The Motor Boys on the Atlantic; or, The Mystery of the Lighthouse

"Oh! It's yo heave ho! and never let go, while the stormy winds do blow! blow! blow!"

"Is that you, Jerry Hopkins?" asked a youth, without looking up from a box he was hammering, in the yard back of his home.

"Aye, aye, my hearty! Shiver my timbers messmate, but we're in for a spell of bad weather!" and Jerry walked up to where Bob Baker was trying to drive a nail straight into a piece of board.

"Why this sudden nautical turn?" asked Bob, aiming a hard blow, in hope of correcting a certain wobbly tendency on the part of the nail. "Is there-Wow! Jimminy crickets!" and Bob began dancing about on one foot, while his thumb was stuck in his mouth.

"What's the matter, Chunky?" asked Jerry, giving Bob the nickname he sometimes was called because of his general fleshiness. "Did you hit your finger?"

"No, I'm doing this for amusement," replied Bob, taking his injured thumb from his mouth and gazing critically at the wounded member. "Um, it's going to swell," he added.

"Put cold water on it," Jerry advised. "That's a good thing. Then wrap it up in arnica."

"Come on into the house," Bob mumbled. "You can tell me the news there, while I'm doctoring up."

"What news?" asked Jerry.

"Why there must be something in the wind when you come around this way, singing sea songs and walking like a sailor on a pitching deck."

"Oh, yes, of course there's some news," Jerry went on. "I forgot about it in the excitement of seeing you do that war dance. Well, it's just as I was singing. It's going to be a life on the ocean wave for me this summer vacation."

"How's that?"

"Mother is going to take a cottage on the Atlantic coast. Maybe I'll not have swell times! I'm going in bathing every day, and I can learn all about a sail boat."

Bob had been so busy looking for the arnica bottle, and a rag in which to wrap his thumb, that he paid little attention to what Jerry was saying, save in a vague sort of way. He caught the last reference to a boat, however, and asked:

"You're not going back on our motor boat, are you, when you say you're going to take up with a sail boat? Jerry I'm ashamed of you!"

"Go back on the dear Dartaway? I guess not much," Jerry answered. "But we can't take her down with us, very well. The cottage is too small."

"I don't know about that," Bob said, in rather muffled tones, for he held one end of a string in his mouth and was wrapping the other about the rag on his thumb. "I wish we were going to the shore. The folks don't know yet what they will do. There, that feels better. When I turn carpenter again you'll know it."

"What were you making?"

"Oh, the cook wanted something to keep the stove blacking in, and I said I'd make it. Glad it's finished though. Maybe she'll give me something to eat before dinner's ready."

"You don't mean to say you're going to eat again, and breakfast not over more than two hours?"

"There you go, poking fun at my appetite as usual," Bob complained.

"Well, it's hard to forget it, since you always seem to have it with you," Jerry commented, referring to Bob's one failing, if it could be so called.

The Baker family's cook entered the dining room at this point and Bob mentioned that the box she had asked for was finished. Then, while the woman was expressing her thanks, Bob added:

"You haven't got any bread and butter and jam you could spare, have you, Mary?"

"Sure there's lots of it," was the answer. "Though it's not long since I cleared off the breakfast things. Will I bring two plates?"

"Have some, Jerry?"

Jerry tried to struggle between wanting some of the good jam he knew would be brought out, and his desire to maintain his attitude against eating so soon after the morning meal. Bob watched him, and laughed.

"Of course you will, Jerry," he said. "Bring two plates, and plenty of jam."

"Seen Ned since last night?" asked Jerry, as he spread the jam on his bread.

"Nope, but he's coming over this afternoon, and we were going out in the boat," replied Bob, hardly pausing between the bites. "Want to come?"

"Speak of trolley cars and you'll hear the gong," remarked Jerry, as he looked out of the window and saw Ned Slade across the street. Ned observed his chums at the same instant and came over.

"At it again, Chunky?" he asked, as he saw the refreshments. "How many meals so far to-day?"

"Help yourself," replied Bob, not bothering to defend his character.

Ned lost little time in following his chums' examples, and Bob, with a laugh, rang the bell to have the cook bring more bread and butter. The jam supply still held out.

"Let me make you acquainted with Willie-off-the-Yacht," said Bob, nodding toward Jerry.

