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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Yacht Club, by Oliver Optic
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Yacht Club
+       or The Young Boat-Builder
+
+Author: Oliver Optic
+
+Release Date: November 6, 2007 [EBook #23351]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE YACHT CLUB ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David Edwards, Emmy and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was
+produced from scans of public domain material produced by
+Microsoft for their Live Search Books site.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: YACHT CLUB SERIES]
+
+[Illustration: MISS NELLIE PATTERDALE AND DON JOHN. Frontispiece.]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: OLIVER OPTIC'S YACHT CLUB SERIES.
+
+        THE YACHT CLUB.
+        LEE & SHEPARD,
+        BOSTON]
+
+
+
+
+THE YACHT CLUB SERIES.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+THE YACHT CLUB;
+
+OR,
+
+THE YOUNG BOAT-BUILDER.
+
+BY
+
+OLIVER OPTIC,
+
+        AUTHOR OF "YOUNG AMERICA ABROAD," "THE ARMY AND NAVY SERIES,"
+        "THE WOODVILLE STORIES," "THE STARRY FLAG SERIES," "THE
+        BOAT CLUB STORIES," "THE LAKE SHORE SERIES,"
+        "THE UPWARD AND ONWARD SERIES,"
+        ETC., ETC.
+
+_WITH THIRTEEN ILLUSTRATIONS._
+
+        BOSTON:
+        LEE AND SHEPARD, PUBLISHERS.
+        NEW YORK:
+        LEE, SHEPARD AND DILLINGHAM.
+
+        Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1873,
+        BY WILLIAM T. ADAMS,
+        In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+        Brown Type-Setting Machine Company.
+
+        TO
+
+        MY YOUNG FRIEND
+
+        _CHARLES H. HASTINGS_,
+
+        OF NEW YORK,
+
+        This Book is Affectionately Dedicated.
+
+
+
+The Yacht Club Series.
+
+
+        1. LITTLE BOBTAIL; OR, THE WRECK OF THE PENOBSCOT.
+
+        2. THE YACHT CLUB; OR, THE YOUNG BOAT-BUILDER.
+
+        3. MONEY-MAKER; OR, THE VICTORY OF THE BASILISK.
+
+        4. THE COMING WAVE; OR, THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF HIGH ROCK.
+
+        5. THE DORCAS CLUB; OR, OUR GIRLS AFLOAT.
+
+        (The sixth in preparation.)
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+"THE YACHT CLUB" is the second volume of the YACHT CLUB SERIES, to which
+it gives a name; and like its predecessor, is an independent story. The
+hero has not before appeared, though some of the characters of "LITTLE
+BOBTAIL" take part in the incidents: but each volume may be read
+understandingly without any knowledge of the contents of the other. In
+this story, the interest centres in Don John, the Boat-builder, who is
+certainly a very enterprising young man, though his achievements have
+been more than paralleled in the domain of actual life.
+
+Like the first volume of the series, the incidents of the story
+transpire on the waters of the beautiful Penobscot Bay, and on its
+shores. They include several yacht races, which must be more interesting
+to those who are engaged in the exciting sport of yachting, than to
+others. But the principal incidents are distinct from the aquatic
+narrative; and those who are not interested in boats and boating will
+find that Don John and Nellie Patterdale do not spend all their time on
+the water.
+
+The hero is a young man of high aims and noble purposes: and the writer
+believes that it is unpardonable to awaken the interest and sympathy of
+his readers for any other than high-minded and well-meaning characters.
+But he is not faultless; he makes some grave mistakes, even while he has
+high aims. The most important lesson in morals to be derived from his
+experience is that it is unwise and dangerous for young people to
+conceal their actions from their parents and friends; and that men and
+women who seek concealment "choose darkness because their deeds are
+evil."
+
+ HARRISON SQUARE, BOSTON,
+              May 22, 1873.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+                                                     PAGE
+
+        CHAPTER I.
+        DON JOHN OF BELFAST, AND FRIENDS               11
+
+        CHAPTER II.
+        ABOUT THE TIN BOX                              28
+
+        CHAPTER III.
+        THE YACHT CLUB AT TURTLE HEAD                  46
+
+        CHAPTER IV.
+        A SAD EVENT IN THE RAMSAY FAMILY               63
+
+        CHAPTER V.
+        CAPTAIN SHIVERNOCK                             81
+
+        CHAPTER VI.
+        DONALD GETS THE JOB                            99
+
+        CHAPTER VII.
+        LAYING DOWN THE KEEL.                         117
+
+        CHAPTER VIII.
+        THE FIRST REGATTA.                            135
+
+        CHAPTER IX.
+        THE SKYLARK AND THE SEA FOAM.                 153
+
+        CHAPTER X.
+        THE LAUNCH OF THE MAUD.                       171
+
+        CHAPTER XI.
+        THE WHITE CROSS OF DENMARK.                   189
+
+        CHAPTER XII.
+        DONALD ANSWERS QUESTIONS.                     207
+
+        CHAPTER XIII.
+        MOONLIGHT ON THE JUNO.                        226
+
+        CHAPTER XIV.
+        CAPTAIN SHIVERNOCK'S JOKE.                    244
+
+        CHAPTER XV.
+        LAUD CAVENDISH TAKES CARE OF HIMSELF.         264
+
+        CHAPTER XVI.
+        SATURDAY COVE.                                283
+
+        CHAPTER XVII.
+        THE GREAT RACE.                               302
+
+        CHAPTER XVIII.
+        THE HASBROOK OUTRAGE, AND OTHER MATTERS.      320
+
+
+
+
+THE YACHT CLUB;
+
+OR,
+
+THE YOUNG BOAT-BUILDER.
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+DON JOHN OF BELFAST, AND FRIENDS.
+
+
+"Why, Don John, how you frightened me!" exclaimed Miss Nellie
+Patterdale, as she sprang up from her reclining position in a
+lolling-chair.
+
+It was an intensely warm day near the close of June, and the young lady
+had chosen the coolest and shadiest place she could find on the piazza
+of her father's elegant mansion in Belfast. She was as pretty as she was
+bright and vivacious, and was a general favorite among the pupils of the
+High School, which she attended. She was deeply absorbed in the reading
+of a story in one of the July magazines, which had just come from the
+post-office, when she heard a step near her. The sound startled her, it
+was so near; and, looking up, she discovered the young man whom she had
+spoken to close beside her. He was not Don John of Austria, but Donald
+John Ramsay of Belfast, who had been addressed by his companions simply
+as Don, a natural abbreviation of his first name, until he of Austria
+happened to be mentioned in the history recitation in school, when the
+whole class looked at Don, and smiled; some of the girls even giggled,
+and got a check for it; but the republican young gentleman became a
+titular Spanish hidalgo from that moment. Though he was the son of a
+boat-builder, by trade a ship carpenter, he was a good-looking, and
+gentlemanly fellow, and was treated with kindness and consideration by
+most of the sons and daughters of the wealthy men of Belfast, who
+attended the High School. It was hardly a secret that Don John regarded
+Miss Nellie with especial admiration, or that, while he was polite to
+all the young ladies, he was particularly so to her. It is a fact, too,
+that he blushed when she turned her startled gaze upon him on the
+piazza; and it is just as true that Miss Nellie colored deeply, though
+it may have been only the natural consequence of her surprise.
+
+"I beg your pardon, Nellie; I did not mean to frighten you," replied
+Donald.
