 Chapter 13 of Cherry Ames Island Nurse This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org Cherry Ames Island Nurse by Helen Wells Chapter 13 The Wreck Cherry woke startled to find that the candle had long since burned out and only a blob of wax remained in the holder. While she slept, daylight had crept into the room. The journal lay open in her lap to the page where she had left off reading. She turned her head to look at her patient and saw Sir Ian gazing at her with a fatherly smile. Did my heart good to see sleeping like a bear? he commented. Cherry grinned back at him sheepishly and rubbed her eyes. I was reading and all of a sudden her voice trailed off. Into her mind leaped her worry over Tammy. She must find out at once whether he had been found. She was on the point of springing from her chair when Sir Ian's calm tones brought her back to herself. You fell asleep, Sir Ian was saying. I slept like a top myself and I feel grand. I'm going to get up. No, you mustn't, Cherry admonished. It's too early. Goodness, what time is it? She looked at her watch. It was not quite seven o'clock. There were sounds of footsteps in the hall and, in a moment, Dr. Mackenzie thrust his tousled head inside the doorway. His face was grey with fatigue, his clothes rumbled, but he appeared in good spirits. Barometers rising and the storms practically over, he announced. Then he said to Cherry, Tess told me I'd find you here. And to Sir Ian, what are you doing awake at this hour? Why shouldn't I be after a long night's rest? retorted the mind owner. Did you ever see such a contrary old Scotsman, Dr. Mack asked Cherry, with a wink of an eye, bloodshot from lack of sleep. The storm and turmoil kept everyone else on the island up. If ye are speaking for yourself, Mackenzie, said Sir Ian, I can well believe it. From the looks of ye, I'd vow ye'd not touched head to pillow in a week. It seems that long, the other agreed ruefully. Well, I'm glad to see you so chipper, Sir Ian. He walked over to the bed to have a good look at his patient. Color is good, he commented. Then he took Sir Ian's pulse and nodded with satisfaction. How do you feel, he asked. Hungry, replied Sir Ian. Good, but how do you feel, generally speaking, insisted the doctor. If ye cannot tell I feel grand this morn, the other replied in his richest Scottish burr, with a wicked little grin, I didn't think you are muckl of a medical man. With that he tossed back the covers and swung his long pajama-clad legs off the bed and began putting on his robe. Sir Ian has been giving every indication of getting well, Cherry replied, including behaving in a very independent manner. He was busy for hours in the library yesterday. Are ye through discussing me, demanded Sir Ian, glaring at them, but with a merry twinkle in his eye. I'd counted a favour for the both of ye to get out and let a man dress. Seeing that by your own expert diagnosis you are feeling strong and well, Sir, said Dr. Mack, with exaggerated stiffness, I am no longer in doubt about asking a favour of you and of Cherry. His tone changed and he became completely serious. Cherry, you did get some rest, didn't you? Yes, I did, doctor, Cherry replied. Ask your favour and be done, Sir Ian said bluntly. We need a nurse badly, Dr. Mack said. Nurse Cowan, Meg, and the others are pretty worn out, although we all managed to get a little rest off and on. What's happened? asked Sir Ian, instantly alert. The doctor told briefly of a night spent caring for casualties of the storm. A small pleasure craft had capsized and the six aboard had been rescued and brought to the hospital for treatment. There were a number of serious accidents. People had been injured by flying objects and fallen wires. A good many had had to be treated for exposure and shock. As a result, the hospital had been jammed. Meg had worked alongside with best Cowan, several practical nurses and volunteers. Between them all, they had been able to cope with the situation. Why didn't you call me, Dr. Mackenzie? asked Cherry. I would have been glad to help. I would have nurse aims, but this telephone, along with a lot of others, was out of order, he explained. This morning I had to have some professional nursing help. That's why I drove up from the hospital to see how things were here. If it's possible, I'd like you to come along with me right away. Don't worry about me, Sir Ian said. I'll be all right. Tess and Nora surely can do anything that's needed. Nurse Lass, do you want to go help in the emergency? Cherry nodded emphatically. Of course I do, she declared. What is it, Dr. Mack? Briefly, he explained. I received a call from the lighthouse just before I came here. Its telephone has been in operation throughout the storm. A fishing boat the keeper reported had piled up on the rocks off Carse Point. The Coast Guard have been trying since the boat was sighted earlier this morning to bring the crew ashore. But the waves have been so high, they've not made much headway up to now. We're going to have to give some medical treatment right there on the beach as the men are brought ashore. Fishing boat asked Cherry, suddenly suspicious that it might be the Heron. Do you know the name of the boat? The doctor shook his head. No, I didn't ask. I'll get ready, Cherry said quickly. Picking up the secret journal from the table, she crossed the hall to her own room where she put the book away in the drawer with the leather pouch. She heard Dr. Mack extracting a promise from Sir Ian that he would not overdo and would eat the bland foods prescribed at regular intervals. Remember, you are still on a carefully planned regimen until you graduate to the usual three meals a day, warned the doctor. I'll bear it in mind, Sir Ian promised. Now get along about your business and leave me to bathe and dress. Cherry got her raincoat, for it was damp and misty out, put on her rubbers and rain hat, and joined Dr. Mack in the hall. She called back to Sir Ian that she would be home as soon as she could. You'd better have some breakfast, the doctor cautioned her as they went downstairs, and I could do with a cup of hot coffee myself. Anxious to find out if Tess had heard anything more of Tammy, Cherry sprinted toward the kitchen. Take it easy, take it easy, the doctor said, trying to keep up with her. Tess looked up from stirring the oatmeal mush as they entered. Anticipating Cherry's question, she shook her head in a woe-be-gone way and said, They've now found the boy. His grandma, Janet Cameron, poor woman, is fair daft with worry. She's out there somewhere with the men, searching. I couldn't stop her. She would go. What's all this