CHAPTER 19 SNOW WHITE WINGS HOME

NOW Vevi was more frightened than ill. The Adventurer was bobbing up and down on the waves. But the motion was a gentle one, and the girls had not been aboard long enough to really become seasick.

It was the fear of being carried out to sea that worried Vevi and Connie more than anything else. They were troubled too, lest the drifting cruiser crash into one of the other boats which had been tied up to buoys in the bay.

Connie followed her little friend inside the Adventurer’s cabin.

“Don’t cry, Vevi,” she comforted her. “We’re still in the bay. Mr. Curry said we’ll be sighted before we drift very far out.”

“Mr. Curry doesn’t care what becomes of us,” Vevi said, lifting her head out of the pillow. “He was mean and deceitful!”

“Mr. Curry is afraid we’ll tell what we saw,” Connie declared. “Oh, I wish we could get off this boat in time to catch him!”

Far across the bay the girls heard the muffled roar of a motorboat engine.

Hopeful of a rescue, they darted out of the cabin. The boat they had heard was a long distance away, moving not toward them, but in the opposite direction.

Nevertheless, Vevi and Connie screamed and screamed for help.

Their cries were useless. The boat kept on, soon disappearing in the direction of the distant lighthouse.

“Why doesn’t someone see us?” whimpered Vevi. “Why doesn’t Mrs. Allison come? Or the Brownies?”

Connie was becoming more worried by the moment. The Adventurer, she noted, was drifting faster and faster.

No longer was it close to shore or other boats. If once it passed the mouth of the bay, they would truly be at sea.

“If only we’d drift past one of those red buoys, maybe we could grab onto it,” she said.

The buoys which marked the harbor channel ran almost in a straight line out from shore. But the Adventurer did not drift very close to any of them.

In reaching out, trying to grasp one of the markers, Connie lost her brown Beanie cap. It fell into the water and was caught by a wave. For a minute she could see it floating on the foamy crest. Then it was gone.

Hopefully, the girls gazed toward shore. They could see the long rows of cottages, the pier, the town dock and two church spires.

“It’s almost seven o’clock,” Connie said. “Don’t worry, Vevi. Mrs. Allison, my mother or Miss Gordon will be coming down to the beach soon now. They’ll see that the boat is missing and send help.”

“But they won’t know what’s become of the Adventurer, Connie. We’ve drifted so you can’t see the dock where the boat was tied up.”

“Let’s tie a white cloth to the railing,” Connie suggested. “Maybe someone will see that and know we’re in trouble.”

Going into the cabin, the children searched for a suitable object. Finally they found a towel they were able to use. But they did not have much hope it would attract anyone’s attention.

Vevi’s gaze presently fell upon Snow White’s basket. The pigeon was drowsing.

“Say! Why didn’t we think of it before, Connie?”

“Think of what?”

“We can send a message for help by carrier pigeon!”

“Send it where, Vevi?”

“Why, to Mr. Green’s pigeon loft. Snow White would fly there.”

“You mean he would if he didn’t get lost.”

“Let’s try it anyhow,” Vevi urged. “It’s our only chance.”

“All right,” Connie agreed quickly.

Writing materials were found in the built-in desk inside the cabin. Vevi urged Connie to print the message so it could be more easily read.

Connie picked up the pen, thought hard for a moment and then wrote:

“Carried out to sea on the Adventurer. Send help quick!”

She signed the message, “Vevi and Connie.”

“Underline that word ‘quick’ three times,” Vevi advised.

Connie marked under the word and folded the paper until it was very small. Removing Snow

White from his basket, the girls then placed the message in the carrying cartridge on his leg.

“Oh, Snow White, do your best,” Vevi pleaded as she bore the pigeon to the railing. “Fly straight home!”

She stroked the pigeon’s glossy feathers for a bit. Then she tossed him into the air.

“He’s going to settle on that rock beyond the buoy!” Connie gasped. “Oh, that Snow White! He’s just no good.”

“Yes, he is too!” Vevi insisted logically. “He’s just getting his bearings. Give him a minute or two to get started.”

Snow White had circled the big black rock as if intending to settle on it. Vevi and Connie watched anxiously. They knew if the pigeon stopped to rest, he would never fly back to his home loft.

“There he goes!” cried Vevi jubilantly.

As if suddenly making up his mind, the pigeon winged off toward shore. He flew in a dead straight line.

“He’s going toward Mr. Green’s place!” Vevi shouted. “Oh, I knew Snow White could do it.”

“He isn’t there yet,” Connie reminded her. “He may meet a hawk on the way and get into a fight.”

“It isn’t far to Mr. Green’s place though. And Snow White’s flying fast.”

The girls watched at the railing until they no longer were able to see the bird. Then as the cruiser began to wallow heavily in the waves, they went back inside the cruiser.

“At least we won’t starve even if we are carried out to sea,” said Connie, looking around.

The Adventurer evidently had been stocked for a long cruise. In addition to tins of meat, vegetables and miscellaneous items, there were sacks of fresh fruit and cookies.

“I’m awfully hungry,” said Connie, her mouth watering at sight of a big juicy pear. “I don’t think we should eat any of Mrs. Allison’s food though, unless we’re almost starving.”

“I am now,” declared Vevi. “I’m thirsty too.”

Though the girls looked everywhere they could not find any drinking water.

Time passed very slowly. Thinking that at least an hour had elapsed, Connie went outside to try to learn what time it was.

However, the Adventurer had drifted so far that she could not see the town clock. “It must be at least eight o’clock,” she declared. “And we never were missed!”

