"Cap'n Toby Ready,

"_Inventor and Patentee of the Universal Herb Medicine, Guaranteed to Cure All Ills, Both of Man and Quadruped._"

CHAPTER XX.

THE "CURLEW" IN TROUBLE.

"Looks as if we might have a blow, Jack."

The _Curlew_ was lazily moving along, with all sail set, carrying the boys back to Pine Island from their adventurous visit to Musky Bay. But, although every bit of canvas was stretched on her spars, she hardly moved. Her form was reflected in the smooth water with almost mirror-like accuracy.

"A blow? Pshaw," scoffed Noddy, "there isn't a breath of wind. I wish we could get a blow and cool off."

"Well, your wish is likely to come true before very long," said Jack, who was at the tiller.

"How's that?"

"See that cloud bank over yonder, that ragged one?"

"Yes, what's that got to do with it?"

"Well, that's as full of wind as an auto tire," said Jack. "I've been watching it for some time. It'll be a nasty storm when it hits us."

"Hadn't we better run in for shelter somewhere?" asked Billy.

"There's so little wind now that I doubt if we could get insh.o.r.e before the squall hits us," replied Jack. "I'll try to, though."

He headed for the distant sh.o.r.e, where the outlines of some sort of a wooden structure could be seen.

"If it gets very bad we can take refuge there," he said.

"That's so. I've no great fancy for getting wet," said Billy.

"Nor have I. We've had enough experiences of late to last us a long time," laughed Jack.

"And I was left out of every one of them," grumbled Noddy.

"For which you ought to be duly thankful," said Billy.

"Yes, I didn't enjoy that stone house much, or the soot," declared Jack.

"That cave didn't make much of a hit with me, either," said Billy. "My, those green eyes gave me a scare. I thought it was a bear or a mountain lion, sure; but they say there aren't any such animals in this part of the country."

"Abner said it must have been a lynx," said Jack.

"That being the case, you should have cuffed it," chuckled Noddy.

For the time being he escaped punishment for perpetrating this alleged pun, for the wind began to freshen and the _Curlew_ slid through the water like a thing of life. The sh.o.r.e drew rapidly nearer.

But the cloud curtain spread with astonishing rapidity, till the whole sky was covered. The water turned from green to a dull leaden hue. Puffs of wind came with great velocity, heeling over the _Curlew_ till the foam creamed in her lee scuppers.

The wind moaned in a queer, eerie sort of way, that bespoke the coming of a storm of more than ordinary severity. Jack was a prey to some anxiety as he held the _Curlew_ on her course. If they could not make the dock he was aiming for before the storm struck, there might be serious consequences.

But, to his great relief, they reached the wharf, a tumble-down affair, before the tempest broke. The _Curlew_ was made "snug," and this had hardly been done before a mighty gust of wind, followed by a blanket of rain, tore through the air.

"Just in time, boys," said Jack, as they set out on the run for the structure which they had observed from the water. On closer view it turned out to be nothing more than a barn, not in any too good repair, but still it offered a shelter.

The boys reached it just as a terrific blast of wind swept across the bay, roughening it with mult.i.tudinous whitecaps. A torrent of rain blotted out distances at the same time and turned all the world in their vicinity into a driving white cloud.

The barn proved to be even more rickety than its outside had indicated.

The door was gone and its windows were broken out. But at least it was pleasanter under a roof than it would have been out in the open. The rain, driven by the furious wind, penetrated the rotten, sun-dried shingles and pattered on the earthen floor, but the boys found a dry place in one corner, where there was a pile of hay.

As the storm increased in fury the clouds began to blot out the daylight. It grew as dark as night almost. The roar of the rain was like the voice of a giant cataract.

"We may have to stay here all night," said Billy, after a long silence.

"That's true," rejoined Jack. "It would be foolhardy to take a boat like the _Curlew_ out in such a storm."

Suddenly there came a terrific flash of lightning, followed by a sharp clap of thunder. It was succeeded by flash after flash, in blinding succession.

"My, this is certainly a snorter," exclaimed Billy, and the others agreed with him.

"We won't forget it in a hurry," said Jack. "I can't recall when I've heard the wind make such a noise."

To add to their alarm, as the fury of the wind increased, the old barn visibly quavered. It seemed to rock back and forth on its foundations.

The noise of the wind grew so loud that conversation was presently impossible.

Suddenly there came a fiercer blast than any that had gone before. There was a ripping and rending sound.

"Great Scott! Boys, run for your lives, the old shack is tumbling down,"

cried Jack.

He had scarcely spoken when what he had antic.i.p.ated happened. Beams, boards and shingles flew in every direction. There was no time even to think. Acting instinctively, each boy threw himself flat upon the pile of moldy hay.

Noddy, in his terror, burrowed deep into it. The noise that accompanied the dissolution of the old barn was terrific. Each boy felt as if at any moment a huge beam might fall on him and crush his life out. Above it all the wind howled with a note of triumph at its work of destruction.

The boys felt as if the end of the world had come.

CHAPTER XXI.

THE END OF JACK'S HOLIDAY.