about Janet Cameron's grandson? asked Dr. Mackenzie. Tess made them sit down at the table in the kitchen to eat their breakfast before she would answer his question. Then, over orange juice, a bowl of mush and milk, and hot coffee, Cherry, at Tess's insistence, began the story of Tammy, and the cook finished it. She wound up with the prediction that not only poor Tammy and his grandda, old jock, would never be seen again, but that now poor Janet, his grandma, would either catch her death of cold, or fall to her death over the cliffs. Cherry felt her eyes begin to smart with unshed tears, but Dr. Mackenzie took an optimistic view. I know that boy, Tammy, he said, and he's smart as a whip. He can take care of himself on this island as well as any man. He's probably perfectly safe with his grandfather somewhere. As for the two being kidnapped by the crew of the Heron, that sounds ridiculous. Tess sniffed. I'll not argue with you, Dr. Douglas Mackenzie, she said smugly. They had good reason to kidnap Jock Cameron and Tammy, so it isn't ridiculous at all, Dr. Mack, Cherry declared, siding with Tess. Mr. Cameron discovered that the crew has been smuggling something out through Rogue's Cave. I have good reason to believe it's silver. Silver, cried Dr. Mackenzie, starting to laugh and choking over his last swallow of coffee. Don't tell me you don't know the story of the silver in Rogue's Cave. You know about the silver? asked Cherry incredulously. Of course, replied the doctor, still sputtering with suppressed laughter. I'm surprised that someone hasn't told you that old story before this. Cherry's face must have shown clearly her utter astonishment, for he hastened to correct himself. No, I don't suppose you would hear of it. Tess walked over with the pot of coffee to fill up the doctor's cup. She said stiffly, you were about to speak, Dr. Mack, of the men, what blaggards they were, who salted the old mind with silver. Will, tis a common enough story in the village, but tis not heard in Barkley House. Neither is it one that's told where a Barkley might hear it. Then Tess, I shall tell it to Miss Ames on the way to Carse Point, retorted the doctor. It does the Barkley's good, as well as everyone else, to learn to laugh at themselves once in a while. During the exchange between Tess and Dr. Mack, Cherry quietly ate her oatmeal and drank her coffee. Already worried about Tammy and old jock, she knew that Dr. Mack's story would send her spirits even lower. She had only a vague idea of what salting a mind meant, but it was associated in her mind with nothing particularly pleasant. I'm ready to go if you are, Dr. Mack, she said, getting up. She praised Tess's oatmeal as being just right. Thank you, Tess, for making me eat one of your delicious breakfasts, said the doctor. Let's go, Cherry. Tess promised to leave word at the hospital or the lighthouse if she learned anything new about Tammy. The cook had little hope, however, that telephone service at Barkley House would be restored soon. The lines are due, and a great tangle of wire is Ramsay the gardener told me when I saw him early this morning, she reported. So tis not likely you'll be hearing from me at all. Cherry and the doctor went outside to his Ford. It's good of you to calm Dr. Mack, said once they were on the road to Carst Point Lighthouse. You know it's no part of your duty to do this. So long as my patient is alright and you, his doctor, say it's alright, Cherry told him, smiling. I would not be much of a nurse if I did not do what I could in an emergency like this. Dr. Mack gave her a grateful smile in return. You're a real nurse, Cherry Ames, he complimented her, and a wonderful person. As they bumped along the road beside the cliffs, Cherry asked if he had forgotten that he was to tell her about the Silver and Rogues Cave. Certainly not, he answered, and began. You've heard of George Barkley, Sir Ian's brother, of course. He's the one who lives off the fat of the land in England. Cherry told him she had. Well, he's a later addition of a George Barkley who was born a number of years after the old mine was closed. The early George, like this later one, was a spendthrift, and always in debt. Somehow or other, he made the acquaintance of a slick grafter, a silver prospector who had been fooling around in the silver mines in Mexico. This grafter persuaded Meg and Lloyd's great-great-uncle George Barkley to let him explore Rogues Cave for gold and silver, promising to make George rich quick. The grafter spent a lot of time in the cave, then came out one day whooping and hollering that he'd found silver. Well, Sir, when great-great-uncle George went in there with the grafter, sure enough there were all these rocks of native silver. Uncle George rewarded the man handsomely. The grafter left the island in a hurry before Uncle George could discover that the rocks of native silver had been planted there. In fact, the fellow had brought the few rocks from Mexico for the purpose. In short, great-great-uncle George Barkley had been played for a sucker, to put it bluntly. The grafter had salted the mine, as it is called, which was a common thing in those days, and many a seasoned miner or even an old prospector was taken in by a cleverly salted mine. Cherry sighed deeply. I suppose Sir Ian's father simply found some of these rocks, too, when he was a boy, she said to herself. The excitement which had been building up inside her ever since she and Tammy had found the leather pouch in the tower room collapsed within her like a spent balloon. She really had nothing at all to tell Megyn Lloyd now. And there probably would be no need to tell them about the disappearance of Tammy in old jock, for the news would have filtered through to them from some of the islanders by this time. Cherry said, Oh dear, with a sigh that went to the souls of her nurses shoes. Did you say something, asked Dr. Mackenzie. No, I was just thinking what a joke it is about the silver, she answered. It's such an old joke, it has whiskers on it. She laughed without humor. You don't make it sound cheerful, observed the doctor. Now come on, nurse Ames, just think of great-great-uncle George as a gay dog with much money and little wit who paid for a needed lesson from another gay dog with plenty of wit and no money. How's that for an early-day Mackenzie gem of an aphorism? Cherry laughed this time with good humor. The island looked different after the storm. In the pale yellow of a sun obscured by clouds, everything appeared tossed and tumbled about as in a giant washing machine. The trees and bushes were bent and twisted. Buildings displayed broken windows