+
+"I don't suppose you did, Don John; but you startled me just as much as
+though you had meant it," added she, with a pleasant smile, so forgiving
+that the young man had no fear of the consequences. "How terribly hot it
+is! I am almost melted."
+
+"It is very warm," answered Donald, who, somehow or other, found it very
+difficult to carry on a conversation with Nellie; and his eyes seemed to
+him to be twice as serviceable as his tongue.
+
+"It is dreadful warm."
+
+And so they went on repeating the same thing over and over again, till
+there was no other known form of expression for warm weather.
+
+"How in the world did you get to the side of my chair without my hearing
+you?" demanded Nellie, when it was evidently impossible to say anything
+more about the heat.
+
+"I came up the front steps, and was walking around on the piazza to your
+father's library. I didn't see you till you spoke," replied Donald,
+reminded by this explanation that he had come to Captain Patterdale's
+house for a purpose. "Is Ned at home?"
+
+"No; he has gone up to Searsport to stay over Sunday with uncle Henry."
+
+"Has he? I'm sorry. Is your father at home?"
+
+"He is in his library, and there is some one with him. Won't you sit
+down, Don John?"
+
+"Thank you," added Donald, seating himself in a rustic chair. "It is
+very warm this afternoon."
+
+Nellie actually laughed, for she was conscious of the difficulties of
+the situation--more so than her visitor. But we must do our hero--for
+such he is--the justice to say, that he did not refer to the exhausted
+topic with the intention of confining the conversation to it, but to
+introduce the business which had called him to the house.
+
+"It is intensely hot, Don John," laughed Nellie.
+
+"But I was going to ask you if you would not like to take a sail," said
+Donald, with a blush. "With your father, I mean," added he, with a
+deeper blush, as he realized that he had actually asked a girl to go
+out in a boat with him.
+
+"I should be delighted to go, but I can't. Mother won't let me go on the
+water when the sun is out, it hurts my eyes so," answered Nellie; and
+the young man was sure she was very sorry she could not go.
+
+"Perhaps we can go after sunset, then," suggested Donald. "I am sorry
+Ned is not at home; for his yacht is finished, and father says the paint
+is dry enough to use her. We are going to have a little trial trip in
+her over to Turtle Head, and, perhaps, round by Searsport."
+
+"Is the Sea Foam really done?" asked Nellie, her eyes sparkling with
+delight.
+
+"Yes, she is all ready, and father will deliver her to Ned on Monday, if
+everything works right about her. I thought some of your folks,
+especially Ned, would like to be in her on the first trip."
+
+"I should, for one; but I suppose it is no use for me to think of it. My
+eyes are ever so much better, and I hope I shall be able to sail in the
+Sea Foam soon."
+
+"I hope so, too. We expect she will beat the Skylark; father thinks she
+will."
+
+"I don't care whether she does or not," laughed Nellie.
+
+"Do you think I could see your father just a moment?" asked Donald. "I
+only want to know whether or not he will go with us."
+
+"I think so; I will go and speak to him. Come in, Don John," replied
+Nellie, rising from her lolling-chair, and walking around the corner of
+the house to the front door.
+
+Donald followed her. The elegant mansion was located on a corner lot,
+with a broad hall through the centre of it, on one side of which was the
+large drawing-room, and on the other the sitting and dining-rooms. At
+the end of the great hall was a door opening into the library, a large
+apartment, which occupied the whole of a one-story addition to the
+original structure. It had also an independent outside door, which
+opened upon the piazza; and opposite to it was a flight of steps, down
+to the gravel walk terminating at a gate on the cross street. People who
+came to see Captain Patterdale on business could enter at this gate, and
+go to the library without passing through the house. On the present
+occasion, a horse and wagon stood at the gate, which indicated to Miss
+Nellie that her father was engaged. This team had stood there for an
+hour, and Donald had watched it for half that time, waiting for the
+owner to leave, though he was not at all anxious to terminate the
+interview with his fair schoolmate.
+
+Nellie knocked at the library door, and her father told her to come in.
+She passed in, while Donald waited the pleasure of the rich man in the
+hall.
+
+He was invited to enter. Captain Patterdale was evidently bored by his
+visitor, and gave the young man a cordial greeting. Donald stated his
+business very briefly; but the captain did not say whether he would or
+would not go upon the trial trip of the Sea Foam. He asked a hundred
+questions about the new yacht, and it was plain that he did not care to
+resume the conversation with his visitor, who walked nervously about the
+room, apparently vexed at the interruption, and dissatisfied thus far
+with the result of his interview with the captain.
+
+What would have appeared to be true to an observer was actually so. The
+visitor was one Jacob Hasbrook, from a neighboring town, and his
+reputation for honesty and fair dealings was not the best in the world.
+Captain Patterdale held his note, without security, for thirteen hundred
+and fifty dollars. Hasbrook had property, but his creditors were never
+sure of him till they were paid. At the present interview he had
+astonished Captain Patterdale by paying the note in full, with interest,
+on the day it became due. But it was soon clear enough to the rich man
+that the payment was only a "blind" to induce him to embark in a
+doubtful speculation with Hasbrook. The nature and immense profits of
+the enterprise had been eloquently set forth by the visitor, and his own
+capacity to manage it enlarged upon; but the nabob, who had made his
+fortune by hard work, was utterly wanting in enthusiasm. He had received
+the money in payment of his note, which he had expected to lose, or to
+obtain only after resorting to legal measures, and he was fully
+determined to have nothing more to do with the man. He had said all this
+as mildly as he could; but Hasbrook was persistent, and probably felt
+that in paying an honest debt he had thrown away thirteen hundred and
+fifty dollars.
+
+He would not go, though Captain Patterdale gave him sufficient excuse
+for doing so, or even for cutting his acquaintance. The rich man
+continued to talk with Don John, to the intense disgust of the
+speculator, who stood looking at a tin box, painted green, which lay on
+a chair. Perhaps he looked upon this box as the grave of his hopes; for
+it contained the money he had just paid to the captain--the wasted
+money, because the rich man would not embark with him in his brilliant
+enterprise, though he had taken so much pains, and parted with so much
+money, to prove that he was an honest man. He appeared to be interested
+in the box, and he looked at it all the time, with only an impatient
+glance occasionally at the nabob, who appeared to be trifling with his
+bright hopes. The tin chest was about nine inches each way, and
+contained the private papers and other valuables of the rich man,
+including, now, the thirteen hundred and fifty dollars just received.
+
+Captain Patterdale was president of the Twenty-first National Bank of
+Belfast, which was located a short distance from his house. The tin box
+was kept in the vaults of the bank; but the owner had taken it home to
+examine some documents at his leisure, intending to return it to the
+bank before night. As it was in the library when Mr. Hasbrook called,
+the money was deposited in it for safe keeping over night.
+
+"I'm afraid I can't go with you, Donald," said Captain Patterdale, after
+he had asked him all the questions he could think of about the Sea Foam.
+
+"I am sorry, sir; for Miss Nellie wanted to go, and I was going to ask
+father to wait till after sunset on her account," added the young man.
+
+Mr. Hasbrook began to look hopeful; for the last remark of the nabob
+indicated a possible termination of the conversation. Donald began his
+retreat toward the hall of the mansion, for he wanted to see the fair
+daughter again; but he had not reached the door before the captain
+called him back.
+
+"I suppose your father wants some more money to-night," said he, feeling
+in his pocket for the key to open the tin box.
+
+"He didn't say anything to me about it, sir," replied Donald; "I don't
+think he does."
