Page:Fairview Boys at Lighthouse Cove.djvu/56

52 flashing beacon. But all was still darkness, save for the twinkling stars in the sky.

They reached the cottage connected with the lighthouse. The door was open, but all was dark inside. For a moment the boys hesitated. Afterwards Bob and Frank admitted that they were thinking of the same thing Sammy was—that perhaps there was a trap, and that the wreckers were waiting for them.

Finally Frank called:

"Hello, Mr. Floyd! Are you there? What's the matter? Why isn't the light going?"

At first only a groaning voice answered them, and then they heard the stronger tones of the light-keeper crying out:

"Oh, thank Providence someone has come! Quick, boys, you're just in time! Light the lamp! Never mind me! Light the lantern!"

"Are you hurt?" asked Bob.

"Did the wreckers attack you?" cried Sammy.

"Wreckers! Good land, no!" shouted the light-keeper. "I fell down stairs, and I guess my leg is broken. And when I fell I hit against the lever that puts out the lantern, and that made it all dark. And I've been lying here ever since, calling for help, but no one heard me. I didn't know what to do, for I can't seem to move.

"But you're just in time, boys. Come in, and I'll tell you how to light the lantern. Hurry, or some ship may go on the rocks! Wreckers? Good land, what made you think of them?"

"Fooled again!" murmured Sammy Brown, as he and his companions entered the cottage.