like missing teeth, a fallen chimney, or wind-ripped cornices. From the sea came the pounding of the waves upon the rocks and sandy beaches. They were some distance from Karst Point when they could see the crowd which had gathered on the shore near the lighthouse. Presently they could make out the Canadian lifeguard cutter standing by offshore. Drawing near, Cherry and the doctor saw the fishing boat clothed in spray stationary on the rocks where she had been left by the high tides of the storm. Around the vessel the waters boiled and foamed. The Coast Guard had finally got a line aboard the boat from the shore to the bridge of the ship and had rigged the breeches buoy. They had started to bring the crew ashore as Cherry and Dr. Mack drove up. There were an ambulance, stretchers and folding cots, blankets, all in readiness. There were a chest with first aid and other medical supplies and plenty of warm water, soap and sterile cloths. At one side a group of women had set up a field kitchen and were serving hot coffee, tea and sandwiches to the lifesavers. Later hot drinks and food would be given to the rescued. With the exception of the men on the Coast Guard cutter, those manning the breeches buoy and the lighthouse keeper, the lifesavers were volunteers, citizens of Balfour. Scarcely anyone noticed Cherry and the doctor as they walked over to where the men were hauling in the first of the crew aboard the wrecked boat. Every head was turned to watch the man in the breeches buoy skimming over the white-capped waves in a device that resembled a baby's walker attached to an overhead cable. As soon as the fisherman was near enough for Cherry to get a good look at him, she exclaimed, Oh doctor, his left leg's broken. Her cry caused the crowd that had been watching silently to turn to look at her and the doctor. People called greetings to the two of them. Here's Dr. Mack now, one of the bystanders called out. He's got nurse Ames with him. By this time everyone on the island knew Cherry Ames, Sir Ian's nurse, either by sight or from hearing about her. The crowd made way for the doctor and Cherry to go over to where the men were gently lifting the fisherman out of the buoy. Dr. Mackenzi signaled to two men with a stretcher and the injured man was eased onto it. The man's face was distorted with pain. His trouser leg had been cut away and a crude splint had been applied to the leg. As the doctor removed splint and bandage carefully, the man explained, The captain fixed me up after I broke it. The foot was turned outward and the ankle and leg were badly swollen. The man winced as the doctor felt it very gently. What's your name? The doctor said. Jim Freeman replied the other. I was sent to shore first because I was hurt worse than the rest. Well, I'm going to give you something to ease your pain. Dr. Mack told him, taking out his hypodermic needle. As he gave the injection, he went on talking. But that's a bad break, Mr. Freeman, and it will have to be x-rayed. I'm going to send you to the hospital in the ambulance. Cherry saw where the end of the broken bone had penetrated through the skin and knew it was a compound fracture. The doctor could not determine the extent of the injury without x-rays. The captain's attempt to splint and bandage the leg, although no doubt well-intentioned, had not been beneficial in this case. For a simple fracture where the bone was broken but not separated, a splint to hold the bone in place would have been effective. Cherry cleansed the wound and covered it with a loose bandage. Jim Freeman was wrapped warmly and sent off to the hospital where nurse Cowan would take x-rays and look after him until the doctor came. The waters were gradually subsiding, although they remained too rough for the Coast Guard cutter to draw near enough to the wreck to take off the crew. However, the men at the breeches buoy worked more quickly and one after the other of the bruised and battered men were brought ashore. Folding cots had been set up on the beach and the men were placed on them. Those suffering from shock and exposure or slight injuries were warmly covered and given warm drinks by the women volunteers. The beach around the lighthouse soon took on the appearance of a hospital ward. Cherry and Dr. Mack worked together, treating the serious cases. A man with a dislocated shoulder took all the doctor's strength, with Cherry helping him, to get the end of the upper arm bone, the humerus, to snap back into its socket. Another had a severe bruise with much swelling and pain, which the doctor treated with one of the newly developed medicines for the purpose. The ship's cook had received a third degree burn on his arms and hands when a kettle of boiling water overturned. Still another had an ugly cut along the side of his neck, which he had wrapped in a none too clean piece of cloth. He was pale from loss of blood. To the doctor's question, if he had been in the armed forces and been immunized by an injection of tetanus toxoid against lock jaw, the man replied yes. Cherry removed the bandage very carefully and the doctor took a look at the wound. As he was examining it, the lifesavers at the breeches buoy called out that the man they had been hauling ashore had collapsed. Doctor, please come quick, they cried. Think you can take care of this man with the cut, Dr. McKenzie asked Cherry? Sew up the cut and give him an injection of toxoid. Since he has already been immunized against tetanus, all he needs is a booster shot. Cherry nodded, yes doctor, I know how. He handed her a bottle, the needle for the injection, and hurried off to the shore where the man lay immobile on the sand. Cherry bent over the man with the cut who had been placed on a cot to get a closer look at the wound. Fell on a piece of sharp metal of some kind on the boat during the storm, he answered in response to her question of how he had received the bad cut. The edge of the metal had barely missed the jugular vein. Others on nearby cots who had come through relatively unscathed took up the story of the previous night. They had been coming up from St. John's. The storm had hit them when they were a mile or so north of the Kragmadi rocks at the southeast end of the island. I thought we were going to sink any minute, one of them said. The captain decided we couldn't come round and make it through the pass and into Ball 4 Harbor, so we headed north, only to be driven onto the rocks at Kars Point at the other end of the island. Cherry heard them talking, but her first attention was given to her work. She washed the long, deep cut with soap and water, then with warm water. From the little