+
+Hasbrook looked hopeless again; for Captain Patterdale began to
+calculate how much he had paid, and how much more he was to pay, for the
+yacht. While he was doing so, there was a knock at the street door,
+and, upon being invited to do so, Mr. Laud Cavendish entered the library
+with a bill in his hand.
+
+Mr. Laud Cavendish was a great man in his own estimation, and a great
+swell in the estimation of everybody else. He was a clerk or salesman in
+a store; but he was dressed very elegantly for a provincial city like
+Belfast, and for a "counter-jumper" on six or eight dollars a week. He
+was about eighteen years old, tall, and rather slender. His upper lip
+was adorned with an incipient mustache, which had been tenderly coaxed
+and colored for two years, without producing any prodigious result,
+though it was the pride and glory of the owner. Mr. Cavendish was a
+dreamy young gentleman, who believed that the Fates had made a bad
+mistake in his case, inasmuch as he was the son of an honest and
+industrious carpenter, instead of the son and heir of one of the nabobs
+of Belfast. He believed that he was fitted to adorn the highest circle
+in society, to shine among the aristocracy of the city, and it was a
+cruel shame that he should be compelled to work in a store, weigh out
+tea and sugar, carry goods to the elegant mansions where he ought to be
+admitted at the front, instead of the back, door, collect bills, and
+perform whatever other service might be required of him. The Fates had
+blundered and conspired against him; but he was not without hope that
+the daughter of some rich man, who might fall in love with him and his
+mustache, would redeem him from his slavery to an occupation he hated,
+and lift him up to the sphere where he belonged. Laud was "soaring after
+the infinite," and so he rather neglected the mundane and practical, and
+his employer did not consider him a very desirable clerk.
+
+Mr. Laud Cavendish came with a bill in his hand, the footing of which
+was the sum due his employer for certain necessary articles just
+delivered at the kitchen door of the elegant mansion. Captain Patterdale
+opened the tin box, and took therefrom some twenty dollars to pay the
+bill, which Laud receipted. Mr. Hasbrook hoped he would go, and that Don
+John would go; and perhaps they would have gone if a rather exciting
+event had not occurred to detain them.
+
+"Father! father!" exclaimed Miss Nellie, rushing into the library.
+
+"What's the matter, Nellie?" demanded her father, calmly; for he had
+long been a sea captain, and was used to emergencies.
+
+"Michael has just dropped down in a fit!" gasped Nellie.
+
+"Where is he?"
+
+"In the yard."
+
+Captain Patterdale, followed by his three visitors, rushed through the
+hall, out at the front door, near which the unfortunate man had fallen,
+and, with the assistance of his companions, lifted him from the ground.
+Michael was the hired man who took care of the horses, and kept the
+grounds around the elegant mansion in order. He was raking the gravel
+walk near the piazza where Nellie was laboring to keep cool. As we have
+hinted before, and as Nellie and Don John had several times repeated,
+the day was intensely hot. The sun where the man worked was absolutely
+scorching, and the hired man had experienced a sun-stroke. Captain
+Patterdale and his visitors bore him to his room in the L, and Don John
+ran for the doctor, who appeared in less than ten minutes. The visitors
+all did what they could, Mr. Laud Cavendish behaving very well.
+Michael's wife and other friends soon arrived, and there was nothing
+more for Laud to do. He went down stairs, and, finding Nellie in the
+hall, he tried to comfort her; for she was very much concerned for poor
+Michael.
+
+"Do you think he will die, Mr. Cavendish?" asked she, almost as much
+moved as though the poor man had been her father.
+
+"O, no! I think he will recover. These Irishmen have thick heads, and
+they don't die so easily of sun-stroke; for that's what the doctor says
+it is," replied Laud, knowingly.
+
+Nellie thought, if this was a true view of _coup de soleil_, Laud would
+never die of it. She thought this; but she was not so impolite as to say
+it. She asked him no more questions; for she saw Don John approaching
+through the dining-room.
+
+"Good afternoon, Miss Patterdale," said Laud, with a bow and a flourish,
+as he retired towards the library, where he had left his hat.
+
+In a few moments more, the rattle of the wagon, with which he delivered
+goods to the customers, was heard as he drove off. Don John came into
+the hall, and Nellie asked him ever so many questions about the
+condition of Michael, and what the doctor said about him; all of which
+the young man answered to the best of his ability.
+
+"Do you think he will die, Don John?" she asked.
+
+"I am sure I can't tell," replied Donald; "I hope not."
+
+"Michael is real good, and I am so sorry for him!" added Nellie.
+
+But Michael is hardly a personage in our story, and we do not purpose to
+enter into the diagnosis of his case. He has our sympathies on the merit
+of his sufferings alone, and quite as much for Nellie's sake; for it was
+tender, and gentle, and kind in her to feel so much for a poor Irish
+laborer. While she and Donald were talking about the case, Mr. Hasbrook
+came down stairs, and passed through the hall into the library, where
+he, also, had left his hat. In a few moments more the rattle of his
+wagon was heard, as he drove off, indignant and disgusted at the
+indifference of the nabob in refusing to take an interest in his
+brilliant enterprise. He was angry with himself for having paid his note
+before he had enlisted the payee in his cause.
+
+"How is he, father?" asked Nellie, as Captain Patterdale entered the
+hall.
+
+"The doctor thinks he sees some favorable symptoms."
+
+"Will he die?"
+
+"The doctor thinks he will get over it. But he wants some ice, and I
+must get it for him."
+
+"I suppose you will not go in the Sea Foam now?" asked Donald.
+
+"No; it is impossible," replied the captain, as he passed into the
+dining-room to the refrigerator.
+
+The father was like the daughter; and though he was a _millionnaire_, or
+a _demi-millionnaire_--we don't know which, for we were never allowed to
+look over his taxable valuation--though he was a nabob, he took right
+hold, and worked with his own hands for the comfort and the recovery of
+the sufferer. It was creditable to his heart that he did so, and we
+never grudge such a man his "pile," especially when he has earned it by
+his own labor, or made it in honorable, legitimate business. The captain
+went up stairs again with a large dish of ice, to assist the doctor in
+the treatment of his patient.
+
+Donald staid in the hall, talking with Miss Nellie, as long as he
+thought it proper to do so, though not as long as he desired, and then
+entered the library where he, also, had left his hat. Perhaps it was a
+singular coincidence that all three of the visitors had left their hats
+in that room; but then it was not proper for them to sit with their hats
+on in the presence of such a magnate as Captain Patterdale, and no
+decent man would stop for a hat when a person had fallen in a fit.
+
+Captain Patterdale's hat was still there; and, unluckily, there was
+something else belonging to him which was not there.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+ABOUT THE TIN BOX.
+
+
+Captain Patterdale worked with the doctor for a full hour upon poor
+Michael, who at the end of that time opened his eyes, and soon declared
+that he was "betther entirely." He insisted upon getting up, for it was
+not "the likes of himself that was to lay there and have his honor
+workin' over him." But the doctor and the nabob pacified him, and left
+him, much improved, in the care of his wife.
+
+"How is he, Dr. Wadman?" asked the sympathizing Nellie, as they came
+down stairs together.
+
+"He is decidedly better," replied the physician.
+
+"Will he die?"
+
+"O, no; I think not. His case looks very hopeful now."
+
+"I thought folks always died with sun-stroke," said Nellie, more
+cheerfully.
+
+"No; not unless their heads are very soft," laughed the doctor.
