that same morning mr. smith, the hotel man, drove up to sweetbrier cottage. he found mr. thornton sitting on the front steps sharpening his knife.
“good-morning, sir,” said mr. smith. “do you happen to know a boy named tom?”
“tom prout? yes, i do,” said mr. thornton.
“well, i want to see him,” said mr. smith. “i have a five-dollar bill that belongs to him.”
“a five-dollar bill!” exclaimed mr. thornton in surprise. “what do you mean?” then mr. smith told him the story of the mosquito and the box of candy.
“what do you think of that?” said mr. smith, when he had finished.
[110]“i think that tom was a brave boy to confess before all those people,” answered mr. thornton. “he did wrong, of course, but he made up for it as well as he could. tom means to be a good boy, mr. smith.”
“i am sure of it,” agreed mr. smith warmly, “and i want to give him a chance to make up for that candy without paying me a cent. i guess he will want all his money by and by for school or for something else. i should be glad to help him earn something at the hotel.”
“tom would like that, i know,” said mr. thornton, much pleased. “he is very handy with boats. i trust my children out with him every day.”
“is that so?” cried mr. smith. “the very thing! i’ll get him to row the ladies back and forth from the yacht. i’d like to see tom.”
“i think we shall find him playing with the other children,” said mr. thornton. “will you come with me?” (you see, mr.[111] thornton did not know that tom was an outlaw.)
the two men went along the cliff to beech house. it was empty except for the dolls and the teddy bear which rose and susan had left there when they went to look for the treasure. then they went on until they came to the pirate cave. but kenneth and charlie were playing there alone.
“where is tom?” asked mr. thornton. “this gentleman wants to see him.”
“i don’t know,” said kenneth.
“he doesn’t play with us any more,” added charlie.
“why not?” asked mr. thornton. but the boys looked at each other and were silent. they were not going to tell tales.
“we know all about the unlucky mosquito,” said mr. thornton. “tom was sorry, and told mr. smith the whole story himself. he gave his five dollars to pay for the candy.”
“did he do that?” said charlie, his face brightening.
[112]“hurrah for tom!” cried kenneth. “i knew he was all right.—hello! there he goes now in his dory. tom! oh, tom!”
kenneth waved his hat and shouted, but tom did not seem to hear. he was at some distance out in the bay, rowing towards the bathing beach. they all shouted and waved, and finally tom seemed to hear, for he looked around; but he did not show any intention of rowing towards the cave. perhaps he still felt like an outlaw.
“he rows well,” said mr. smith, as tom disappeared around the point.
“he knows more about boats than a good many men ever learn,” said mr. thornton. “i wonder where he is going.”
“we don’t seem likely to catch him this morning,” said mr. smith; “but if you see him, i wish you would ask him to come over and talk with me to-morrow. hello! what’s this?”
down the cliff scrambled susan, panting and disheveled. as she ran she shouted something[113] which they could not understand. but when she came nearer they made out the word “rose! rose!”
in an instant mr. thornton jumped to his feet and ran to meet her. “what is the matter?” he cried, turning pale. “what has happened to rose?”
presently sue recovered enough breath to speak brokenly. “she—she fell!” gasped sue. “she broke her foot, i guess. she—can’t walk. we—were looking—for the treasure—in the cave—out on the rocks—beyond the bathing beach.”
“my poor little rose!” gasped mr. thornton; and he started on the run, followed by the others. they all ran as fast as they could, but it was a long way. poor sue had found it so when she stumbled along going in the other direction. now she toiled back again far behind the others,—behind even mr. smith, who was short and fat and grew very red as he ran. he had to stop often and mop his forehead with his handkerchief; but mr.[114] thornton never stopped until he came to the bathing beach. kenneth and charlie were close behind him. they heard him give a loud cry when he looked across the beach to gull rock, where sue had said rose was. in a minute they saw the reason.
gull rock was now an island!
a wide bay of water stretched between the rock and the shore, with only a few stones poking up here and there on what had been the pathway by which rose and sue had crossed. it was nearly high tide. as they looked, a great wave rolled in and covered gull rock with spray.
“look at that!” cried mr. thornton. “my little rose is out there! oh, i must go to her!” and he dashed into the water and began to wade along the rocks of the hidden pathway. but the stones were slippery and he kept stumbling.
“you can’t do it!” yelled mr. smith. “we must get a boat.”
“there is no boat within half a mile,”[115] cried mr. thornton, in despair. “i must try to reach her in this way.” just then another great wave came rolling in. it broke against mr. thornton’s knees. he lost his footing and tottered. the pool into which he fell was over his head, and he would have drowned if he had not known how to swim. the water was growing deeper all the time. “i must swim over,” thought mr. thornton. “but even if i get there safely i don’t see how i can climb up onto those steep rocks. however, i must try.”
just as he was about to strike out into deep water, there came a shout from mr. smith and the boys on the shore. “tom! tom!” they cried. “hurrah for tom!”
“papa! papa! come ashore!” cried kenneth. “tom has rose in his boat!”
sure enough! tom’s dory was just rounding gull rock, coming fast towards shore, and in the stern sat rose, very pale but safe.
you see, tom was just passing gull rock in his dory when rose gave that last cry for[116] help. he had heard it, but at first he thought her little shrill voice was only a sea-gull screaming on the rock. but when he heard it a second time cry,—“help! oh, help!” he pricked up his ears. no sea-gull ever spoke words so plainly as that. tom shouted, “hullo there!” in answer, and in a moment he heard a voice cry, “tom! tom! come quickly!”