cylinder-like bottle the doctor had given her, she took sterile surgical thread and needle and neatly sewed the skin together. It was the first time that she had ever done such a serious cut alone, but she was so familiar with the technique that her fingers moved confidently. She was just finishing when the doctor passed with his patient on a stretcher. He stopped briefly, examined her work, and said, I couldn't have done better myself. Now I'm going to have to leave you in charge here for a while. The man who collapsed just now was the last man aboard. Name's Banger. He's the captain. He's had a heart attack. I've given him an injection to ease the pain, but I must get him to the hospital and into the oxygen tent right away. Think you can look after the others? There are no serious injuries. I'll be back as soon as possible. I think I can manage, Dr. Mack, Cherry replied. I'll do my best. That's a pretty high rating in my book, Dr. McKenzie said with a smile. No one could ask for more. And he went on to the ambulance with his patient. Cherry continued with her work, putting on a sterile pad over the injured area, then made a cravat type of bandage, which covered the injury and went over and around to hold the pad in place. She then gave him an injection or booster dose of toxoid as a safety measure, as the doctor had instructed her. A group of people had grown about the wounded, although everyone was standing back so as not to interfere with Cherry. They watched her with respect and admiration as she moved from one patient to another. While she went about her work, Cherry heard the group of islanders and the crew talking back and forth. She gathered that the Balfourians knew a good many of the crew, for they called the various fishermen by name. The fishermen gave only brief or evasive answers to the probing questions. Close by, Cherry heard one of the islanders and one of the crew in an exchange. I think he said he had 36 aboard counting the captain, said the islander, but I counted less than that brought ashore. What became of the other poor lads? Did they drown? Probably replied the other. Why probably? Don't you know? Persisted his questioner. The mate, Mr. Tweed and some others lowered a boat and rode for shore, came the answer. I don't think they could make it in the storm, so they probably drowned. I noticed the mate was missing, remarked the Balfourian. We'll now. He may be alive, he and the others, the same as the rest of ye. The man paused. With his next words, Cherry's heart began to thump with excitement. The Balfourian continued. Ah, T'would be a wonderful thing, this wreck, if every man Jack aboard the Heron was saved. Every man Jack aboard the Heron thought, Cherry, the Heron. These men she was taking care of were members of the crew of the Heron, but some were missing. The mate, Mr. Tweed and some of the men had lowered a boat and rode for shore. Had they been drowned? Or had they reached shore safely? And what had become of old Jack, who had stowed away? How she managed to care for the rest of the Heron's crew, who had slight bruises, scratches and cuts and sprains, she never knew. But apparently she did her job very well. When Dr. Mack returned that afternoon with the doctor and nurses from St. John's to relieve them, he was amazed to find all but a few of the men perfectly able to return on the Sandy Fergus to their homes in St. John's. Dr. Mack sent Cherry back to Barkley House, saying that he had already sent Meg home, as well as Nurse Cowan, to get some sleep. He himself was going home and to bed before he dropped in his tracks. The doctor and nurses from St. John's, who had arrived on the Sandy Fergus in response to his call, were ready to take over for a day or two. End of Chapter 13 Chapter 14 of Cherry Ames Island Nurse This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Cherry Ames Island Nurse by Helen Wells Chapter 14 The Silver of the Mine The next morning after breakfast, the four, Cherry and Lloyd, Meg and Dr. Mackenzie, stood in the bright sun on the brow of the cliff, peering down upon the sparkling waters of the little bay at Rogues Cave. Dressed in sturdy clothes and equipped with ropes and minor safety lamps on lanyards around their necks and knives and sheaths at their belts, the four could have been taken for a party of spelunkers. Cave Explorers Prepared for an emergency, Lloyd had a compass and from his belt hung a geologist's hammer and pick and binoculars. The tide isn't low enough yet to get into Rogues Cave without waiting, Lloyd said. Then let's start with the entrance to the old mine, suggested Dr. Mack. In silence, they made their way back along the cliffs and set off up the big hill of the abandoned mine. A gentle breeze rippled the grass and flirted the brightly colored scarves of the girls. In the blue cloudless sky, a naval helicopter from the nearby base hovered offshore, searching for the bodies of the four men missing from the heron and now believed to be drowned. The presence of the Whirlybird was ignored by the group as they climbed the hill. None of them wanted to be reminded that the chances were against their finding old jock and tammy or the missing men, either in the mine or the cave. But Cherry had convinced Lloyd and Mack and Dr. Mack that the search was well worth a try. The fact that Ramsay, the gardener, had found the heron's lifeboat high, dry, and undamaged on the sand dunes on a beach north of the cliffs was taken as a hopeful sign that the men had reached shore. That morning, after a good night's rest, Cherry, Lloyd, Meg, Dr. Mack, who had come over at Meg's invitation, and Sir Ian had all been present at breakfast in the Barclay dining room. Sir Ian, who had not been told that old jock and tammy were missing, was in the best of spirits. He had no sooner sat down at the table than he announced, I am expecting James Broderick this morning. Just after the telephone line was repaired earlier, Mr. Broderick called and left word with Higgins that he was flying over from St. John's. Mr. Broderick had an appointment to see me the day of the storm, but Codna make it, of course. Mr. Broderick is flying over this morning, Lloyd said, startled. Could I ask what he's coming for? E. Codd answered his uncle, but since it's a matter strictly between him and me, there's no need to tell ye nephew. There was a glint in Sir Ian's eye as though he were exhilarated over the coming meeting. Cherry had never seen the mine owner look stronger or better than he did that morning. His face was wonderfully alive and he held himself proudly. Why, he reminds me of descriptions I've read in old stories of knights just