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Bob the Castaway

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<h2 id="id00184" style="margin-top: 4em">CHAPTER III</h2> <h5 id="id00185">A STRANGE PROPOSITION</h5> Perhaps some of my readers may not know what the contrivance known as a "tic-tac" is like. Those of you who have made them, of course, do not need to be told. If you ever put them on any person's window, I hope you selected a house where there were only boys and girls or young people to be startled by the tic-tac. It is no joke, though at first it may seem like one, to scare an old person with the affair. So if any boy or girl makes a tic-tac after the description given here, I trust he or she will be careful on whom the prank is played. To make a tic-tac a long string, a pin and a small nail are all that is required. A short piece of string is broken from the larger piece, and to one end of this latter the pin is fastened by being thrust through a knot. To the other end or the short cord is attached the nail. Then the long string is tied to the short string a little distance above the nail. With this contrivance all made ready Bob and Ted sneaked up under the front window of the widow's house. It was the work of but a moment for Bob to stick the point of the pin in the wooden part of the window-frame so that the nail dangled against the glass. Then, holding the free end of the long string, he and Ted withdrew to the shadow of some lilac bushes. "All ready?" asked Ted. "Sure. Here she goes!" Bob then gently jerked the string. This swung the nail to and fro, and it tapped on the window-pane as if some one was throwing pebbles against the glass. This was kept up for several seconds. The widow, who was reading in the dining-room, heard the tapping at the glass. It startled her at first, and then, thinking some one might be at the door, she conquered her nervousness and opened the portal. Of course she saw no one, and the string was not observed. Neither were the boys, hidden in the bushes. "We fooled her," chuckled Ted, for they could see all that happened. "Sure we did," added Bob. "Wait till she goes in and we'll do it some more." Somewhat puzzled, the Widow Mooney closed the door. No sooner was she back in the dining-room than the tapping at the pane was resumed. This time it was louder. The widow, who was quite timid and nervous, felt frightened. She had years before believed in spirits, and she had not altogether gotten over this. Once more she went to the door, the boys observing her from their hiding-place. They were so delighted with their prank, which they thought a fine "joke," that they laughed heartily, having to hold their hands over their mouths so as not to betray themselves. "She don't know what it is," whispered Ted. "Maybe she thinks it's night-hawks pecking at the window," suggested Bob. "Go ahead. Tap some more. She's going in." Much puzzled by the queer noises, for no one had ever before put a tic-tac on her window, Mrs. Mooney went back to her dining-room. But she could not read. "I must find out what that is," she said to herself. "If it's burglars, I'm going to call for help. Suppose it should be thieves trying to cut one of the window-panes? I've read of such doings." Now, the widow was less afraid of something bodily, like burglars, than she was of "spirits," so she resolved the next time she heard the queer tapping to run out and call for help. In a little while Bob pulled the string again, and the dangling nail went tap! tap! tap! against the pane. "Here she comes!" exclaimed Ted in a whisper as the door opened. And this time, instead of contenting herself by merely looking about, Mrs. Mooney came out on the porch. Then she started down the front walk toward the lilac bushes, though she did not know the boys were there. "She's comin' after us," whispered Ted. "Come on, Bob." Bob was aware of the danger of getting caught. He prepared to run. Now there is this advantage to a tic-tac. Once you want to escape you can take it with you by the simple process of pulling on the long string, when the pin is jerked from the window-frame, and you can drag the nail and all with you, thus leaving no evidence behind. This was what Bob did. Quickly winding up the string as he pulled the pin and nail toward him, he and Ted started to run, crouching down low so as not to be seen. But Ted, unfortunately for the success of their plan, stumbled and fell, making so much noise that Mrs. Mooney heard it. "Thieves! Burglars! Police!" she screamed. "Come on!" cried Bob desperately. "We'll be caught!" Mrs. Mooney