“You know that you and me had agreed on that red lamp signal,” began Timothy, “and on the night of the storm I thought likely I might have to use it. I was up all night, watchin’ the light, as I mostly always do when there is a storm, anyway, and after awhile, along in the morning, I see a long black cruiser run up to the stone dock and ride the storm out there. Thinking that it just meant to stay there until the storm went down I paid no attention to it, but the next day, after the storm was over, it was still there, though nary a sign of life did I see on it. The door was closed and there was no movement on it, although I watched it pretty close all day. Late in the afternoon, when my curiosity got to fever heat, I went down and hailed ’em, but not a peep out of them. I thought there was something funny about it, but there wasn’t nothing I could do about it.
“Along about nightfall I got uneasy, wonderin’ if somebody wasn’t watchin’ the lighthouse and me, much of me as they could see, and so I thought I’d light the lamp and hang it up, so you could run over and keep me company. But I felt kind o’ foolish about it, especially as you always josh me about being scared, anyway, so I let it go for awhile. I kept looking out at the cruiser, and there wasn’t a light to be seen on it; either they didn’t have any or the shades was pulled down tight. After a time I got over my bashfulness as far as you were concerned, Jerry Blow, and I lighted the lamp and went up the steps to put it on the sill. I had just placed it there when I thought I heard someone open the downstairs door and come into the lighthouse.
“It come to me then that if those fellows wanted to get into the lighthouse they must have seen me going up the stairs. You know what I mean, every time I came to a window in the shaft the red lantern shined out and I guess they must have seen it. So I hustled down the stairs, thinking that even if somebody hadn’t come in, it was high time I locked the door. I very seldom do that, you know, and I thought it was high time.
“But when I got down there I found the door open, though there wasn’t anyone in the center room. I knew I hadn’t left the door open myself, and I was suspicious, so I went and closed it, looking all around while I did so. Thinks I, maybe I had better look in the supply room and I opened the door. By mighty whales! what a start I got! There was two of ’em, that man Benito and the little fellow, examining one of the government service telescopes, a small one. I’d heard about them marine bandits and I knew these fellows was them.
“I guess they hadn’t expected to see me so soon and they looked mighty startled, too; though not for long. I tried to shut the door and hold ’em in, but they rushed it open and come for me. Remembering the telephone, I ran to that and got the receiver down, but it was too late to say anything. They caught ahold of me, tied me up, and lugged me down to their boat.
“I judged that they hadn’t intended to do anything like that at first, just thought they could steal a few things while I was up there in the tower and get away. But as long as I had busted up their party they decided that they had to take me with them, so they loaded me on that cruiser and started off. But we didn’t go far just then. They was expecting some sort of a visit from a fellow named Marcy, so they just run around a point and waited there. Kept me trussed up and stole the telescope.
“Near as I can judge you and these boys arrived soon after and that boy Terry somehow got out to their boat, the cruiser, and was on it when they started up and ran down the coast to this wreck. He was caught out there in the hold by Marcy, and dragged in here. They put him in a cell and then turned him over to the barge captain first thing in the morning, with orders to drop him off a hundred miles or so from here. I wasn’t bothered much, in fact, those fellows didn’t know what to do with me, so today they put me in the forward hold and locked me in.
“I worked around in there and finally managed to open that forward hatch and I got out. I didn’t know how to run their cruiser and I couldn’t swim to shore, so I decided to play ghost. All the time I was in the hold I could hear those fellows talking, and they finally got talking about ghosts, in such a way that I knew they were pretty superstitious. Thinks I to myself, maybe I can scare ’em off of the wreck and in the morning make a raft and get to shore, so I went back into the hold and found a piece of wire, a string, and some white cloth in an old locker. I stretched the wire across the two masts, hung a loop over the top of the cloth, which looked to be somebody’s nightgown, and rigged up the string. From down there in the hold I sent it up and tried it out, making it go backward and forward. Just then this Marcy comes up on deck and gosh didn’t he holler! Soon’s he dived down the companionway I just let the sheet drop down through the hatch, closed and bolted it and waited developments. Next thing I knew there was a terrible poundin’ and running, and playing safe, I lay down on the bunk until I was sure it was friends that was coming down the forward hatch. When I heard Don’s voice, ’course I didn’t know it, but I was sure it wasn’t one of the gang, and I came forward to see you.”
“Well,” said Jim, when the keeper stopped. “Your ghost gave us a scare, too. We couldn’t make it out at all, especially when it seemed to drop right through the deck.”
“Yes, you’re quite a spook, Timmy,” said the captain. He went on to relate the story in full to the keeper and then got up. “Well, let’s be getting back. We’ll have to pull up anchor and run Tim right back to the lighthouse, get a little sleep, and light out first thing in the morning after Terry.”