about to go into battle, Cherry thought. It's as though the prospect of the battle stimulated them and made them feel full of confidence. Sir Ian had eaten his breakfast without making any further comment. Then he had gone off to the library to do some paperwork, he said. He was not to be disturbed under any circumstances. After he had left, Cherry had shown Lloyd, Meg and Dr. Mack old Sir Ian's secret journal and the leather pouch containing the torn page and the silver. Then she had told of the night in the tower room and Tammy's disappearance. Her suggestion that they search the old mine and Rogue's cave for old jock and Tammy and at the same time solve the mystery of the silver had been received with enthusiasm by her three listeners. I think it's about time we found out what this whole thing is about, Lloyd had declared at once. As they pushed their way to the top of the hill now, each of them was torn between hope one moment and despair the next of what they might or might not find in the underground tunnels. They reached the summit. Meg and the doctor pushed ahead through the bushes and began to examine the big rock which Cherry had found so interesting on the day little Joe Tweed had vanished as if by magic. Do look Lloyd, Meg said, this is the oddest sort of rock. I don't remember ever having seen it here before, not even when we came up here as children. Yes, it has a very peculiar texture, Dr. Mack said, like pumice. Lloyd looked at it for the first time. It is pumice, he replied at once. That's the rock I was telling all of you about, Cherry said. Only it has sunk much deeper into the ground since I saw it last, probably washed down by the heavy rain. Turning to Lloyd, she asked, did you say it was pumice? Suddenly she remembered a rock she had held in her hand when she and Tammy were in the tower. It had been feather light. Why, that's where the entrance of the mine used to be, exclaimed Meg. Someone has taken away the old boards that used to cover it and set a rock over it. Lloyd caught Cherry's eye and they exchanged a significant glance. They both knew the nature of that rock. With a wink at Cherry, Lloyd announced, stand back everybody while I give a remarkable demonstration of weightlifting. Suiting his action to his words, he grasped the mass of grayish colored rock and rolled it aside with little effort. Ah, a hurt ghillie is, cried Dr. Mack, laughing. As you see, explained Lloyd in a carnival hawker's nasal twang, it's light as foam for that is precisely what it is. Foam spewed up by a volcano and hardened into rock. It's not native to the island, somebody brought it here from a far away volcanic region. The three applauded Lloyd. Well, there's the mouth of the mine shaft, he said, pointing at their feet. They all looked down into the cavity which had been covered by the rock. The opening was just large enough for a man to enter. They tied rope about their waists mountain climber fashion. Lloyd, Cherry, Meg, Dr. Mack, in that order. Then Lloyd eased himself down into the hole, the bottom of which was perhaps six feet below the surface of the ground. Okay, he told them in a moment, there's a ladder leading down a little way ahead. It's new from the looks of it, someone built it recently. Definitely this shaft is being used. Switch on your lamps up there, he ordered. Come on, Cherry, Meg, you and Doc follow. Cherry slid down into the cavity, Lloyd was already descending the ladder a few feet in front of her. With her heart thumping in her throat, she slowly, rung by rung, went down to the top level of the mine, where Lloyd stood on the dirt floor of the tunnel. The others joined them and they began exploring the tunnel by the light of their lamps. The tunnel extended to the right and the left, but only for a short distance in each direction. Water dripped from the roof, forming little pools. The earthen floor was muddy and marked with many footprints. Men have been going and coming through here regularly, remarked Lloyd. Those are men's footprints, as you can readily see, and that's the only thing they can possibly mean. Men enter the shaft by rolling away the rock. When little Joe Tweed disappeared that day, Cherry, he must have done just that. They came down the ladder, which was made probably to replace an old rotted one, and they go... he played his flashlight about. Another ladder in front of them led downward. Here's where they go, Lloyd said, and began at once to lower himself on it. They all descended two more ladders before they came to the place where the central shaft of the old mine ended, and there was no further means of descent. As before, the tunnel extended the right and to the left, but this time there was another tunnel cutting in at an angle and sloping gently in a south-easterly direction, so Lloyd told them upon consulting his compass. I guess it's a case of counting Eenie Meenie Miney Moe, or isn't it, engineer Barkley, asked Meg. It is not, Miss Barkley, returned Lloyd. That tunnel running in a south-easterly direction goes toward Rogues Cave. Notice the footprints, and notice all the shoring as new wood. Notice that the tunnel itself has been recently dug, and let me remind you that Cherry told us that old jock wanted to find out what was being smuggled out through Rogues Cave. Lloyd, did the men, whoever they are, dig this tunnel so they could get to the cave, Cherry asked? Exactly, replied Lloyd. You see, there was never a tunnel that ran to the cave from this mine. There was just the shaft, which you see goes straight down from the top of the hill. Then there were tunnels running to the north and south from this shaft, as you saw when we descended. With Lloyd in the lead, the four walked down the sloping tunnel, the glimmer of their lamps guiding them in the darkness. The journey down the tunnel seemed endless to Cherry, but Lloyd said they had gone perhaps only a quarter of a mile when they came upon a wall of stone which had been broken through to form a low, jagged doorway. Lloyd bent his head and was on the point of entering the passage beyond when he drew back quickly. There's a light down there a little way and I heard people talking, he said, in a whisper filled with suppressed excitement. Cherry felt her spine tingle. She was so anxious to find out what was beyond the doorway that it was all she could do to restrain her impulse to rush past Lloyd. Meg and Dr. McKenzie started to whisper questions. Shhh, Lloyd warned them, don't talk, follow me without making a sound. One by one they went through the doorway. They saw immediately the glow of a light and moved toward it very, very slowly. Then just beyond