The answer the man made was to order the two youths to work the pinkey, as the fishermen call his style of craft, up to the buoy, where he could cut the yachtsmen adrift.
Harvey sprang to the bow of the Viking , drew her up close to the buoy by taking in on the slack of the rope, and held her there by a few turns. Then he snatched up the boat hook. Henry Burns and Tom and Bob likewise armed themselves with the sweeps of the Viking and a piece of spar. They stood ready to repel an attack.
It looked serious. But at this point the two youths aboard the strange boat failed to obey orders. There arose, thereupon, a furious dispute aboard the other craft, the youths remonstrating in what seemed to be a broken English, and the man railing at them fiercely in English that was plain, but still had not just the Yankee accent; in the course of which the man at the tiller rushed upon one of them, and would have struck him had not the other youth interfered.
It ended in the wrathful stranger taking his craft ahead, quite a distance up the harbour, ignoring Henry Burnss offer to moor astern of the Viking .
Just as well he didnt stay, commented Henry Burns. I dont think he would improve on longer acquaintance,
do you, Jack?
Well, hardly, said Harvey. I guess he must be one of those chaps Captain Sam spoke of.
I wonder if he will make us any more trouble to-night, remarked Bob.
No, hell have to fight it out with his own crew first, said Harvey. But Ill just keep an eye out for a little while. You fellows can turn in.
And Harvey kept vigil till eleven oclock, muffled in a greatcoat, outside, until he nearly fell over asleep in the cockpit. Then he rolled in below, and was sound asleep before he could get his boots off.
The Viking was not molested through the night, though so wearied were the yachtsmen with their days sailing that a man might have come aboard blowing a fog-horn and not have aroused them from their deep slumber.
CHAPTER VII. NEAR THE REEFS
Back of the harbour the land went up gradually for a way, dotted here and there with the snug, tidy homes of the fishermen, until it rose in the centre of the island, forming hills of some considerable height the first landfall for ships coming in from sea at that point. Now the tops of the hills glinted with the rays of the morning sun, which soon streamed down the slopes and made the whole island glow with warmth and brightness.
The pleasing landscape had at that moment, however, no particular attraction for Henry Burns. He gave a groan of self-commiseration, tumbled back into his warm blanket, and remarked:
Oh, but these fishermen do begin the day early! Say, we dont have to, do we, Jack? I vote for another hours sleep.
Make it four, said Bob, who had been eying Henry Burns with apprehension.
Harvey and Tom muttered an assent that was not distinguishable.
By five oclock, however, the sounds of men and boats had them awake again; and by another half-hour they were breakfasting on their way out of the harbour, beating against a light southerly.
Do you know the fishing-grounds, Jack? inquired Henry Burns.
Only in a general way, replied Harvey. But well follow the others, and get in somewhere near them.
They stood out of the harbour and headed down the coast of the island, which extended seaward thus for some four miles. Harvey, at the wheel, was studying carefully a chart of the waters; Henry Burns and Tom and Bob, arrayed in oilskins, were busily engaged in shucking clams into some wooden buckets.
Presently an unexpected hail came across the water to them from a sailboat they had overhauled.
Why, hello, called Harvey, and added to his companions, Heres luck. Its Will Hackett, Jeffs brother. You know Jeff, who carries the mails in his packet.
What are you chaps doing way down here? Arent you lost? asked the other, a stalwart, red-faced youth, who, with a crew composed of one small boy, was navigating a rough-looking sloop that looked as though it had seen a score of hard summers.
Harvey explained.
Well, you wont get rich, said Will Hackett, bringing his craft in to head along with them. But Ill show you where to fish. The depth of water makes all the difference around here. They call me lucky, but theres something in knowing where to drop a line. Im down only for the day, but you follow me around and youll know where to go next time.
When they had told him of the adventure of the night before, Will Hackett slapped a heavy fist down upon his knee.
Good for you! he cried. So youve run foul of old Jim Martel, have you? Why, I offered to thrash him and his two boys only three weeks ago, for hanging around after dark where I had a trawl set. They come from over eastward, and quarrel with everybody; and I wouldnt trust one of them with a rotten rope. Youd better keep away from them, though. Hes got a hot temper, has Jim Martel.
They were in the swell from the open sea now, and the Viking and its companion, the Gracie , were lifting and dipping amid the long, rolling waves. About them, and ahead here and there, clouds of spray, cast like chaff into the air, told of reefs; sometimes marked with a spindle, or a cask set on the top of a pole, if it lay near the course; sometimes with a thin point of the ledge rising a few feet above water.