James Otis - The Light Keepers - A Story of the United States Light-house Service

"Well?" the keeper asked as he entered, and Mr. Peters replied:

"Uncle Zenas an' I believe he ought'er have some of this stuff inside of him as soon as we can get it there. He'll sleep better with a full stomach."

"What is it you've made?"

"I've thinned down one of them 'ere cans of soup you was so extravagant as to buy when Sammy went ashore last," Uncle Zenas replied, "an' it smells good enough to eat."

Captain Eph tasted the savory mixture critically and then said thoughtfully:

"I reckon you're right about his needin' it, though it does seem too bad to waken the little shaver while he's bottlin' up so much sleep. But have your own way. How are you goin' to do the job?"

"You lift him up, an' I'll pour it down," Uncle Zenas replied in a tone which showed that he had already settled the details in his own mind. "The sooner we do it the better, 'cordin' to my way of thinkin', so s'pose you lead the way."

There was an expression of deepest anxiety on Captain Eph's face as he ascended the iron stairs, and on arriving at the floor above he stood for a moment gazing at the childish face which could be seen amid the mountain of bed-clothing, for in his desire to do all that might be possible for the little fellow, Mr. Peters had piled upon the bed every blanket and comfortable to be found in the tower.

"Better get right at it," Uncle Zenas said in a whisper, as he halted by the bedside with the bowl of soup in his hands.

Captain Eph raised the boy so gently that his slumber was not disturbed; but when Uncle Zenas attempted to pour the warm liquid down his throat, he opened his eyes, crying in distress:

"What is it? What do you men want? Where am I?"

"You're safe and sound in Carys' Ledge light, Sonny, an' we've come up to give you somethin' to eat," Captain Eph replied, as he pressed the lad closely to him. "You've been havin' a hard time, an' are needin' what we've brought. Drink it down like a little man, an' then you may go to sleep agin."

Just for an instant the little fellow looked around wildly, and then, as if reassured by the friendly pressure of Captain Eph's arms, began to swallow the soup, slowly at first, as if from a sense of duty, and then eagerly as hunger asserted itself.

"My! but that was good!" he exclaimed as Captain Eph laid him back upon the pillow, and Uncle Zenas asked eagerly:

"Do you want some more? There's plenty in the kitchen, an' it'll do you good."

"If I could have a little more. It's so good, and I didn't know I was hungry till I got a taste of it," the little fellow said, rising to a sitting posture, and as Uncle Zenas hurried down the stairway Captain Eph whispered solicitously:

"Why not lay down agin, Sonny? You're mighty sleepy, an' it'll do you good to get another nap."

"If you don't care, I'd rather keep awake till I've had more of the soup. How nice it is to be here where it's warm and dry!"

"Bless your dear heart, you shall do as you want to in this 'ere light!" Captain Eph cried. "Only don't forget that you've been havin' a hard time, an' need sleep as much as food."

"There isn't much chance I'll forget anything of that kind while you're all so good to me. When do you suppose my father will come to take me away?"

"Who is your father, Sonny?" Mr. Peters asked.

"Captain Harlow, of the schooner West Wind – she's a five-master, and a beauty. This is her first voyage, and I'm going all the way to Porto Rico in her," the lad cried, and then suddenly remembering how long it had been since he was on board the West Wind , he cried, turning toward Captain Eph, "Do you suppose he can find me, now that I've come ashore, sir?"

"If he don't it won't be any very great job to let him know where you are, Sonny," the keeper replied emphatically. "It'll go hard if we can't hail a fisherman, or a pilot boat, an' send a letter ashore to the post-office, so you needn't worry about that part of it. But tell me how you happened to be adrift in that motor boat."

"We went out to look at what seemed to be a lot of wreckage; it was so calm that the West Wind hardly moved through the water, and father said I might go with Mr. Sawyer, because I know how to run the motor and steer. Then, before we'd got to the wreckage, the fog shut in, and we couldn't see the schooner. I believe I could have gone straight to her at first, but after Mr. Sawyer fell over-board, I turned the boat around so many times trying to pick him up, that I couldn't tell where the West Wind might be."

"Who was Mr. Sawyer?" Captain Eph asked.

"The second mate; he was a good friend of mine, and I wouldn't have been allowed to go out to look at the wreckage if he hadn't coaxed father."

"How did a sailorman contrive to tumble over-board?" Mr. Peters asked curiously, as if it seemed to him impossible such an accident could occur.

"We ran down a spar, and he was leaning over the bow trying to make out if it was a buoy that had gone adrift, or a portion of the wreckage we had sighted, when a heavy sea came. It seemed to me as if the timber struck Mr. Sawyer on the head, for over he went like a log, and although I put the boat back and forth until it grew too dark to see, I couldn't find him."

"Wasn't you frightened, Sonny?" Mr. Peters asked, and the lad replied with a sigh:

"I was feeling too sorry for that, sir, and I thought certain the schooner would pick me up, even if the fog was thick; but I did get frightened when the night shut in, and the wind began to blow so that the spray from the tops of the waves came aboard, soaking me with water. My name is Sidney, if you please, sir."

"Then what did you do?" Captain Eph asked in a whisper.

"I just sat there and cried, sir, till I remembered what father has often told me, that when a boy, or a man, for that matter, loses his courage, he is a great deal worse off than if he kept up his spirits. I had often run the motor while the West Wind was in port, and I tried to make out how much gasolene there was in the tank, for I knew steerage-way was needed, else I couldn't keep her head up into the wind. It was a terribly long while before day came again, and then the fog covered everything so that I couldn't see very far in either direction. Of course father hunted for me; but I knew he didn't have much chance of finding me in that kind of weather."

"Wasn't you hungry?" Mr. Peters asked.

"Perhaps so, sir; but I was too much frightened and sorry to know it until I got a taste of the soup."

"What did you do all the long day and second night?" and Captain Eph put his arms around the lad as he asked the question.

"I sang a little, sir, and cried a good deal; but the most of the time I prayed, and once when I fell asleep without knowing it, I thought I saw my mother, who went to Heaven when I was only a little shaver."

At this point in the story Uncle Zenas appeared with a fresh supply of soup, and after Sidney had drank it eagerly, Captain Eph said as he forced the boy to lie down again:

"You're a brave little lad, Sidney, an' I have no doubt but that you really saw your mother, for surely God would have let her go to her baby boy when he was in such trouble. Now you must sleep again, an' while you're growin' stronger we'll cook up a letter to send your father, tellin' him where you are, for I reckon he's feelin' mighty bad about this time."

Then, motioning for his assistants to follow, Captain Eph led the way to the watch-room, and Uncle Zenas, who brought up the rear, closed each door behind him lest the sound of their voices should prevent Sidney from sleeping.

When the three men were in the apartment directly under the lantern they stood in silence, gazing at each other, while one might have counted twenty, and then Captain Eph said in a low tone: