Page:Bedford-Jones--Boy Scouts of the Air at Cape Peril.djvu/103

 would tempt him for a moment to believe the plane was on its way.

Boats speeded shoreward under all the force of the oars; but none of the disembarking longshoremen reported having seen the plane since it sailed seaward. Indeed, they thought it an idiotic question to ask. With the fourth hour of Hardy's absence, the wind was blowing with such velocity and driving the rain in such torrents, that Legs, unable to hold out any longer, wended his way back to the shelter of the hotel.

"No use to worry," consoled the landlord. "You might 'a knowed he wouldn't try to get back a evenin' like this. If he didn't get spilled on his way over he's high and dry in the lighthouse. I'll take care of you, and won't let Buffalo Dare get your scalp. "

Legs, irritated by the last part of this speech, and alarmed by the first, gazed disconsolately out of the window at the driving rain and listened with sinking heart to the dismal howling of the wind. What with the lifeboat mystery on his mind, the appearance of the madman and his own loneliness, he had never felt quite so miserable before in all his days.