+
+"Well, I shouldn't think Laud Cavendish would dare to go out when the
+sun shines," added the fair girl, with a snap of her bright eyes.
+
+"It isn't quite safe for him to do so. Unfortunately, such people don't
+know their own heads. I will come in again after tea," said the doctor,
+as he went out of the house, at the front door; for he had not left his
+hat in the library.
+
+"I am so glad Michael is better!" continued Nellie. "When I saw him
+drop, I felt as cold as ice, and I was afraid I should drop too before I
+could get to the library."
+
+"Did you see him fall, Nellie?" asked her father.
+
+"Yes; he gave a kind of groan, and then fell; he was--"
+
+"Gracious!" exclaimed Captain Patterdale, interrupting her all of a
+sudden.
+
+He turned on his heel, and walked rapidly into the library. Nellie was
+startled, and was troubled with a suspicion that her father had a _coup
+de soleil_, or _coup de_ something-else; for he did not often do
+anything by fits and starts. She followed him into the library. It was a
+fact that the captain had left his hat there; but it was not for this
+article, so necessary in a hot day, that he hastened thus abruptly into
+the room. Nellie found him flying around the apartment in a high state
+of excitement for him. He was looking anxiously about, and seemed to be
+very much disturbed.
+
+"What in the world is the matter, father?" asked Nellie.
+
+"Where is your mother?"
+
+"She has gone over to Mrs. Rodman's."
+
+"Hasn't she been back?"
+
+"No, certainly not; I was just going over to tell her what had happened
+to Michael, when you came down."
+
+"Who has been in here, Nellie?"
+
+"I don't know that anybody has. I haven't seen any one. What's the
+matter, father? what in the world has happened?"
+
+"I left my tin box here when I went out to see to Michael, and now it is
+gone," answered Captain Patterdale, anxiously. "I didn't know but that
+your mother had come in and taken care of it."
+
+"The tin box gone?" exclaimed Nellie. "Why, what can have become of it?"
+
+"That is just what I should like to know," added the captain, as he
+renewed his search in the room for the treasure chest.
+
+It was not in the library, and then he looked in the great hall and in
+the little hall, in the drawing-room, the sitting-room, and the
+dining-room; but it was not in any of these. He knew he had left it on
+the chair near where he was sitting when he went out of the room. Then
+he examined the spring-lock on the door of the library which led into
+the side street. It was closed and securely fastened. The door shut
+itself with a patent invention, and when shut it locked itself, so that
+anybody could get out, but no one could get in unless admitted.
+
+"Where were you when I was up stairs, Nellie?" asked Captain Patterdale,
+as he seated himself in his arm-chair, to take a cool view of the whole
+subject.
+
+"I was in the hall most of the time," she replied.
+
+"Who has been in the library?"
+
+"Let me see; Laud Cavendish came down first, and went out through the
+library."
+
+The captain rubbed his bald head, and seemed to be asking himself
+whether it was possible for Mr. Laud Cavendish to do so wicked a deed as
+stealing that tin box. He did not believe the young swell had the
+baseness or the daring to commit so great a crime. It might be, but he
+could not think so.
+
+"Who else has been in here?" he inquired, when he had hastily considered
+all he knew about the moral character of Laud.
+
+"That other man who was with you--I don't know his name--the one that
+was here when I came in with Don John."
+
+"Mr. Hasbrook."
+
+"He went out through the library. I thought he looked real ugly too,"
+added Nellie. "He kept fidgeting about all the time I was here."
+
+"And all the time he was here himself. He went out through the
+library--did he?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+Captain Patterdale mentally overhauled the character of Mr. Hasbrook. It
+was unfortunate for his late debtor that his character was not first
+class, and between him and Laud Cavendish the probabilities were
+altogether against Hasbrook. He had evidently been vexed and angry
+because he failed to carry his point, and his cupidity might have been
+stimulated by revenge. But the captain was a fair and just man, and in a
+matter of this kind, involving the reputation of any person, he kept his
+suspicions to himself.
+
+"Who else has been in the library, Nellie?" he asked.
+
+"No one but Don John," replied she. And whatever Laud or Hasbrook might
+have done in wickedness, Nellie had too much regard for her friend and
+schoolmate to admit for one instant the possibility of his doing
+anything wrong, much less his committing so gross a crime as the
+stealing of the tin box and its valuable contents.
+
+Captain Patterdale was hardly less confident of the integrity of Donald.
+Certainly it was not necessary to suspect him when the possibilities of
+guilt included two such persons as Laud and Hasbrook. Donald was rather
+distinguished, in school and out, as a good boy, and he ought to have
+the full benefit of his reputation.
+
+"You don't think Don John took the box--do you, father?" asked Nellie,
+as her father was meditating on the circumstances.
+
+"Certainly not, Nellie," protested the captain, warmly; "I don't know
+that anybody has taken it."
+
+"I know Don John would not do such a thing."
+
+"I don't believe he would."
+
+"I know he would not."
+
+Her father thought she was just a little more earnest in her
+uncalled-for defence of the young man than was necessary, and for the
+first time in his life it occurred to him that she was more interested
+in him than he wished her to be; for, as Donald was only the son of a
+poor boat-builder, such a strong friendship might be embarrassing in the
+future. However, this was only the shadow of a passing thought, which
+divided his attention only for a moment. The loss of the tin box was the
+question of the hour, and "society" topics were not just then in order.
+
+"I have no idea that Don John took the box," replied Captain Patterdale.
+"I am more willing to believe either of the other two who were in the
+library took it than that he did. But he was the last of the three who
+went out through this room. He may be able to give me some information,
+and I will go down and see him. He and his father were going off in the
+new yacht--were they not?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"You need not say a word about the box to any one, Nellie, nor even that
+it is lost," added the captain. "If I do not find it, I shall employ a
+skilful detective to look it up, and he may prefer to work in the dark."
+
+"I will not mention it, father," replied Nellie. "What was in the box?
+Was it money?"
+
+"I put thirteen hundred and fifty dollars into it, but I took out twenty
+to pay the bill that Laud brought. It contains my deeds, leases,
+policies of insurance, and my notes, and these papers are really more
+valuable to me than the money. Luckily, my bonds and securities are in
+another box, in the vault of the bank."
+
+"Then you will lose over thirteen hundred dollars if you don't find the
+box?"
+
+"More than that, I am afraid, for I shall hardly be able to collect all
+the money due on the notes if I lose them," replied the captain, as he
+left the house.
+
+He walked down to the boat shop of Mr. Ramsay. It was on the shore, and
+near it was the house in which the boat-builder lived. Neither Don John
+nor his father was at the shop, but a sloop yacht, half a mile out in
+the bay, seemed to be the Sea Foam. She was headed towards the shore,
+however, and Captain Patterdale seated himself in the shade of the shop
+to await its arrival, though he hardly expected to obtain any
+information in regard to the box from Donald. While he was sitting
+there, Mr. Laud Cavendish appeared with a large basket in his hand. The
+counter-jumper started when he turned the corner of the shop, and saw
+the nabob seated there.
+
+"Going a-fishing?" asked the captain.
+
+"Yes, sir; I'm going over to Turtle Head to camp out over Sunday,"
+replied Laud. "How is Michael, sir?"
+
+"He is much better, and is doing very well."
+
+"I'm glad of it," added Laud, as he carried his basket down to a
+sail-boat which was partly aground, and deposited it in the forward
+cuddy.
