"He'd be cavortin' 'round jest the same if a whole fleet had hove to off here," Uncle Zenas cried, and without waiting to make any reply, Captain Eph hurried to one of the windows, from which Sidney was already gazing out with a look of wonderment on his face.
"What in the name of goodness has come over Sammy?" the old keeper cried to no one in particular; but Sidney replied in a tone of perplexity:
"It looks as if he was nailin' up a lot of sticks, sir."
"But he can't nail 'em to the rocks, an' whatever he puts up there will be carried away by the first wave that breaks over the ledge!"
Mr. Peters certainly was acting in a very peculiar manner. He had in his arms five or six strips of boards or planks, which had the appearance of having been washed up from some wreck, and was striding to and fro, evidently trying to find some place where he could place them in a sort of frame-work, for, during the short time Captain Eph and Sidney watched from the window, he made two unsuccessful attempts to secure them in an upright position.
The old keeper watched his first assistant narrowly for some time, evidently losing a tiny bit of his temper each moment, and presently it was impossible for him to remain silent any longer:
"I ain't so certain but that we'll have to set about makin' a straight-jacket for Sammy, an' we sha'n't have much more'n time to do it before the lamp must be lighted. Come down with me, an' we'll try to soothe him a little. I thought he acted queer about that stuff he bought, an' most likely this spell was jest comin' on."
Sidney was not prepared to believe that the first assistant had become insane so suddenly; but he followed the keeper down the narrow stairs, eager to hear what explanation Mr. Peters might give for his peculiar behavior.
When the lad entered the kitchen he saw Uncle Zenas standing in the open door leading to the outside ladder, looking out as if in greatest alarm.
"Have you seen Sammy?" he asked in a whisper, and with such a comical expression of fear on his face that Sidney was forced to laugh outright.