“The little room in t’ so’est corner,” said the captain, adjusting his goggles preparatory to a visit to the light. Then before he climbed the stairs he paused a moment and spoke. “Say, have either of you a watch that keeps good time? I dropped mine this mornin’ an’ now she won’t tick any more. An’ ye know I feel sort o’ lonesome up aloft here when I hain’t got a timepiece about me. Sometimes my watch’s face is t’ on’y friendly face I see fer months, ’ception that o’ old Mitch, t’ lobsterman who lives down t’other end o’ t’ island. He’s the only one on this forsaken strip o’ land except me.”
“Here, Captain, take my watch,” said Jack, hastily handing over the gold timepiece that his father had given him several years before.
“Thank ’e, when ye want it jest let me know. I calc-late I’ll be able t’ fix mine in a day er so.”
Then as he started up the spiral stairs he said:
“Well, good night, boys. I’ll be abed when ye start out fer t’ rock to-morrow, so here’s luck an’ hopin’ ye’ll come back safe. Good night.”
And Ray and Jack started downstairs, both wondering what the next day would bring forth.
“Hi, Jack! Hello, Ray! Come, wake up. Think you can sleep all day? It’s half-past five.”
Thus were the two lads aroused next morning by Mr. Warner as he came from his room across the hall.
“Come,” he added, “tumble out. The boat will start for the rock before you are dressed.”
This was enough to stir both lads, for they had set their hearts on taking part in the tussle with the waves to gain the top of Cobra Head. They were on their feet in a jiffy and presently were whisking on their clothes with little regard for sartorial effect. Jack managed to get his undershirt on wrong side out, as boys frequently do when they are in a hurry, and Ray discovered that he was trying to get his left foot into his right shoe. But in a remarkably short time they had adjusted things, dashed cold water in their faces, given their hair a brief but effective brushing, and emerged from their room.
Ray’s arm was a little stiff at first, but the iodine that had been applied the day before had taken most of the soreness out of the cut and he positively refused to keep his hand in a sling any longer.
“I’ll keep on the bandage, but I won’t wear a sling. Makes me feel like an invalid,” he told Jack as they descended the stairs and joined Mr. Warner in front of the lighthouse cottage.