a turning on their left was a sort of large alcove off the tunnel. From the alcove came the sound of men's voices talking in a dull, quiet way. Put out your lights, Lloyd said to Cherry and the other two. Then in the dark, very cautiously, keeping close to the wall of the tunnel, they crept up to the entrance and peered into the alcove. The place had been blasted out of the rock and was quite large, though it seemed smaller than it was, for piled up like cordwood about the floor were sackfuls of what was unmistakably rocks. Among the heaps, four men sat on the floor about a wooden box playing cards by the light of a miner's lamp. That man on the right is little Joe Tweed, Cherry quickly whispered in Lloyd's ear. Yes, I see him, Lloyd whispered back. The sea will be calm enough tonight, little Joe was saying, to bring our boat into Rogue's Cave. I want to get this silver out of here by the night. I've worked out a place to have it crushed and the silver extracted with no questions asked. We'll block up the tunnel before we leave, so no one will get wise to the fact we've discovered a silver mine worth a fortune. Then we'll turn up in St. John's with a horrible tale of suffering, of being lost at sea, riding out the storm and finally reaching shore. For several moments, Cherry had the eerie feeling that someone was looking at them. Now, letting her glance rove about the room, she gave a joyful little gasp upon encountering two eyes staring at her out of what she had mistaken for a sack of rocks in the shadowy corner. Sitting on the floor with his back against the wall of the Elkove, trust up with rope and gagged was old Jock Cameron. She nodded to him to let him know that she had seen him. Then clutching Lloyd's arm so he would not move and make a noise, she said in barely audible tones, look closely Lloyd, you'll see Mr. Cameron, you have a knife, if you can get close enough or he can wiggle this way, you can cut him loose. Lloyd answered by squeezing her hand, leaning over he said, untie the rope around your waist, tell Meg and Dr. Mack to do the same. When they were all freed from one another, Lloyd said softly, now here's my plan of action, everybody. Cherry, you and Meg stand against the wall and don't make a sound. Doc, get out your knife. Meg, let me have your knife. As soon as I've cut old Jock free, I'll whistle just once, softly. That's your cue, Doc, to come out fighting. We'll rush little Joe and his men. None of them seems to be armed. I can't see anything that looks like a gun. Can you, Doc? Dr. Mack peered at the men a moment. No. He took his knife out of the sheath. Well, I'm all set. Now you, Cherry and Meg, said Lloyd, you get out of here as fast as you can when Dr. Mack and I rush those men in there. We're not going to use our knives, but we are going to try to frighten them enough so they won't give us any trouble. But the Doc and I don't want you girls in this, so get out fast. Do we go back the way we came? asked Meg. No, follow the new tunnel, said Lloyd. It has to lead out through the cave. The smuggling is out through the cave, remember? Just be sure by playing your lights over the tunnel walls and the wood that it is the newly dug tunnel. It probably leads right into one of the tunnels in the cave that you know, Meg. Everybody all set? Lloyd asked. The three said they were. Hang on to these, Lloyd told Cherry, giving her his binoculars and geologists' hammer and pick. With that, he dropped to the floor of the tunnel and started crawling toward old jock in the alcove. The light was dim and the place was full of shadows. As the three waited, they heard little Joe and the others still talking. Have you figured out yet what to do with old man Cameron, little Joe? asked one. The storm caused a lot of accidents. Some of them fatal, suggested little Joe. This was greeted with general laughter. A whining voice complained, sure little Joe, that takes care of the old man, but what about the kid? That night in the storm when we ran after the old man and caught him, we shouldn't have bothered taking the kid. Besides, the kid got away anyway, a regular eel. Never mind the kid, little Joe brushed the matter aside. He probably drowned. You told me yourself you saw him disappear just before you reached the cave. Rogue's cave was filled with water way up over the ledge, you said. Yes, but you can't be sure he fell in, the voice whined. Forget it, snapped little Joe. Tammy, oh my goodness, Cherry murmured despairingly. Poor little Tammy, drowned in Rogue's cave. Then it struck her that perhaps he had not drowned at all. Tammy had disappeared just before he had reached the cave, the man had said. Cherry focused her attention on Lloyd, crawling as slowly as a snail toward old jock. He had only a little way to go. Even as Cherry watched, Lloyd was reaching out with his knife to cut the rope that bound old jock's ankles. Now, Lloyd had pulled himself alongside old jock and was cutting the rope that bound his hands behind him. He handed the knife to old jock and took Meg's knife in his hand. Old jock ripped the gag off his mouth. It had all been done so slowly and quietly that it was like watching a silent film in slow motion. With the start, Cherry heard a short whistle. It was Lloyd's cue to Dr. Mack, and the doctor sprang from his place against the wall and darted into the El Cove to take his place beside Lloyd and old jock. Little Joe and his three men got up so quickly they knocked over the box on which they were playing cards. Then, altogether, they started toward Lloyd, Dr. Mack, and old jock, who held their knives menacingly in their hands. Meg grabbed Cherry's arm as the men rushed toward each other and started to grapple. We must go. Lloyd said we mustn't stay here, she said. I know, Cherry said. They switched on their minors' lamps and started off. Meg led the way, flashing her lamp on the walls and boards to see if they were following the newly dug tunnel. They raced along for quite some distance. Then, Meg stopped suddenly. Look, she said to Cherry, this is where the new part ends. The two girls shone the lamps over the sides of the tunnel and they could see clearly where the old shoring was next to the new. Beyond the newly dug part, the tunnel continued, but it had been dug and shored up long ago. Listen, Cherry put her hand on Meg's arm. The two of them stood still for a moment. I hear the pounding of waves on the shore, Cherry said. Don't you, Meg? Yes, Meg answered. We are near Rogues Cave. Meg, we can't be far from the hidey-hole, can we? asked Cherry. I know what you're thinking, Meg said. Tammy, Tammy may be in the hidey-hole. They raced