“What could have become of everyone?” speculated Vevi. “Why didn’t the Brownies come down to the wharf? Don’t they care what becomes of us?”

“Surely in all this time, they’d have missed us.”

“Something must have happened,” Vevi said gloomily. “I’m really getting scared, Connie.”

Her face puckered up and she looked as if she were about to cry again.

“Listen!” commanded Connie suddenly.

In the distance, a clock had begun to strike.

Anxiously, the girls counted the strokes.

“Eight o’clock!” exclaimed Vevi. “Or was it nine? I got mixed up.”

“I counted only seven. But can that be right?”

“We’ve been drifting for hours, Connie.”

Connie squinted at the rising sun and shook her head.

“I don’t think so,” she said. “If it were eight o’clock, we’d be farther out from shore. And people would be on the beach taking their sun baths.”

Vevi dropped a piece of paper into the water. A moment later the cruiser had drifted past it.

“We must be in a current,” Vevi said. “We’re moving awfully fast.”

“Away from the lighthouse too. The waves are getting bigger and bigger.”

The breeze which blew across the deck was rather cold. Spray from the higher waves dampened the girls’ hair and made them feel chilly.

“I’m going to stay inside,” Vevi said, her teeth chattering. “I don’t think we’ll ever be picked up. We’ll be washed clear out to sea and never see our folks or the Brownies again.”

“Don’t talk like that,” Connie scolded her friend. “You’re a Brownie Scout, aren’t you? Brownies are supposed to be cheerful and always look at the bright side.”

“I’m trying to be brave but—oh!”

The cruiser had given a sudden lurch which nearly flung Vevi from her feet.

“Something hit us!” she wailed, clutching Connie’s hand.

“It was only a big wave. When the boat engine isn’t on, you feel ’em more. That one hit us broadside.”

“I’m going inside,” Vevi repeated. “It’s not safe out here on deck. We might be thrown overboard.”

She dived into the cabin. Connie took another look around to see if help might not be near. Seeing no one or any moving boat, she followed her friend into the cabin.

Vevi had huddled down on one of the bunks, wrapping a blanket about herself. Connie joined her there, sharing the warmth of the cover.

“I wish we’d never decided to go for a ride on this stupid old boat,” Vevi murmured.

“What I wish is that we hadn’t gone on ahead of the other Brownies,” declared Connie.

The two girls felt very miserable and discouraged. They were beginning to fear they never would be missed. Although they were not really seasick, the steady rolling of the boat made them feel uncomfortable.

“I’m going to be sick,” announced Vevi, lying down on the bunk.

Connie curled up beside her under the blanket. For a long while they kept very quiet, listening to the slap of the waves on the Adventurer’s hull.

“It’s hours since we started to drift,” Vevi whispered. “We must be way out in the ocean now.”

Connie arose and went to the porthole window. Looking out, she saw only an empty stretch of water.

Badly frightened, she moved across to the other side of the cabin. From this window she was relieved to be able to see the shore.

As she watched, the cruiser swung slightly, so that Connie saw a huge mound of piled up rocks. She knew that it marked one side of the harbor entrance.

Once the cruiser passed that point, it really would be out at sea.

“Where are we?” demanded Vevi, swinging her legs over the side of the bunk.

Before she could start across the cabin, she felt a hard jar as something struck the Adventurer amidship.

“Was that a log?” she gasped. “Or another boat?”

The girls were afraid to hope that anyone had come to their rescue.

“Ship ahoy!” they heard someone call. “Anyone aboard?”

Laughing in sheer joy, Vevi and Connie rushed out of the cabin.

“We’re here!” they shouted.

Captain Tarwell had come alongside in another cruiser. Aboard were Mrs. Allison, Connie’s mother, Miss Gordon and all the Brownies.

“Thank goodness, you’re both safe,” cried Mrs. Williams. Captain Tarwell hooked the two boats together so that Mrs. Williams and Miss Gordon could step aboard the Adventurer.

Mrs. Williams held Connie tightly in her arms while the Brownie leader gave Vevi an affectionate hug.

“How did you find us?” Connie asked when she could catch her breath. “Did you see our drifting boat?”

“The report came from several places almost at the same time,” Miss Gordon explained. “The Brownies were a little late getting to the wharf. Before we arrived, a telephone call came to Captain Tarwell from Mr. Green.”

“From the pigeon loft?” Vevi demanded, her face lighted up. “Then Snow White got through with our message!”

“Yes, Jamie was feeding the pigeons when the carrier alighted on the roof. He read the message and called Mr. Green.”

“Mr. Green didn’t know what to make of it,” Mrs. Williams went on with the story. “So he telephoned Captain Tarwell, asking him to investigate.”

“About that same time,” Miss Gordon resumed, “Mrs. Allison reached the dock and couldn’t find her cruiser. While she was wondering if it had been stolen, another telephone call came in from the lighthouse keeper. He’d sighted the drifting boat.”

“We really caused a lot of excitement, didn’t we?” grinned Vevi.

“You certainly did,” agreed Miss Gordon. “You frightened us half out of our wits. What in the world possessed you to untie the Adventurer?”

The question astonished Vevi and Connie.

“But we didn’t!” they cried together.

“Then how did the boat get loose?”

Vevi was so excited that her words came out in a rush.

“It was Raymond Curry who set the boat adrift!” she informed the startled adults. “We saw him steal from another cruiser. He didn’t want us to tell so he untied the rope.”

“He wanted to get away from Silver Beach before anyone caught him,” added Connie earnestly. “Miss Gordon, he was the one who stole your wrist watch! If you call the police right away, maybe you can get it back!”