ran back into the house, slammed the front door, shut and locked it. She believed she had surprised thieves at work, for she saw two dim forms running toward the street. "Leg it!" whispered Bob. "I am," replied Ted. They reached the gate together, but that was as far as they got, for just as they arrived at it they collided with a large man who was running toward the house. He was so large that the combined impact of Bob and Ted against him never staggered him, but it almost threw them off their feet. They were running, head down, and had not seen him. "Hold hard there, my hearties!" exclaimed the man in a gruff but not unpleasant voice. "What are you trying to cross my bows for in this fashion? That's no way to run, not showing a masthead light or even blowing a whistle. Avast and belay! You might have sunk me if I didn't happen to be a heavier craft than you." As the man spoke he instinctively grasped the two boys, preventing them from continuing their flight. "What's the trouble?" he went on. "I heard a female crying—sounding a distress signal like. Where are the burglars? Are you going for the police?" "No, sir. It was us, playing tic-tac," explained Bob, thinking it best to make a clean breast of the affair. "Tic-tac, eh? I haven't heard that since I was a boy. On whose window?" "The Widow Mooney's, sir." "And it was the widow, I presume, who was signaling for aid. Well, I'll stand by and see what's wanted. You'd better come back also." "Aw, we don't want to," spoke Ted. "No, I suppose not. Still you're coming." The man had both boys firmly by their arms, and he turned in the gateway with them. As he did so, Mrs. Mooney, hearing voices, ventured to open her door. The light streamed out and showed the face of the man. At the sight of it Bob uttered an exclamation. "Why, it's Captain Spark!" he cried. "That's what. You read my signals right, my lad, and if I'm not mistaken, you're Bob Henderson." "Yes, sir." Captain Jeremiah Spark was an old seafaring man. He was a distant relative of Bob's mother, and, in fact, he was on his way to call on her, having just returned from a long voyage, when he ran into the boys, or, rather, they collided with him. "So you're playing tricks on a poor, lone widow woman, are you?" asked the captain in no very pleasant tones. "We—we didn't mean any harm," said Bob. "No, I suppose not. Boys never do, but the harm comes. Now I'm going to march you two lads right up before the mast; and you're going to apologize to the widow. If you don't, why, I reckon a cat-o'-nine-tails will fit the case pretty well." Mrs. Mooney was standing in her door as the captain led the two boys up to her. "Here's the burglars you were shouting about, ma'am," he said. "One of 'em a relative of mine, I'm sorry to say. They've come to beg your pardon. Go ahead, boys." "I'm sorry about the tic-tac," said Bob in a low voice. "We didn't mean nothin'," added Ted. "Was it you boys?" asked the widow. "I was so frightened. I thought burglars were trying to cut out a pane of glass." "I don't believe they'll do it again," remarked Captain Spark. "Will you, boys?" "No, sir," they chorused. "That's right. Now come on, Bob. I'm going to your house." The captain was warmly welcomed by Mr. and Mrs. Henderson a little later. Bob was wondering whether the captain would say anything about the recent prank, but the old seaman said nothing, though his eyes twinkled when, in response to a question from Mr. Henderson as to where the captain had met Bob, the former replied that there had been a collision in the dark. That night, after Bob had gone to bed, Mrs. Henderson had a talk with her relative. "I don't know what to do with Bob," she said. "He is always getting into mischief. He is not a bad boy at heart, but he is thoughtless." "Yes, that he is," agreed Captain Spark. "I am almost sure he was up to some prank tonight," went on Bob's mother. "I shall probably hear about it in the morning, when some of the neighbors call to make a complaint. Oh, dear, I wish I knew what to do!" "I'll tell you what," suddenly exclaimed the captain, banging his fist down on the table with emphasis. "Let me take him to sea with me aboard the Eagle." "Take him to sea? Take Bob on a voyage?" asked Mrs. Henderson. "That's it! You let me take him, and I'll guarantee I'll make a man of him. The land is no place for a boy, anyhow. He needs a bit of ocean travel to broaden his views." "That is a strange proposition," said Mr. Henderson. "We must think it over." <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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