down the tunnel, the sound of the sea growing louder and louder in their ears all the time. At last they came to the passage that Cherry remembered from her visit with Meg. They were not far from the hidey-hole. Cherry began calling, Tammy, Tammy, where are you? Meg was infected by Cherry's desperately hopeful cry that Tammy must be there in the hidey-hole or in the cave somewhere. Meg took up the call and both girls shouted at the top of their lungs. The tunnel echoed and re-echoed their call of, Tammy, Tammy, Tammy. Suddenly ahead of them a little door screeched over the stones. Their lights picked up a small figure in southwestern oil skins and high rubber boots emerging from the hidey-hole. He cried, Meg, oh Cherry! and rushing forward flung his arms around them. Half an hour later, a dismal-appearing group, muddy and dirty from head to foot, went trooping into the hall of Barkley House. They made a great clatter. Cherry and Meg, holding Tammy's hands, marched in first. Then came little Joe Tweed and the three sullen members of the Heron's crew, their hands tied behind their backs. Bringing up the rear were Lloyd, Dr. McKenzie, and Old Jock with bags of native silver flung over their shoulders looking like country peddlers. All the men were dirty, their clothes torn and bore bruises and scratches. Higgins on his way downstairs from the second floor was stopped in his tracks at the amazing apparition. Whereas Uncle Ian asked Lloyd at once, he's in the library with Mr. Broderick, sir, replied Higgins, mouth agape. Just then they heard a door open and Sir Ian's voice say, you may bankrupt me if you like Mr. Broderick, but you'll never get control of the balfour mines. I wouldn't be too sure of that, said Mr. Broderick firmly. I know what I'm talking about and ye don't, said Sir Ian. For the last couple of days, I've been carefully checking over everything I possess. My share in the mines right now will pay just about what I owe the bank. Barkley House and everything in it belong to my daughter, Meg. I don't own anything else. Either ye take the payments on the money ye loaned me and I'll pay several thousand a quarter or ye leave it. Suppose I choose to leave it, said Broderick. Then you'll be cutting off your nose to spite your face, declared Sir Ian. Ye won't get your money back and ye won't gain control of the mines either. I don't want to press you too much, Broderick said, sounding slightly disconcerted. You've been a great man in Canadian mining for too many years and your family before you. I admire your courage, holding on to a family dynasty in modern times. I'm much obliged to ye, said Sir Ian. I shall act towards ye in good faith, that ye know. Dinna press me and ye'll get every penny coming to ye. Well, Sir Ian, I'm a modern businessman, declared Broderick. I've little patience without dated methods of mining and paying debts. Unless you can clear up your debts soon, I'll have to take further steps. Ye've warned me, said Sir Ian. Now good day, tea, Sir. None of the group in the hall had moved. They had listened in fascinated silence. The next instant, Mr. Broderick came striding toward them. He halted abruptly at the entrance to the hallway. Lloyd, bag over shoulder, went up to him. You won't have to wait long, Mr. Broderick, Lloyd said. You'll be paid your money within a very short time, I guarantee it. So it won't be necessary for you to take further steps to collect your money. That's it, my lad shouted old jock encouragingly to Lloyd. The Barclays have a silver mine. It's a bonanza. Is that true, Mr. Barclay? Mr. Broderick asked, turning to Lloyd. Every word of it, replied Lloyd. The noise brought Sir Ian storming out of the library. What in the world is going on here? He demanded. I rate and amazed. Before anyone could answer, Mr. Broderick spoke up. Sir Ian, he said ruefully, it appears you have a silver mine, a bonanza. And as your nephew just told me, I'll have the money you owe me very soon. My business definitely is over now. Good day, Sir Ian, Mr. Barclay. Notting to Megan Cherry, he started toward the door. Then he turned around suddenly and went up to little Joe Tweed. Mr. Tweed, the other day when you and my pilot, Jerry Ives, came into the coffee shop in St. John's, you said you wanted to make me a proposition. While I told you then that any proposition coming from you was bound to be crooked, and I refused to let you say anything. Afterward, my pilot told me you had run into him on the wharf and began talking about having a lot of native silver to sell. He couldn't get rid of you until he had brought you to see me. Now I know where you must have got the silver. You smuggled it out of the Barclay's mine. With that, Mr. Broderick started once again toward the door, which Higgins hurried to open and strode outside. Jerry Ives was waiting in one of the company bugs to take his boss to the Balfour airfield and fly him back to St. John's. For several minutes after Mr. Broderick's departure, the Barclay Hall was in complete turmoil, with little Joe shouting that Sir Ian had always had it in for him, even when he, little Joe, was working in the mines, and he was going to fight the Barclays in court. Little Joe's men started to shout too, and there was a great deal of shouting all round before Smith, the chauffeur, and Ramsay, the gardener, got the men in a car and took them off to the chief of police of the island. When they had gone, Sir Ian exclaimed, Now ye people, tell me what this is all about. A silver mine, smugglers, those sacks ye've brought, jock here with Tammy, the lot of ye all bedraggled. I've never seen the likes of such a hullabaloo. I'll tell you, Uncle, said Lloyd. He turned upon Jerry an admiring look that ignored tangled curls, the streaks of dirt, bedraggled clothes. And he said, Since Miss Cherry Ames is the real heroine of this occasion, I think she should begin the story. It's called The Silver of the Mine. The story that Cherry began was taken up by old jock after they had all washed and cleaned up and were sitting comfortably in the library, waiting for Higgins to announce luncheon. Old jock told of becoming suspicious at first of something going on in the old mine and in Rogue's Cave when the series of accidents occurred in number two mine. Every time we dug in the direction of the old mine, old jock said, something happened, and the same two men always were involved. At least, the other men reported carelessness or negligence by one or the other of these two miners. They were from St. John's and I noticed they were very friendly with little Joe Tweed. I began to wonder if those two miners had a reason for keeping