"Then I'm goin' to leave you in charge while Uncle Zenas an' I go after Sammy. It ain't anyways likely we shall be away till after sunset; but there's allers the chance; an' no one can say how fast his raft may be travelin'."
"You don't want me in the boat with you?" Sidney asked tremulously.
"No, Sonny, an' for two mighty good reasons. The first is that it's goin' to blow hard inside of an hour, an' I'll need Uncle Zenas at one pair of oars. Then agin, the place is not to be left alone, no matter what straits we are in. Sammy would be the first to say we mustn't try to help him if it can't be done without takin' the risk of showin' no light at sunset. You'll be safe on the ledge, an' that's what I'm thinkin' about."
The temptation to beg that he might go to the rescue with Captain Eph, leaving the cook to care for the light, was very great; but he succeeded in holding his peace, knowing that it was not for him, at such a time, to make any change in the plan the keeper had formed.
"I'm allowin' we may have to pull eight or ten miles before catchin' the poor fellow, an' it'll be hard work in a heavy sea, so Uncle Zenas must do his share."
It was not necessary to spend any time warning the second assistant of what had been learned. Uncle Zenas was at the head of the cove when they pulled in, and in the fewest possible words Captain Eph made him acquainted with the situation.
"Get in, Uncle Zenas. Sonny will take care of the light, if so be we're called on to go further than now seems likely."
"An' I sent the poor fellow off without any breakfast!" the cook said tearfully, as he clambered aboard the boat with a certain eagerness which told how anxious he was to have a share in the rescue. "If I had only been half-way decent when he asked for somethin' to eat!"
"Keep your upper lip stiff, Sonny!" Captain Eph cried as he pulled the dory around. "By stayin' to care for the light you're doin' a good deal more towards findin' Sammy, than if you went with us in the boat. You can watch us best by goin' inter the lantern with the glasses."
"Be sure to get your dinner, Sonny," Uncle Zenas cried in a mournful tone. "Everything is on the stove, an' what you can't eat had better be put back in the pantry. If I could only give poor Sammy his share an' my own with it, how relieved I'd be!"