“that is rose’s voice!” thought tom, surprised almost out of his wits. he rowed as close to the rock as he dared, on account of the surf. “is that you, rose?” he shouted. “where are you?”
“i’m down in a dreadful cave, tom,” said rose very faintly. “my foot is broken, and the water is coming in. oh, come quickly, tom, or i shall be drowned!”
“i guess that’s so,” thought tom, with a sudden idea, as a great wave broke over gull rock. “she is down in the punch bowl! it’s almost high tide. oh, i must be quick or we’ll both be drowned.”
tom had no thought of being afraid. rose[117] must be saved if he could do it. now he had a chance to prove what a good boatman he was. he rowed as fast as possible around gull rock to a place where he thought he could land. it was on the sheltered side of the rock, where the waves did not break quite so heavily; but it was difficult enough. he drew up his boat and fastened it securely. then he hurried to the punch bowl, which was the fisherman’s name for that dangerous cave.
tom knew it well. when he came to the hole he shouted down anxiously. rose answered, so he knew that she was still safe. down he climbed, nimbly as a monkey. at the bottom he found the poor little girl in a pool of water.
“oh, tom!” she cried. “i am so glad! do you think you can get me out?”
“’course i’ll get you out!” said tom, feeling very big. just then a great wave came sweeping in and nearly drowned them both. “we must hurry,” sputtered tom; “there’s no time to spare. come, rose, you must try[118] as hard as you can.” rose tried as hard as she could. tom lifted and pulled and pushed, and somehow or other he managed to help her out of that dreadful hole. then he half carried, half dragged her over the rocks to his dory. just as they were about to push off there came the biggest wave of all. it broke completely over the rock, filled the boat half full of water, and knocked both the children off their feet. but they clung together and were not swept into the sea.
“if we had been in the cave when that wave broke,” said tom solemnly, “we should both have been drowned. let’s get away before another of those big fellows comes.”
he emptied the water out of the boat, lifted rose in, and pushed off with all his might. the next big wave leaped after them, burying gull rock under a heap of foam. but the children had escaped. the boat was moving through quieter waters towards the bathing beach.
they heard a shout from the shore, and[119] looking up saw the crowd of anxious watchers. there were kenneth and charlie dancing up and down and shouting, “hurrah!” there was mr. smith, first fluttering his handkerchief, then using it to wipe his eyes. there was mr. thornton up to his waist in the water, waving his arms and calling,—
“rose! rose! are you safe?”
“yes, i’m safe, papa!” cried rose. “tom has saved me.”
in a few minutes rose was in her father’s arms, and he was hugging and kissing her, calling her by all her pet baby names. mr. smith was shaking hands with tom, who looked dazed.
“i’m proud to know you, tom,” he said. “you are a regular sea-dog, my boy. we must have you over to the hotel to help us with the boats there.”
“tom, my lad,” said mr. thornton, as he started to carry rose up to the cottage, where her sprained ankle could be cared for, “i’ll never forget this. boys,” he added, turning to[120] charlie and kenneth, who stood eagerly looking on, “if you want to see what a real hero looks like, there he is. you had better write it down in your pirate log-book that one of your band saved a little girl’s life. that is something for you to boast of, indeed.”
“i must go home and get dry,” muttered tom, turning away much embarrassed. after all, he was an outlaw, and he knew that mr. smith understood why, though mr. thornton might not. tom did not belong to the pirate band any more. but when he turned shamefacedly away, kenneth and charlie came running up, and each seized him by the hand.
“tom, old fellow, we are proud of you!” said kenneth heartily.
“tom,” said charlie, taking something out of his pocket, “here is my pirate knife. you have got to be captain now. you are the best of us all, as uncle jack says.”
“hurrah!” shouted kenneth, dancing up and down. “we have a real live hero for our captain, and we will do great things!”
[121]“oh, pshaw!” said tom, turning red but looking pleased. he saw that they no longer thought him an outlaw. “i don’t want to be captain,” he protested.
“you must, you must!” cried charlie and kenneth. “mustn’t he, mr. smith?”
“sure,” said mr. smith, “i think he will make a fine captain. but i say, captain, i hope you will find time to do a little un-piratical work for me, as a plain sailor. i want you to help with the boats at the hotel. perhaps it isn’t as exciting as pirating or catching mosquitoes,” he added, with a twinkle, “but i think you will find that it pays better.”
“oh, i want to earn some money,” said tom. “some day i want to go to school in the city.”
“but if you go to mr. smith’s you won’t have time to play with us,” said charlie; and kenneth added, “then you won’t be our pirate captain, tom?”
“oh, yes he will,” said mr. smith. “i’ll only keep him a few hours every day, when[122] the ladies want to go sailing. tom, will you be my sailor man?”
“thank you, everybody,” said tom, grinning. “i will be both, if you want me to. i’ll be a pirate captain and an honest sailor.”
“here’s a little advance wages to begin with,” said mr. smith, handing tom the famous five-dollar bill. tom flushed.
“thank you, sir,” he said. “but would you mind waiting until i have earned it? i want to start square this time.”
“good for you, tom!” said mr. smith approvingly. “i see that we shall be great friends.”
and mr. smith proved to be a true prophet.