"What's the matter? Has he bought a pair of white duck trousers and a cap?"

"Worse and more of it," Bob answered. "He's going to the seashore for the summer, and learn to run a sail boat."

"That's so, it's about time to think of where I'm going this summer," mused Ned. "I heard the folks say something about the mountains, but I don't know as I care for 'em. Wish we could do as we did last year, and cruise about in the Dartaway."

"Why can't we?" asked Bob, spreading another piece of bread. "Jerry says he's going to the shore, where his mother is hiring a cottage. Maybe I can persuade my folks to let me go down along the coast and board; or perhaps they'd go along. Then if you could come, too, Ned, we could take the Dartaway with us, and run up and down the shore, and have no end of good times. How about it?"

"Sounds good to me," Ned replied. "I guess we could manage it. How could we get the boat down?"

"Have it boxed and shipped, of course," Bob replied. "It traveled a good way over land before it got to us, and I guess it wouldn't cost much."

"Say, that would be sport!" exclaimed Jerry. "There is just the place for a motor boat where mother is going."

"Where's that?" asked Ned.

"Harmon Beach. There's a sort of cove there, where the boats are sheltered from storms. But you can go through the inlet right out to sea, and then up and down the coast. The Dartaway is big enough to stand a bit of bad weather, if it don't come too strong."

"Then let's do it," exclaimed Bob. "I'll speak to my folks right away, and will you fellows do the same? Then we can talk it over again."

"I'm pretty sure dad is going to the Berkshires," Ned answered, "but I don't have to go with the rest of the family. I'll find out as soon as I can. Are there any good boarding houses at Harmon Beach, Jerry?"

"I don't know much about that part of it, but I'll ask mother to take a larger cottage than she counted on and you two boys can come with me."

"Fine!" cried the others. "That will be the best ever," went on Bob. "Here's your hat, Jerry, go home and ask her right away."

"Well, I like your nerve, Bob Baker!" exclaimed Jerry. "Nice way to treat company! Here's your hat, what's your hurry? I'll come again!" and he pretended to get angry.

"Oh, you know I didn't mean it that way!" cried Bob, fearing he had offended his friend. "It's only that we're anxious, you know. I want-"

"Hark! What's that?" cried Ned, running to the window, just as the only ambulance the town of Cresville possessed, went by with the gong clanging.

"Something has happened!" exclaimed Jerry. "See all the people running."

The three boys hurried to the front door. The street was filled with a hurrying and excited throng, every one going in the same direction.

"What's the matter?" asked Bob, of a boy running past the house.

"Railroad collision! Lots killed! Down near the cut crossing!" the lad exclaimed.

"Come on!" Jerry shouted. "Let's go!"

* * *

The boys grabbed up their hats, raced down the steps, and along the street in the direction of the railroad. While they are on their way, the reader may care to ascertain a little more about the three chums, and something of their doings, which have been set forth in previous volumes of this series.

Jerry Hopkins was the son of a well-to-do widow, Bob Baker the offspring of a rich banker, while Ned Slade's father owned a large department store.

The first volume of the series, entitled "The Motor Boys," told how the lads took part in bicycle races, and how one of them won a fine motor cycle. They incurred the enmity of Noddy Nixon, a town bully, and his crony, Bill Berry. The chums had many experiences on their motor cycles, and in a race they won a fine touring automobile. Their adventures, and exciting ones they were, which followed the acquisition of the car, were told of in the second volume, "The Motor Boys Overland." They went west to search for an old mine, of which a prospector they had befriended had told them. They found the claim, with the aid of Jim Nestor, though they had a close race with Noddy Nixon and Bill Berry to get formal possession.

On their western trip the boys had become acquainted with an old man, Professor Uriah Snodgrass, a naturalist, and he told them of an ancient buried city in Old Mexico. The boys resolved to search for it, and how they succeeded was set forth in the third volume, "The Motor Boys in Mexico." They had several fights with the Mexicans and Bob was kidnapped, but escaped. The ancient city was found, very unexpectedly, as the auto sunk down through a concealed road and coursed along an underground passage. There many strange things occurred, including the discovery of the disappearing reservoir, and a valuable box of jewels.

