"This 'ere tremble ain't anything compared with what I have felt, an' it'll be worse as the sea gets wilder, for—"
The old keeper did not finish his remark, for at that moment Mr. Peters' head appeared through the trap door, as he said sharply:
"It strikes me that a man of your age, Cap'n Eph, could be in better business than tellin' stories about light-houses that have been carried away, to a lad who's gettin' his first taste of a storm in a place like this! I wouldn't have thanked anybody for spinnin' sich yarns the first year I came on this ledge. We didn't have a heavy sea in all that time but I expected the tower would go, an' when a nor'easter struck us, I allowed there wasn't any show of savin' our lives."
"I was only tellin' Sonny of the Eddystone an' Minot's, to prove that a light-house what's been properly built don't go under in any kind of a gale," Captain Eph replied, much as if apologizing for what he had said. "I'd like to know what you're out'er bed for, Sammy Peters. It can't be more'n half an hour since you turned in."
"I haven't been asleep anyway," Mr. Peters grumbled, "an' the reason for it is that I can't help thinkin' we might do somethin' to put the motor boat in better shape. It stands to reason there'll be a heavy sea runnin' by sunrise, in which case there won't be much chance of savin' her."
"I don't know what we can do, Sammy, unless we should turn out the dory, an' put her inter the boat-house, which couldn't be thought of for a minute because it's clean agin the rules an' regerlations."
"Of course you can't do anythin' of that kind. Cap'n Eph, no matter if Sonny's boat is worth five or six times as much as the dory; but what about haulin' her up between the boat-house an' the tower? She'd be more sheltered there."
"We couldn't do the job without callin' all hands, an' I don't feel as if I'd be doin' right to take any chances jest to save property. The sea is breakin' over the ledge already, an' the rocks remainin' out of water must be covered with snow an' ice. Go back to bed, Sammy, for, as you know full well, we've got no right to stick our noses outside this night. After daybreak, if she's still sound, we may be able to work somethin' for her safety."
Mr. Peters disappeared without further remark, evidently realizing that the keeper was fully justified in refusing him permission to leave the tower at such a time, and Sidney said half to himself as he gazed through the window, trying to prevent the tremor of fear from being apparent:
"It must be uncomfortable in a light-ship when the storm is so severe."