other.
Then the two threw themselves upon the door. It quickly gave way before
their combined assault. They pushed into the room. The smoke had gained a
footing here, but on account of the closed door it was not nearly so
bad as in the halls.
Immediately they saw a figure stretched across the bed. The balloonist
had evidently been overcome by sleep before he thought to undress, and
dropped over just as he had come from his lame brother's house.
"Wake up, professor, the house is on fire!" shouted Frank in the ear of
the man.
Jerry, meanwhile, was shaking him vigorously; but all their efforts
seemed to be of no avail. The man slept on as peacefully as though a
babe, such was the power of the drug he had taken.
"We can't stay here long," said Frank, as the smoke thickened in the
room. "And as he won't wake up, why, we'll have to try and carry or drag
him down."
Fortunately, the man was not a very large person, or they might have
despaired of ever accomplishing such a thing.
"Take hold on that side, Jerry. Now, lift, and drag his heels. That's the
only way we can do," exclaimed Frank, who feared that even short as their
stay in that room had been they would find conditions changed for the
worse when they again reached the hall.
The professor paid not the least attention to what they were doing. He
had possibly taken an overdose of his sleeping-powder, and only for the
coming of the two chums must have perished miserably, like a rat in a
trap.
When Frank threw open the door of the room again he uttered a cry of
alarm. The back stairway was a mass of flame. Although hardly more than
two minutes had passed since they came up those stairs, it was now
manifestly impossible to pass down again.
He slammed the door shut and found Jerry staring at him in the half
light.
"Talk to me about your fiery furnaces, that beats them all!" exclaimed
Frank's chum, as he let go the professor's shoulders. "What shall we do
now?"
Frank ran over to the window and threw up the sash. He looked out and
then came back to where Jerry stood, trembling with excitement. Frank was
as cool as ever in his life.
"There's a chance, Jerry," he shouted. "No fire below! Take hold here;
tear up these sheets and knot them into a rope. Work for your life, and
if the fire only holds back we may be able to save both the professor and
ourselves! But work! work!"
CHAPTER III
HEADED SOUTH
They did work with a vim, for the smoke was getting more oppressive with
each passing second; and from the glimpse they had taken of the stairway
it was plain to the boys that presently the fire would wrap the whole
south end of the building in its grip, when their case would indeed be
desperate.
Each tore and knotted until as if by magic a long rope was fashioned.
True, it might betray them at the last and break, but Frank believed
the sheets to be of good material and nearly new.
He had not time to even test the frail rope, but fastened it around the
sleeping balloonist, under his arms.
"Now help me lift him over the window-sill," he cried.
They had little difficulty in doing that, for the professor was a small,
slight man. Once he was passed over the ledge, they began to lower away.
Frank only hoped in his heart that the fire might restrain its fury for a
brief space of time. If it darted out below it must catch the human
burden which they were lowering so speedily.
Shouts were heard outside. It seemed as though fully an hundred voices
were raised to applaud the daring feat of the two boys, as the figure of
the professor was seen coming rapidly down at the end of the rope made of
torn sheets.
"If it's only long enough!" gasped Jerry.
"Hurrah! they've got hold of him! He's saved!" roared Frank, as the
tremendous pull suddenly ceased.
They had about reached the end of the rope, so that this happy event
came just in the nick of time. Frank hurriedly fastened that end to the
bed-post.
"Climb out, Jerry, and slide down. Not a word now, or we may lose our
chance!"
Jerry had been about to object, wishing his chum to go first. He realized
the truth of what Frank said, however, and how foolish it would be to
stand back on a matter so small. Accordingly he clambered over the
window-sill and vanished from view.
Frank got in position to follow, and only waited until he had reason to
believe his chum had reached safety. The rope had done bravely, but it
certainly could never stand the strain of two of them at the same time.
And even as he waited there was a flash of fire below, as the flames ate
through the sheathing of the house. A tremendous yell went up.
"Come down, Frank--oh! quick!" he caught above the clamor, and he knew
that it was Will's shrill voice he heard.
The fire was perilously close to the rope. In a second it might catch
and be severed. Frank did not hesitate. He was accustomed to meeting
emergencies promptly, and doing the right thing.
Down he slipped, passing the threatening flame, in fact shooting through
it just as the rope began to be consumed in its hot breath. Frank had
almost reached the point of safety when he felt his support collapse, and
he dropped downward.
Something caught him, something that seemed endowed with life--the
extended arms of his three chums eagerly fashioned into a net, and he was
not injured, beyond a little singeing of his hair as he passed through
the fiery torch.
The boys were glad to get away from the crowd of enthusiastic admirers
who wanted to lift Frank and Jerry on their shoulders, and carry them
around town in triumph, something that felt repulsive to the lads.
But the lame brother of the man they had saved, seized upon them ere they
went off.
"A thousand thanks to you, for your brave deed!" he cried. "You have
saved a human life to-night, boys, and one of more than ordinary value.
My brother is employed by the Government to experiment with balloons and
aeroplanes, and his discoveries may prove a great thing for our nation in
case of a foreign war. To-morrow he will thank you himself, and from
his heart. Your mothers have cause to be proud of their sons, and I shall
tell them so myself."
From a distance the boys watched the hotel burn, and talked over the
affair just as though they might have been casual watchers, and had no
particular interest in the matter. And yet two of them had come very
close to sacrificing their young lives in attempting to save that of
another.
Pages:
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10