The boys decided to visit their mine, on their way back to the United States, and it was a good thing they did, as it had fallen into the possession of the plotters, as related in "The Motor Boys Across the Plains." An old hermit, who lived near a lake, proved to be the father of a boy the three chums rescued from a desperate gang and, later, the hermit was of much assistance in retaining possession of the mine for the motor boys, since he was one of the original prospectors.

The boys returned home after that. They had saved quite a sum of money from their share of the mine profits, and invested it in a fine motor boat, the Dartaway. As set forth in the fifth volume of the series, entitled "The Motor Boys Afloat," the three chums transferred their energies to river and lake, and took part in races, foiled the plot Noddy Nixon laid, and solved the mystery of a strange schooner and the robbery of Mr. Slade's store. They had an exciting chase after the thieves, rendering the police much assistance.

All their adventures took place during their school vacations. Now another one was at hand, and, naturally enough, the boys wanted to have as much fun as had fallen to their lot in the past. But, while they were racing to the railroad wreck, their minds were more on that than on what the summer might hold for them.

"I wonder if many are killed?" Bob said.

"Looks as though some were, as there goes the morgue wagon. There must be a number injured, too," Jerry replied. "There go Dr. Bounce, Dr. Jones and Dr. Hardy," and he pointed to the carriages of the three physicians. The medical men were urging their horses to a gallop.

Following the crowd the boys soon found themselves near the railroad, which swept up to Cresville in a long curve, after passing through a deep cut. It was in this cut where the wreck had occurred. The boys could see, from the top of a little hill, a great crowd gathered about the entrance to the gorge.

"Come on!" cried Ned. "Maybe we can help!"

It was a terrible sight that met the boys' eyes as they entered the narrow cut. As they learned later a defective rail had caused the smash-up. The engine had jumped the track, and crashed into the rocky sides of the defile. The cars had piled on top of the locomotive, and there was a mass of wreckage.

Wheels and trucks were scattered about. The top of one car had been sliced off, and was resting on the coach in front of it. Another car was almost inside of another, and the smoker had mounted the engine tender, the wheels being buried in the coal and water tank.

Fortunately it was summer, and there was no fire in the cars, so the wreckage did not ignite. The coals from the engine boiler had started a small blaze, but this had been put out.

The train was a through one, not scheduled to stop at Cresville, and there had been comparatively few passengers aboard.

The rescuers were already at work. Several bodies had been carried from the wreck, and placed on beds made from the car seats. One or two silent forms, under shawls and blankets, told, better than words, that death had come swiftly to the unfortunates.

There were several badly injured, and it was to them that the physicians gave prompt attention. The majority of the hurt were women and children, though there were some men. Only the fact that travel was light, just preceding the annual vacation rush, prevented a terrible loss of life.

At first the boys did not know what to do to assist, though they felt they should help, as far as possible. They stood in the front of the crowd, which the railroad men were endeavoring to keep back, and looked on, their hearts palpitating with the terrible sights they witnessed. As they stood there Dr. Bounce, who had just finished bandaging up a man's leg, came past. He knew the three boys, and, as he saw them, he called:

"Here, Jerry, you and your friends come in here and help me, will you? I've got my hands full. One of you carry my medicine case, and the others rummage around and get all the cloth you can for bandages. Tear up the sheets in the sleeper. That is the last car and didn't smash up as badly as the others."

Anxious to take part in the work, and glad to be called on by Dr. Bounce, the boys slipped through the cordon of railroad men, who, at a nod from the physician, let them pass, and followed the doctor.

Jerry took the medical man's valise, containing its grim instruments and also the healing remedies, and the merciful chloroform to relieve pain. Ned and Bob found their way to the wrecked sleeper. No one was in it, and they got an axe and broke open some of the berths, which were jammed shut. They took out pillows, sheets and blankets, which willing hands soon distributed among the wounded.

The two boys tore the sheets into long strips that Dr. Bounce and the other physicians used to bind up the cuts and bruises of the wounded. As fast as the passengers were taken from the wreck they were put on improvised stretchers and carried out of the dark and gloomy gorge to the level land beyond, where the doctors could work over them.

Jerry was kept busy attending on Dr. Bounce, handing him this instrument or that, and pouring out the medicines under the physician's directions.

The scene was one of confusion and terror. Cries and groans of the wounded mingled with the weeping of those who had lost loved ones in the crash. Then came the noise of axes, hammers and saws on wood, the implements being used to free some imprisoned victims, held down by heavy timbers.