+
+Captain Patterdale wanted to talk with Laud, but he did not like to
+excite any suspicions on his part. If the young man had taken the box
+he would not be likely to go off on an island to stay over Sunday.
+Besides, it was evident from the position of the boat, and the fact that
+it contained several articles necessary for a fishing excursion, in
+addition to those in the basket, that Laud had made his arrangements for
+the trip before he visited the library of the elegant mansion. If he had
+taken the box, he would probably have changed his plans. It was not
+likely, therefore, that Laud was the guilty party.
+
+"Are you going alone?" asked the captain, walking down the beach to the
+boat.
+
+"Yes, sir; I couldn't get any one to go with me. I tried Don John, but
+he won't go off to stay over Sunday," replied Laud, with a sickly grin.
+
+"I commend his example to you. I don't think it is a good way to spend
+Sunday."
+
+"It's the only time I can get to go. I've been trying to got off for a
+month."
+
+"Saturday must be a bad time for you to leave," suggested the captain.
+
+"It is rather bad," added Laud, as he shoved off the bow of the boat,
+for he seemed to be in haste to get away.
+
+"By the way, Laud, did you notice a tin box in my library when you were
+there this afternoon?" asked the nabob, with as much indifference in his
+manner and tone as he could command.
+
+"A tin box?" repeated Laud, busying himself with the jib of the
+sail-boat.
+
+"Yes; it was painted green."
+
+"I don't remember any box," answered Laud.
+
+"Didn't you see it? I opened it to take out the money I paid you."
+
+"I didn't mind. I was receipting the bill while you were getting the
+money ready. You know I sat down at your desk."
+
+"Yes; I know you did; but didn't you see the box?"
+
+"No, sir; I don't remember seeing any box," said Laud, still fussing
+over the sail, which certainly did not need any attention.
+
+"You went out through the library when you came down from Michael's
+room--didn't you?" continued the captain.
+
+"Yes, sir; I did. I left my hat in there."
+
+"Did you see the box then?"
+
+"Of course I didn't. If I had, I should have remembered it," replied
+Laud, with a grin. "I just grabbed my hat, and ran, for I had been in
+the house some time; and I got a blessing for being away so long when I
+went back to the store."
+
+"You didn't see the box, then?"
+
+"If it was there, I suppose I saw it; but I didn't take any notice of
+it. Why? is the box lost?"
+
+"I want to get another like it. Haven't you anything of the sort in the
+store?"
+
+"We have some cake and spice boxes. They are tin, and painted on the
+outside."
+
+"Those will not answer the purpose. It's a very hot day," added the
+captain, as he wiped the perspiration from his face, and walked back to
+the shade of the shop.
+
+Mr. Laud Cavendish stepped into the sail-boat, hoisted the sails, and
+shoved her off into deep water with an oar. Captain Patterdale thought,
+and then he did not know what to think. Was it possible Laud had not
+noticed that tin box, which had been on a chair out in the middle of
+the room? If he had not, why, then he had not; but if he had Laud had
+more cunning, more self-control, and more ingenuity than the captain had
+ever given him the credit, or the discredit, of possessing, for there
+was certainly no sign of guilt in his tone or his manner, except that he
+did not look the inquirer square in the face when he answered his
+questions, though some guilty people can even do this without wincing.
+
+Captain Patterdale watched the departing and the approaching boats,
+still considering the possible relation of Laud Cavendish to the tin
+box. If the fellow had stolen it, he would not go off on an island to
+stay over Sunday, leaving the box behind to betray him; and this
+argument seemed to be conclusive in his favor. The captain had looked
+into the boat, and satisfied himself that the box was not there; unless
+it was in the basket, which appeared to contain so many other things
+that there was no room for it. On the whole, the captain was willing to
+acquit Mr. Laud Cavendish of the act, partly, perhaps, because this had
+been his first view of the matter. It was more probable that Hasbrook,
+angry and disappointed at his failure, had put the box into his wagon,
+and returned to the neighboring town, where, as before stated, his
+reputation was not first class, though, perhaps, not many people
+believed him capable of stealing outright, without the formality of
+getting up a mining company, or making a trade of some sort. But Donald
+had been the last of the trio of visitors who passed through the
+library, and the captain wanted to see him.
+
+The Sea Foam, with snowy sails just from the loft, and glittering in her
+freshly-laid coat of white paint, ran up to a wharf just below the boat
+shop. Donald was at the helm, and he threw her up into the wind just
+before she came to the pier, so that when she forged ahead, with her
+sails shaking in the wind, her head came up within a few inches of the
+landing-place. Mr. Ramsay fended her off, and went ashore with a line in
+his hand, which he made fast to a ring. Captain Patterdale walked around
+to the wharf, as soon as he saw where she was to make a landing.
+
+"Well, how do you like her, Sam?" said Donald to a young man of his own
+age in the standing-room with him.
+
+"First rate; and I hope your father will go to work on mine at once,"
+replied the passenger.
+
+"You will lay down the keel on Monday--won't you, father?"
+
+"What?" asked Mr. Ramsay, who had seated himself on a log on the wharf.
+
+"You will lay down the keel of the boat for Mr. Rodman on Monday--won't
+you?" repeated Donald.
+
+"Yes, if I am able; I don't feel very well to-day." And the boat-builder
+doubled himself up, as though he was in great pain.
+
+The young man in the standing-room of the Sea Foam was Samuel Rodman, a
+schoolmate of Donald, whose father was a wealthy man, and had ordered
+another boat like the Skylark, which had been the model for the new
+yacht. He had come down to see the craft, and had been invited to take a
+sail in her; but an engagement had prevented him from going as far as
+Turtle Head, and the boat-builder and his son had returned to land him,
+intending still to make the trip. By this time Captain Patterdale had
+reached the end of the wharf. He went on board of the Sea Foam, and
+looked her over with a critical eye, and was entirely satisfied with
+her. He was invited to sail in her for as short a time as he chose, but
+he declined.
+
+"By the way, Donald, did you see the green tin box when you were in my
+library this afternoon?" he asked, when all the topics relating to the
+yacht had been disposed of.
+
+"Yes, sir; I saw you take some money from it," replied Donald.
+
+"Then you remember the box?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"Did you notice it when you came out--I mean, when you left the house?"
+
+"I don't remember seeing it when I came out," answered Donald, wondering
+what these questions meant.
+
+"I want to get another box just like that one. Did you take particular
+notice of it?"
+
+"No, sir; I can't say I did."
+
+"You didn't stay any time in the library after you came down from
+Michael's room, did you?"
+
+"No, sir; I only went for my hat, and didn't stay there a minute."
+
+"And you didn't notice the tin box?"
+
+"No, sir; I didn't see it at all when I came out."
+
+"Then of course you didn't see any marks upon it," added the captain,
+with a smile.
+
+"If I didn't see the box, I shouldn't have been likely to see the
+marks," laughed Donald. "What marks were they, sir?"
+
+"It's of no consequence, if you didn't see them. The box was in the
+library--wasn't it?--when you went out."
+
+"I don't know whether it was or not. I only know that I don't remember
+noticing it," said Donald, who thought the captain's question was a very
+queer one, after those he had just answered.
+
+The nabob was no better satisfied with Donald's answers than he had been
+with those of Laud Cavendish, except that the former looked him full in
+the face when he spoke. He obtained no information, and went home to
+seek it at other sources.
+
+"I think I won't go out again, Donald," said Mr. Ramsay, when Captain
+Patterdale had left. "I don't feel very well, and you may go alone."