us from extending number two mine any nearer the old mine. Old jock explained that a vein of ore which had been opened might very well extend into the old mine. His vague suspicions led him to do a bit of investigating. Soon he discovered that the heron was frequently offshore. Then he saw a heavily laden rowboat leaving Rogue's Cave. Next, he discovered that the old mine shaft had been repaired. He had gone down one day only to find two men on guard. He had never been able to get near the Elkhove where he had been found trust up. In fact, he had no idea that a vein of silver had actually been found. Of course, he had suspected that some valuable mineral might have been discovered. On the other hand, it was equally possible that the old mine and Rogue's Cave were simply being used as a warehouse for smuggling anything of value. Why didn't you let me know about this? asked Sir Ian. Ah, that I could not, Ian, old jock said. I knew what terrible tension ye have been under for so long, and ye were a sick man. I had to try to clear everything up without involving ye in a lot of worry and anxiety. Finally, he had decided to stow away on the heron. When and if a boat was sent into Rogue's Cave to pick up cargo, old jock would manage to get aboard it for the boat was large with a covered stern beneath which he could hide. He had taken particular note of this when he had watched it while pretending to be fishing all those times. He had asked Tammy to wait for him in the tower because it was nearest to Rogue's Cave and perfectly safe. If old jock found little Joe and his crew actually engaged in illegal activities, he would simply have Tammy telephone a message to his grandmother. Old jock and his wife Janet had it all planned what she would tell the chief of police. I thought Tammy could phone his grandma without arousing Ramsay's curiosity, old jock explained. But if I went in at night to use his phone he'd wonder right away what it was all about. But Tammy phoning his grandma of a night, well, Ramsay would think right away that the boy was in trouble with his grandmother because he'd stayed out too late. Well, continued old jock, the storm came and worked havoc with my plans. He had got into the boat when it was put over the side of the heron, the night of the storm. In the excitement, his presence had not been discovered and the big robot had made it to shore. Old jock knew that he had to get to the tower and he had started out. Everything had been all right so he thought no one had seen him and he had raced along the cliffs. Suddenly, as he reached the cliffs near the tower, he had been grabbed from behind. He had cried out in surprise and then with pain as he grappled with two men. I did hear you then, Granda, cried Tammy, Miss Cherry, we did hear Granda that night. Yes, Tammy, I now know that we did. And I ran down from the tower, continued Tammy. Some men caught me and they took me down the old mine shaft. But I kicked and bit and scratched and I got away. Tammy, dear, said Meg, do you mean to say that you found your way in the dark to the hidey hole in Rogues Cave? Tammy shook his head. No, Miss Meg, one of the men was chasing me and he had a light. But I could dodge out of his way even if he could run faster. He chased me almost as far as the cave then I crouched down behind a pillar. He looked around but he didn't find me so he left. It wasn't far from the hidey hole so I went in there and hid. You mean to say Tammy, Cherry said, that you haven't had anything to eat since that night? Tammy smiled. Of course not, he answered. Grandma gave me some sandwiches and apples to put in my coat pocket. I wish somebody would tell me a poor medical man, said Dr. Mack, how little Joe and his men found the vein of silver in the old mine. I'll explain it, said Sir Ian. Everyone looked at him, rather surprised that he should know the answer. And Cherry knows, added Sir Ian. I do, exclaimed Cherry. Sir Ian nodded. Of course, he found out about the real silver mine first and the salted mine second. But little Joe, like most of the Balfourians, knew the story about how one George Barkley years ago was fooled by a grafter who salted our old abandoned mine. Now, when little Joe was working for me he used to spend a lot of time fishing out in Rogues Cave Bay. He must have explored both the cave and the old mine from one end to the other. He discovered some of the salted stuff, no doubt. Then one day he discovered a rock that he knew was the real thing, and he went quietly to work. But I can't see. Of course, I'm just a medical man, said Dr. Mack, how the vein of silver could have been missed during all the years that the old mine was in operation. I can answer that, said Lloyd. You see, the old mine had veins of iron ore that ran north and south. When they were exhausted, the mine was abandoned. Yet just fifty feet away from the tunnel was this vein, this wonderfully rich vein of native silver. The vein of silver begins in that alcove where we found Jack Cameron. It slopes gradually downward close to the tunnel in Rogues Cave and becomes submarine. There's no telling how far out the vein runs beneath the ocean. Old Sir Ian, my grandfather found some rocks of native silver in the cave walls without ever discovering the vein itself. That we know thanks to Cherry, who found the journal and the pouch of silver in the tower room. Since my grandfather did not find the vein and surely had heard later of the caves having been salted, he probably decided that he'd found some of the salted silver. Higgins came in. Luncheon is served, he announced. Sir Ian offered his arm to Cherry. Allow me to take you in, Cherry. For ye are the guest of honour. The old mine is going to have a new name. The Balfour Silver Mine will be officially named the Cherry Ames Silver Mine. Three cheers for Cherry Ames, shouted Tammy. Yes indeed, three cheers for Cherry cried Meg and Lloyd, Old Jock and Dr. Mack. When they were all seated at the table Cherry looked round at the friendly faces and her heart felt warm inside her. Thank you all, she said. You have made me very happy. When I go back home I shall take back with me memories of Balfour Island. What do you mean when you go back home? asked Meg. Why, you have to stay ever so long. You have to be made of honour at Douglas's in my wedding. Isn't that so Dr. Douglas Mackenzie? Absolutely, Dr. Mack agreed firmly. She'll make a fair made of honour, won't she Ian? asked Old Jock and she'll bring us luck for sure with the silver mine. That she will Jock, said Sir Ian calling warmly at his old friend. End of Chapter 14 End of Cherry Ames Island Nurse by Helen Wells