It seemed that all were now rescued who could escape by their own efforts or be carried out by the workers. There only remained the possible dead under the wreck and those who might be held fast in it. The boys had a brief respite from their strenuous labors. They were standing together, hardly able to realize what they had seen and taken part in.

Suddenly a small boy rushed up to where the chums were standing. He seemed greatly excited.

"Come here, quick!" he called.

"What is it, Andy Rush?" asked Bob.

"Man-pinned under a big beam-groaning awful-makes me have the shivers-I tried to get him-couldn't-head hurt I guess-come on-help me-we'll save his life," and finishing his usual disjointed and rapid-fire remarks Andy hurried off, followed by the three chums on the run.

He led them to the rear end of a telescoped car. There, pinned under a pile of seats, was a gray haired man, his white locks stained with blood. He was groaning feebly.

With a quick eye Jerry saw one particular plank that was holding the others like a wedge. He caught up a hammer and, with a few heavy blows, knocked the splintered timber out of place. Then he and the other boys were able to lift the man out. As they carried him to where the other wounded were lying on improvised cots, the wounded passenger murmured:

"Jess!-Jess!-Where are you? Jess! Jess!"

* * *

"Here, Dr. Bounce!" called Jerry, as he and his chums laid the aged man down on a pile of car cushions, "here's a man who needs your attention," and the physician, who was hurrying past, stopped.

"Where did you find him?" he asked.

"Got him out of the wreck," replied Ned.

"Well, you boys are certainly doing good work," Dr. Bounce remarked. He bent over the old man and felt of his head. "Skull fractured," he murmured. "Not much chance."

By this time the ambulance which had made several trips came back, and in it the man the boys had saved was taken to the hospital, being one of the last to go.

Never before had there been such excitement in Cresville. The whole town was aroused, and every one offered some aid to the wounded. There were a number taken to private houses, and cared for there, as the hospital was a small one.

Soon the wrecking crew came, the men working rapidly to get the tracks cleared. Because the smash had occurred in the cut there was no chance to build a temporary track around it, as is sometimes done.

Then came a swarm of reporters from Boston, which was not far from Cresville. They kept the telegraph wires fairly sizzling with dispatches, telling of the terrible wreck.

A big crowd remained at the scene long after the damaged cars and engine had been hauled away, and the line put in shape for use, which was late in the afternoon. The three boys, who, to tell the truth, were nervous and upset from the unaccustomed sights, left shortly after the old man had been taken away.

"Well," remarked Bob, as they strolled back toward his house, "it would be hard to beat that for excitement."

"What were we doing just before it happened?" asked Ned. "It seems like a week ago when we ran out to join the crowd."

"We were talking about going to the shore with our motor boat," Jerry put in.

"Oh, yes. Well, let's see if we can't work that scheme. Suppose you two come over to my house this afternoon," spoke Ned.

His chums said they would, and then the three separated, their minds filled with a strange combination; the pleasures that might be in store for them mingling with the sad memories of the wreck.

Jerry spoke of the boys' plan to his mother at dinner. She took a little time to think it over, and then announced she would try to get a large cottage if possible.

"Ned and Bob can come and stay with you," she said, "that is if their folks will let them. I want to see you all have a good time, and I believe the motor boat will be just the thing at the shore. Only you must be very careful. When I think of some of the things you and your friends went through with, Jerry, it frightens me."

"Well, I guess we can look after ourselves, mother. We've pulled out of some pretty tight places."

Mrs. Hopkins wrote a letter to a real estate agent at Harmon Beach, and Jerry was so anxious to have the plan succeed that he did not forget to mail the epistle which his mother gave him to post as he was going out. It was the first time such a thing had occurred in quite a while, as Jerry had a bad habit of forgetting to drop letters in the post-office.

Happy in the anticipation that he and his chums would be able to spend the summer together, Jerry whistled a gleeful mixture of all the sea songs he had ever heard, as he hurried over to Ned's house. He found both his chums there.

"How about it?" asked Ned.

"My part is all right," announced Jerry, "though of course it depended on whether a large-enough cottage can be secured." But he did not think that detail worth bothering about. If worst came to worst he knew he and his chums would sleep on the floor in one room.