+
+"Do you feel very sick, father?" asked the son, in tones of sympathy.
+
+"No; but I think I will go into the house and take some medicine. You
+can run over to Turtle Head alone," added the boat-builder, as he walked
+towards the house.
+
+"Can't you go any how, Sam?" said Donald, turning to his friend.
+
+"No, I must go home now. I have to drive over to Searsport after my
+sister," replied Sam, as he left the yacht, and walked up the wharf.
+
+Donald hoisted the jib of the Sea Foam, shoved off her head, and laid
+her course, with the wind over the quarter, for Turtle Head--distant
+about seven miles.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+THE YACHT CLUB AT TURTLE HEAD.
+
+
+The Sea Foam was a sloop yacht, thirty feet in length, and as handsome
+as a picture in an illustrated paper, than which nothing could be finer.
+It was a fact that she had cost twelve hundred dollars; but even this
+sum was cheaper than she could have been built and fitted up in Boston
+or Bristol. She was provided with everything required by a first class
+yacht of her size, both for the comfort and safety of the voyager, as
+well as for fast sailing. Though Mr. Ramsay, her builder, was a ship
+carpenter, he was a very intelligent and well-read man. He had made
+yachts a specialty, and devoted a great deal of study to the subject. He
+had examined the fastest craft in New York and Newport, and had their
+lines in his head. And he was a very ingenious man, so that he had the
+tact to make the most of small spaces, and to economize every spare
+inch in lockers, closets, and stow-holes for the numerous articles
+required in a pleasure craft. He had learned his trade as a ship
+carpenter and joiner in Scotland, where the mechanic's education is much
+more thorough than in our own country, and he was an excellent workman.
+
+The cabin of the Sea Foam was about twelve feet long, with transoms on
+each side, which were used both as berths and sofas. They were supplied
+with cushions covered with Brussels carpet, with a pillow of the same
+material at each end. Through the middle, fore and aft, was the
+centre-board casing, on each side of which was a table on hinges, so
+that it could be dropped down when not in use. The only possible
+objection to this cabin, in the mind of a shoreman, would have been its
+lack of height. It was necessarily "low studded," being only five feet
+from floor to ceiling, which was rather trying to the perpendicularity
+of a six-footer. But it was a very comfortable cabin for all that,
+though tall men were compelled to be humble within its low limits.
+
+It was entered from the standing-room by a single step covered with
+plate brass, in which the name of the yacht was wrought with bright
+copper nails. On each side of the companion-way was a closet, one of
+which was for dishes, and the other for miscellaneous stores. The trunk,
+which readers away from boatable waters may need to be informed is an
+elevation about a foot above the main deck, to afford head-room in the
+middle of the cabin, had three deck lights, or ports, on each side. At
+one end of the casing of the centre-board was a place for the water-jar,
+and a rack for tumblers. In the middle were hooks in the trunk-beams for
+the caster and the lantern. The brass-covered step at the entrance was
+movable, and when it was drawn out it left an opening into the run under
+the standing-room, where a considerable space was available for use. In
+the centre of it was the ice-chest, a box two feet square, lined with
+zinc, which was rigged on little grooved wheels running on iron rods,
+like a railroad car, so that the chest could be drawn forward where the
+contents could be reached. On each side of this box was a water-tank,
+holding thirty gallons, which could be filled from the standing-room.
+The water was drawn by a faucet lower than the bottom of the tank in a
+recess at one side of the companion-way. The tanks were connected by a
+pipe, so that the water was drawn from both. At the side of the step was
+a gauge to indicate the supply of fresh water on board.
+
+Forward of the cabin, in the bow of the yacht, was the cook-room, with a
+scuttle opening into it from the forecastle. The stove, a miniature
+affair, with an oven large enough to roast an eight-pound rib of beef,
+and two holes on the top, was in the fore peak. It was placed in a
+shallow pan filled with sand, and the wood-work was covered with sheet
+tin, to guard against fire. Behind the stove was a fuel-bin. On each
+side of the cook room was a shelf eighteen inches wide at the bulk-head
+and tapering forward to nothing. Under it were several lockers for the
+galley utensils and small stores. The room was only four feet high, and
+a tall cook in the Sea Foam would have found it necessary to discount
+himself. On the foremast was a seat on a hinge, which could be dropped
+down, on which the "doctor" could sit and do his work, roasting himself
+at the same time he roasted his beef or fried his fish. Everything in
+the cook-room and the cabin, as well as on deck, was neat and nice. The
+cabin was covered with a handsome oil-cloth carpet, and the wood was
+white with zinc paint, varnished, with gilt moulding to ornament it.
+Edward Patterdale, who was to be the nominal owner and the real skipper
+of this beautiful craft, intended to have several framed pictures on the
+spaces between the deck lights, a clock in the forward end over the
+cook-room door, and brass brackets for the spy-glass in the
+companion-way.
+
+On deck the Sea Foam was as well appointed as she was below. Her
+bowsprit had a gentle downward curve, her mast was a beautiful spar, and
+her topmast was elegantly tapered and set up in good shape. Unlike most
+of the regular highflyer yachts, her jib and mainsail were not
+unreasonably large. Mr. Ramsay did not intend that it should be
+necessary to reef when it blew a twelve-knot breeze, and, like the
+Skylark, she was expected to carry all sail in anything short of a full
+gale. But she was provided with an abundance of "kites," including an
+immense gaff-topsail, which extended on poles far above the topmast
+head, and far beyond the peak, a balloon-jib, a jib-topsail, and a
+three-cornered studding-sail. The balloon-jib, or the jib-topsail, was
+bent on with snap-hooks when it was needed, for only one was used at the
+same time. These extra sails were to be required only in races, and they
+were kept on shore. One stout hand could manage her very well, though
+two made it easier work, and six were allowed in a race.
+
+Donald seated himself in the standing-room, with the tiller in his right
+hand. As soon as he had run out a little way, his attention was excited
+by discovering three other sloop yachts coming down the bay. In one of
+them he recognized the Skylark, and in another the Christabel, while the
+third was a stranger to him, though he had heard of the arrival that day
+of a new yacht from Newport, and concluded this was she. He let off his
+sheet, and ran up to meet the little fleet.
+
+"Sloop, ahoy!" shouted Robert Montague, from the Skylark, as Donald came
+within hailing distance.
+
+"On board the Skylark!" replied the skipper of the Sea Foam.
+
+"Is that you, Don John?"
+
+"Ay, ay."
+
+"What sloop is that?" demanded Robert.
+
+"The Sea Foam."
+
+"Where bound?"
+
+"Over to Turtle Head."
+
+"We are bound there; come with us."
+
+"Ay ay."
+
+"Hold on a minute, Don John," shouted some one from the Christabel.
+
+Each of the yachts had a tender towing astern, and that from the
+Christabel, with five boys in it, immediately put off, and pulled to the
+Sea Foam.
+
+"Will you take us on board, Don John?" asked Gus Barker, as the tender
+came alongside.
+
+"Certainly; I'm glad to have your company," replied Donald, who had
+thrown the yacht up into the wind.
+
+Three of the party in the tender jumped upon the deck of the Sea Foam,
+and the boat returned to the Christabel. Each of the yachts appeared to
+have half a dozen or more on board of her, so that there was quite a
+party on the way to Turtle Head. The sloops filled away again, the
+Skylark and the new arrival having taken the lead, while the other two
+were delayed.
