"We'll hope there isn't going to be any next, like the little boy's
apple core," Jack laughed.

Then they had to drop into single file as the channel narrowed again,
with the pilot boat _Tramp_ leading the way as usual.

"This is Smith Island, and the one on which the lighthouse is built.
We ought to bring up there in short order now, when the mouth of the
bay will be spread in front of us like a picture," Jack called, over
his shoulder.

"All very nice," grumbled Nick; "but as for me, I'd much rather it was
spread out _behind_ us," and George doubtless echoed the thought,
though too proud to show any nervousness over the prospective trip on
the open sea.

At least Jack's prediction came true, for they did succeed in making
the point of the island where the Cape Charles Light stood, a beacon to
all vessels trying to enter the great Chesapeake Bay.

Far across the heaving waters lay Norfolk, Portsmouth, and Fortress
Monroe, the Government station. Near here one of the most important
naval engagements of the Civil War was fought, when Ericsson's "cheese
on a raft," the _Monitor_, faced the terrible Confederate ironclad ram,
_Merrimac_, and forced her to retire, after it seemed as though the
entire wooden United States navy was to be at the mercy of the enemy.

No doubt many of these events thronged the minds of the four high
school lads as they stood there on the sandy beach looking across that
stretch of sea toward the object of their expectation. And George,
with Nick a good second, must have devoutly wished the labor of the
next twenty-four hours were completed, with the little fleet at safe
anchorage off the town of Norfolk, which they had determined to visit,
so as to get their mail, and secure a few fresh supplies, since the
hungry Nick was making a terrible hole in what they carried.

And on this October night they camped ashore under the gleaming Cape
Charles Light.

CHAPTER XIII.

A SHOUT AT MIDNIGHT.

In the morning, after they had eaten an early breakfast, the boys
called on the keeper of the light, and were allowed to climb to the top
of the tower. Here a glorious panorama was spread before them, with
many miles of the sea to the east, the sandy shore line stretching far
to the dim north, and one of the most beautiful pictures opening out to
the southwest, where lay Norfolk and those other places of interest,
across twenty miles of green waters that glistened in the early October
sunli