"I can go," Bob announced, and Ned chimed in to say his parents had no objections if he was to stay at Mrs. Hopkins's house.

"Then it's all arranged," Jerry said, in boyish confidence. "Now we'll have to overhaul the Dartaway, and get her in shape. A new awning would do no harm, and I think we'll need a little heavier anchor."

With boundless enthusiasm the boys began to discuss their plans. They jumped from one thing to another, from the possibility of cruising half way to Florida to doing deep-sea-fishing in their motor boat.

"We'll have the time of our lives," said Bob. "We'll-"

At that instant the door of the sitting room where the chums were opened and Dr. Bounce entered.

"You boys were talking so loudly you didn't hear me knock I guess," he said.

"Is any one sick?" inquired Ned, thinking the medical man had called to attend some one.

"Not here," replied Dr. Bounce, "but there are enough cases in town to keep ten doctors busy. No, I called about that old man you helped get out of the wreck."

"Is he dead?" asked Jerry.

"I'm afraid he can't last long. He regained consciousness a little while ago, and wanted the three boys who took him from under the seats to be sent for. Do any of you know him?"

"Why, no. Did he mention any of us by name?" inquired Bob.

"No, but he insisted he wanted to see the three boys, and I happened to remember it was you who saved him. He seems to have something on his mind. Perhaps it will make him rest more easily if you go to the hospital and see him. It may be only an odd fancy, but sometimes we have to humor our patients. Will you go?"

The boys said they would, and while they were getting their hats Dr. Bounce told them how he had first gone to Jerry's house and then to Bob's, before he arrived at Ned's.

The hospital was so crowded with patients from the wreck that even the office of the superintendent and some of the doctors' rooms were used. On cots in them were men and women; some badly injured.

The aged man had a small room to himself, as his case was regarded as critical. Dr. Bounce, preceding the three boys, entered. He paused for a few seconds regarding the patient, who seemed to be sleeping. Then the physician turned, and silently beckoned the boys to approach. As they came near the old man opened his eyes and regarded them curiously for a moment.

"Are these the boys you wanted to see?" inquired Dr. Bounce.

"Yes, yes," was the eager reply. The man tried to raise himself in bed, but was so weak he fell back on the pillow.

"Calm yourself," said Dr. Bounce soothingly. "You must not get excited. What did you want of the boys?"

"I want Jess," murmured the man, looking first at one of the boys, and then at the other. "I was on my way to get her, after long years of separation, when there came a terrible blow on my head."

"But what have the boys to do with it, and who is Jess?" asked Dr. Bounce.

"They will find her for me. They know where she is. Where the great light is. They can find her. They are smart boys. I can see that." Then his mind wandered. "I must have my Jess. Maybe she was killed in the wreck! Oh, boys, please find her for me! Perhaps she is pinned down under the seat where you rescued me!"

The chums looked at each other curiously. Dr. Bounce placed his hand on the old man's pulse.

"Tell us who you are," the physician said. "Who is Jess, and how can the boys find her?"

"Jess-Jess-where the great light shines at night,-Bring her to me-I am-I am-Jess-the boys will find you-they will save you! Oh, the awful crash!"

The next instant the old man, who, in his excitement, had risen from the pillow fell backward, and his eyes closed. A terror seemed to grip the boys' hearts. They thought they had seen death come. Dr. Bounce rang a bell to summon a nurse.

"He has become unconscious again after his raving," the doctor said. "I'm afraid my experiment was a failure. Do you know who Jess is, or what he is referring to about the 'great light,' boys?"

"Not in the least," replied Jerry, and his chums said the same.

"Was any one of that name killed or hurt in the wreck?" Dr. Bounce went on.

"No," replied Bob. "I have looked over the list as published in one of the extras, and all the passengers are accounted for. No one was named Jess."

"Do you suppose he could have meant a dog called Jess?" came from Ned. "He seemed to think some one might be pinned down under the seats where he was."

"But he spoke of going to claim her after a long separation," Dr. Bounce went on, while the nurse was administering medicine to the unconscious patient. "That would apply only to a person. No, I believe Jess is a girl or a woman. There seems to be some mystery connected with her."

"Maybe we will happen to solve it some day," remarked Jerry. "I wonder what he meant by the 'great light?'"

* * *