The Bobbsey Twins on the Deep Blue Sea Part 20

Captain Crane jingled a bell that told the engineer of the motor boat to slow down. Then he steered the _Swallow_ over toward the other motor boat in which was a man waving his hand, as though he wanted the Bobbseys to stop, or at least to come closer, so that he might speak to them.

The Bobbsey twins were wildly excited.

"h.e.l.lo, Captain Harrison!" called Captain Crane, as soon as the two boats were close enough to talk from one to the other. "Did you want to see me?"

"Well, yes, I did," answered Captain Harrison, who was on the other motor boat, which was named _Sea Foam_. "I think I have some news for you."

"I hope it's good news," Captain Crane made reply.

"Yes, I believe it is. Are you going out to rescue a boy from an island quite a way to the south of us?"

"Yes, these friends of mine are going," answered Captain Crane, pointing to the Bobbseys and to Cousin Jasper, who were sitting on the deck under the shade of an awning. "But how did you know?"

"I just pa.s.sed Captain Peters in his boat, and he told me about your starting off on a voyage," went on Captain Harrison. "As soon as I heard what you were going to do, I made up my mind to tell you what I saw. I pa.s.sed that island, where you are going to look for a lost man----"

"It's a lost boy, and not a lost man," interrupted Captain Crane.

"Well, lost boy, then," went on Captain Harrison. "Anyhow, I pa.s.sed that island the other day, and I'm sure I saw some one running up and down on the sh.o.r.e, waving a rag or something."

"You did!" cried Cousin Jasper, who, with the Bobbseys, was listening to this talk. "Then why in the world didn't you go on sh.o.r.e and get Jack?

Why didn't you do that, Captain?"

"Because I couldn't," answered Captain Harrison. "A big storm was coming up, and I couldn't get near the place on account of the rocks. But I looked through my telescope, and I'm sure I saw a man--or, as you say, maybe it was a boy--running up and down on the sh.o.r.e of the island, waving something.

"When I found I couldn't get near the place, on account of the rocks and the big waves, I made up my mind to go back as soon as I could. But the storm kept up, and part of my motor engine broke, so I had to come back here to get it fixed.

"I just got in, after a lot of trouble, and the first bit of news I heard was that you were going to start off for this island to look for some one there. So I thought I'd tell you there is some one on the sh.o.r.e--at least there was a week ago, when I saw the place."

The Bobbsey twins listened "with all their ears" to this talk, and they wondered what would happen next.

"Well, if Captain Harrison saw Jack there he must be alive," said Bert to Nan.

"Unless something happened to him afterward in the storm," remarked Nan.

"I wish we could hurry up and get him," said Freddie.

"Be quiet, children," whispered Mrs. Bobbsey. "Captain Crane wants to hear all that the other captain says."

"S-sh," hissed Flossie importantly.

"How long ago was this?" asked Captain Crane.

"About a week," answered Captain Harrison. "I had trouble getting back, so it was a week ago. I tried to see some other boat to send to the island to take off this lost boy, but I didn't meet any until I got here. Somebody on sh.o.r.e told me about you. Then I thought, as long as you are going there, I'd tell you what I saw."

"I'm glad you did," observed Cousin Jasper. "And I'm glad to know that Jack is well enough to be up and around--or that he was when you saw him. We must go there as fast as we can now, and rescue him."

"Maybe some other boat stopped and took him off the island," said Captain Harrison.

"Well, maybe one did," agreed Cousin Jasper. "If so, that's all the better. But if Jack is still there we'll get him. Thank you, Captain Harrison."

Then the two motor boats started up again, one to go on to her dock at St. Augustine and the other--the one with the Bobbsey twins on board--heading for the deep blue sea which lay beyond.

"Do you think you can find Jack?" asked Freddie, as he stood beside Captain Crane, who was steering the _Swallow_.

"Well, yes, little fat fireman. I hope so," was the answer. "If Captain Harrison saw him running around the island, waving something for a flag, that shows he was alive, anyhow, and not sick, as he was when the folks took Mr. Dent off. So that's a good sign."

"But it was more than a week ago," said Mr. Bobbsey. "Of course we all hope he can be found, but we must hurry as fast as we can."

"That's right," said Cousin Jasper. "Make the boat go as fast as you can, Captain Crane."

"I will," answered the seaman. "You'll see how quickly my _Swallow_ can skim over the waves."

Now that they were started on their voyage over the sea the Bobbsey twins had a good chance to get better acquainted with Cousin Jasper.

There had been so much to do in getting ready for the trip and in leaving the hotel that they had hardly spoken to him, or he to them.

But now that they were all on board the motor boat, and there was nowhere else to go, and nothing to do, except to sit around on deck, or eat when the meal times came, there was a chance to see Cousin Jasper better and to talk with him more.

"I like him," said Freddie, as the four twins sat together under an awning out of the sun, and listened to the conversation of the older folk, who were talking about the news given them by Captain Harrison. "I like Cousin Jasper!"

"So do I. And he likes my rubber doll," said Flossie.

"What makes you think he likes your doll?" asked Nan, with a laugh at her little sister.

"'Cause when I dropped her on the floor in the cabin he picked her up for me and asked if she was hurt."

"You can't hurt a rubber doll!" exclaimed Freddie.

"I know you can't," said Flossie, "'ceptin' maybe when you pretend, and I wasn't doing that then. But Cousin Jasper brushed the dust off my doll, and he liked her."

"That was nice of him," said Bert. "I like Captain Crane, too. He's going to let me steer the boat, maybe, when we get out where there aren't any other s.h.i.+ps for me to knock into."

"And he's going to let me run the engine--maybe," added Freddie.

"Well, you'd better be careful how you run it," laughed Bert. "It's a good deal bigger than your fire engine."

So the Bobbsey twins talked about Cousin Jasper and Captain Crane, and they were sure they would like both men. As for Cousin Jasper, he really loved the little folk, and had a warm place in his heart for them, though he had not seen any of them since they were small babies.

On and on puffed the _Swallow_, over the deep blue sea, drawing nearer to the island where they hoped to find Jack Nelson.

"But it will take us some little time to get there, even if nothing happens," said Cousin Jasper, as they all sat down to dinner in the cabin a little later. The meal was a good one, and Nan and her mother were quite surprised that so much could be cooked in the little kitchen, or "galley," as Captain Crane called it, for on a s.h.i.+p that is the name of the kitchen.

One of the members of the crew was the cook, and he also helped about the boat, polis.h.i.+ng the s.h.i.+ny bra.s.s rails, and doing other things, for there is as much work about a boat as there is about a house, as Nan's mother said to her.

"Yes, Mother, I can see that there is a lot of work to do around a boat like this, especially if they wish to keep it in really nice style,"

said Nan. "The sailors have to work just about as hard as the servants do around a house."

"Yes, my dear, and they have to work in all sorts of weather, too."

"Well, we have to work in the house even in bad weather."