+
+"What sloop is that with the Skylark?" asked Donald.
+
+"That's the Phantom. She got here from Newport this forenoon. Joe
+Guilford's father bought her for him. She is the twin sister of the
+Skylark, and they seem to make an even thing of it in sailing," replied
+Gus Barker.
+
+"You have quite a fleet now," added Donald.
+
+"Yes; and we are going to form a Yacht Club. We intend to have a meeting
+over at Turtle Head. Will you join, Don John?"
+
+"I haven't any boat."
+
+"Nor I, either. All the members can't be skippers," laughed Gus. "I am
+to be mate of the Sea Foam, and that's the reason I wanted to come on
+board of her."
+
+"And I am to be one of her crew," added Dick Adams.
+
+"And I the steward," laughed Ben Johnson. "I am going down into the
+cook-room to see how things look there."
+
+"You will join--won't you, Don?"
+
+"Well, I don't know. I can't afford to run with you fellows with rich
+fathers."
+
+"O, get out! That don't make any difference," puffed Gus. "The owner of
+the yacht has to foot the bills. Besides, we want you, Don John, for you
+know more about a boat than all the rest of the fellows put together."
+
+"Well, I shall be very glad to do anything I can to help the thing
+along; but there are plenty of fellows that can sail a boat better than
+I can."
+
+"But you know all about a boat, and they want you for measurer. We have
+the printed constitution of a Yacht Club, which Bob Montague got in
+Boston, and according to that the measurer is entitled to ten cents a
+foot for measuring a yacht; so you may make something out of your
+office."
+
+"I don't want to make any money out of it," protested Donald.
+
+"You can make enough to pay your dues, for we have to raise some money
+for prizes in the regattas; and we talk of having a club house over on
+Turtle Head," rattled Gus, whose tongue seemed to be hung on a pivot in
+his enthusiasm over the club. "Every fellow must be voted in, and pay
+five dollars a year for membership. We shall have some big times.--We
+are gaining on the Skylark, as true as you live!"
+
+"I think we are; but I guess Bob isn't driving her," added Donald.
+
+"She carries the same sail as the Sea Foam. I would give anything to
+beat her. Make her do her best, Don John."
+
+"I will," laughed the skipper, who had kept one eye on the Skylark all
+the time.
+
+He trimmed the sails a little, and began to be somewhat excited over the
+prospect of a race. The Christabel was three feet longer than the other
+yachts, and it was soon evident that in a light wind she was more than a
+match for them, for she ran ahead of the Sea Foam. Her jib and mainsail
+were much larger in proportion to her size than those of the other
+sloops, but she was not an able boat, not a heavy-weather craft, like
+them. The Sea Foam continued to gain on the Skylark, till she was
+abreast of her, while the Phantom kept about even with her. But then
+Robert Montague was busy all the time talking with his companions about
+the Yacht Club, and did not pay particular attention to the sailing of
+his boat. The Sea Foam began to walk ahead of him, and then, for the
+first time, it dawned upon him that the reputation of the Skylark was at
+stake. He had his crew of five with him, and he placed them in position
+to improve the sailing of his craft. He ordered one of his hands to give
+a small pull on the jib-sheet, another to let off the main sheet a
+little, and a third to haul up the centre-board a little more, as she
+was going free.
+
+The effect of this attention on the part of the skipper of the Skylark
+was to lessen the distance between her and the Sea Foam; they were abeam
+of each other, with the Phantom in the same line. The Christabel was
+about a cable's length ahead of them.
+
+"She's game yet," said Gus Barker, his disappointment evident in the
+tones of his voice, as the Skylark came up to the Sea Foam.
+
+"This is a new boat, and I haven't got the hang of her yet," Donald
+explained. "Haul up that fin a little, Dick."
+
+"What fin?"
+
+"The centre-board."
+
+"Ay, ay," replied Dick, as he obeyed the order.
+
+"Steady! that's enough," continued Donald, who now narrowly watched the
+sailing of the Sea Foam, to assure himself that she did not make too
+much leeway.
+
+"That was what she wanted!" exclaimed Gus, when the yacht began to gain
+again, and in a few minutes was half a length ahead.
+
+[Illustration: THE START. Page 51.]
+
+"But not quite so much of it," replied Donald, when he saw that his
+craft was sliding off a very little. "Give her just three inches more
+fin, Dick."
+
+The centre-board was dropped this distance, and the tendency to make
+leeway thus corrected.
+
+"She is gaining still!" cried Gus, delighted.
+
+"Not much; it is a pretty even thing," added Donald.
+
+"No matter; we beat her, and I don't care if it's only half an inch in a
+mile."
+
+"But the Christabel is leading us all. She is sure of all the first
+prizes."
+
+"Not a bit of it. She has to reef when there's a capful of wind. In a
+calm she will beat us, but when it blows we shall wax her all to
+pieces."
+
+"Hallo!" shouted Mr. Laud Cavendish, whose small sail-boat was
+overhauled about half way over to Turtle Head. "Is that you, Don John?"
+
+"I believe so," replied Donald.
+
+"Where you going?"
+
+"Over to Turtle Head. Want us to give you a tow?"
+
+"No; you needn't brag about your old tub. She don't belong to you; and
+I'm going to have a boat that will beat that one all to splinters,"
+replied Laud.
+
+"All right; fetch her along."
+
+"I say, Don John, I'm going to stop over Sunday on Turtle Head. Won't
+you stay with me?"
+
+"No, I thank you. I must go home to-night," answered Donald.
+
+Mr. Laud Cavendish knew very well that Donald would not spend Sunday in
+boating and fishing; and he did not ask because he wanted him. Besides,
+for more reasons than one, he did not desire his company. The Sea Foam
+ran out of talking distance of the sail-boat in a moment. Robert
+Montague was doing his best to keep up the reputation of the Skylark;
+but when the fleet came up to Turtle Head, she was more than a length
+behind. The jib was hauled down, the yachts came up into the wind, and
+the anchors were let go.
+
+"Beat you," shouted Gus Barker.
+
+"Not much," replied Robert. "We will try that over again some time."
+
+"We are willing," added Donald.
+
+The mainsails were lowered, and the young yachtmen embarked in the
+tenders for the shore. Turtle Head is a rocky point at the northern
+extremity of Long Island, in Penobscot Bay. There were a few trees near
+the shore, and under these the party purposed to hold their meeting.
+Though the weather was intensely hot on shore, it was comfortably cool
+at the Head, where the wind came over five or six miles of salt water
+cool from the ocean. The boys leaped ashore, and hauled up their boats
+where the rising tide could not float them off. There were over twenty
+of them, all members of the High School.
+
+"The Sea Foam sails well," said Robert Montague, as he walked over to
+the little grove with Donald.
+
+"Very well, indeed. This is the first time she has been out, and I find
+she works first rate," replied Donald.
+
+"I want to try it with her some day, when everything is right."
+
+"Wasn't everything right to-day?" asked Donald, smiling, for he was well
+aware that every boatman has a good excuse for the shortcomings of his
+craft.
+
+"No; my tender is twice as heavy as yours," added Robert. "I must get
+your father to build me one like that of the Sea Foam."
+
+"We will try it without any tenders, which we don't want in a race."
+
+"Of course I don't know but the Sea Foam can beat me; but I haven't seen
+the boat of her inches before that could show her stern to the Skylark,"
+said Robert; and it was plain that he was a little nettled at the slight
+advantage which the new yacht had gained.
+
+"I should like to sail her when you try it, for I have great hopes of
+the Sea Foam. If my father has built a boat that will beat the Skylark
+in all weathers, he has done a big thing, and it will make business good
+for him."
+
+"For his sake I might be almost willing to be whipped," replied Robert,
+good-naturedly, as they halted in the grove.
+
+Charley Armstrong was the oldest member of the party, and he was to call
+the meeting to order, which he did with a brief speech, explaining the
+object of the gathering, though everybody present knew it perfectly
+well. Charles was then chosen chairman, and Dick Adams secretary. It was
+voted to form a club, and the secretary was called upon to read the
+constitution of the "Dorchester Yacht Club." The name was changed to
+Belfast, and the document was adopted as the constitution of the Belfast
+Yacht Club. The second article declared that the officers should consist
+of a "Commodore, Vice-Commodore, Captain of the Fleet, Secretary,
+Treasurer, Measurer, a Board of Trustees, and a Regatta Committee;" and
+the next business was to elect them, which had to be done by written or
+printed ballots. As the first three officers were required to be owners
+in whole, or in part, of yachts enrolled in the club, there was found to
+be an alarming scarcity of yachts. The Skylark, Sea Foam, Phantom, and
+Christabel were on hand. Edward Patterdale and Samuel Rodman had
+signified their intention to join, though they were unable to be present
+at the first meeting. The Maud, as Samuel Rodman's new yacht was to be
+called, was to be built at once: she was duly enrolled, thus making a
+total of five, from whom the first three officers must be chosen.
+
+The secretary had come supplied with stationery, and a slip was handed
+to each member, after the constitution had been signed. A ballot was
+taken for commodore; Robert B. Montague had twenty votes, and Charles
+Armstrong one. Robert accepted the office in a "neat little speech,"
+and took the chair, which was a sharp rock. Edward Patterdale was
+elected vice-commodore, and Joseph Guilford captain of the fleet. Donald
+was chosen measurer, and the other offices filled to the satisfaction of
+those elected, if not of the others. It was then agreed to have a review
+and excursion on the following Saturday, to which the ladies were to be
+invited.
+
+The important business of the day was happily finished, and the fleet
+sailed for Belfast. Having secured the Sea Foam at her mooring, Donald
+hastened home. As he approached the cottage, he saw a doctor's sulky at
+the door, and the neighbors going in and out. His heart rose into his
+throat, for there was not one living beneath that humble roof whom he
+did not love better than himself.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+A SAD EVENT IN THE RAMSAY FAMILY.
+
+
+Donald's heart beat violently as he hastened towards the cottage. Before
+he could reach it, another doctor drew up at the door, and it was
+painfully certain that one of the family was very sick--dangerously so,
+or two physicians would not have been summoned. It might be his father,
+his mother, or his sister Barbara; and whichever it was, it was terrible
+to think of. His legs almost gave away under him, when he staggered up
+to the cottage. As he did so, he recalled the fact that his father had
+been ailing when he went away in the Sea Foam. It must be his father,
+therefore, who was now so desperately ill as to require the attendance
+of two doctors.
+
+The cottage was a small affair, with a pretty flower garden in front of
+it, and a whitewashed fence around it. But small as it was, it was not
+owned by the boat-builder, who, though not in debt, had hardly anything
+of this world's goods--possibly a hundred dollars in the savings' bank,
+and the furniture in the cottage. Though he was as prudent and thrifty
+as Scotchmen generally are, and was not beset by their "often
+infirmity," he had not been very prosperous. The business of
+ship-building had been almost entirely suspended, and for several years
+only a few small vessels had been built in the city. Ramsay had always
+obtained work; but he lived well, and gave his daughter and his son an
+excellent education.
+
+Alexander Ramsay's specialty was the building of yachts and boats, and
+he determined to make a better use of his skill than selling it with his
+labor for day wages. He went into business for himself as a
+boat-builder. When he established himself, he had several hundred
+dollars, with which he purchased stock and tools. He had built several
+sail-boats, but the Sea Foam was the largest job he had obtained.
+Doubtless with life and health he would have done a good business.
+Donald had always been interested in boats, and he knew the name and
+shape of every timber and plank in the hull of a vessel, as well as
+every spar and rope. Though only sixteen, he was an excellent mechanic
+himself. His father had taken great pains to instruct him in the use of
+tools, and in draughting and modelling boats and larger craft. He not
+only studied the art in theory, but he worked with his own hands. In the
+parlor of the little cottage was a full-rigged brig, made entirely by
+him. The hull was not a log, shaped and dug out, but regularly
+constructed, with timbers and planking. When he finished it, only a few
+months before his introduction to the reader, he felt competent to build
+a yacht like the Sea Foam, without any assistance; but boys are
+generally over-confident, and possibly he overrated his ability.
+
+With his heart rising up into his throat, Donald walked towards the
+cottage. As he passed the whitewashed gate, one of the neighbors came
+out at the front door. She was an elderly woman, and she looked very sad
+as she glanced at the boy.
+
+"I'm glad you have come, Donald; but I'm afraid he'll never speak to you
+again," said she.
+
+"Is it my father?" gasped the poor fellow.
+
+"It is; and he's very sick indeed."
+
+"What ails him?"
+
+"That's more than the doctors can tell yet," added the woman. "They say
+it's very like the cholera; and I suppose it's cholera-morbus. He has
+been ailing for several days, and he didn't take care of himself. But go
+in, Donald, and see him while you may."
+
+The young man entered the cottage. The doctors, his mother and sister,
+were all doing what they could for the sufferer, who was enduring, with
+what patience he could, the most agonizing pain. Donald went into the
+chamber where his father lay writhing upon the bed. The physicians were
+at work upon him; but he saw his son as he entered the room and held out
+his hand to him. The boy took it in his own. It was cold and convulsed.
+
+"I'm glad you've come, Donald," groaned he, uttering the words with
+great difficulty. "Be a good boy always, and take care of your mother
+and sister."
+
+"I will, father," sobbed Donald, pressing the cold hand he held.
+
+"I was afraid I might never see you again," gasped Mr. Ramsay.
+
+"O, don't give up, my man," said Dr. Wadman. "You may be all right in a
+few hours."
+
+The sick man said no more. He was in too much pain to speak again, and
+Dr. Wadman sent Donald to the kitchen for some hot water. When he
+returned with it he was directed to go to the apothecary's for an ounce
+of chloroform, which the doctors were using internally and externally,
+and had exhausted their supply. Donald ran all the way as though the
+life of his father depended upon his speed. He was absent only a few
+minutes, but when he came back there was weeping and wailing in the
+little cottage by the sea-side. His father had breathed his last, even
+while the doctors were hopefully working to save him.
+
+"O, Donald, Donald!" cried Mrs. Ramsay, as she threw her arms around his
+neck. "Your poor father is gone!"
+
+The boy could not speak; he could not even weep, though his grief was
+not less intense than that of his mother and sister. They groaned, and
+sobbed, and sighed together, till kind neighbors led them from the
+chamber of death, vainly endeavoring to comfort them. It was hours
+before they were even tolerably calm; but they could speak of nothing,
+think of nothing, but him who was gone. The neighbors did all that it
+was necessary to do, and spent the night with the afflicted ones, who
+could not separate to seek their beds. The rising sun of the Sabbath
+found them still up, and still weeping--those who could weep. It was a
+long, long Sunday to them, and every moment of it was given to him who
+had been a devoted husband and a tender father. On Monday, all too soon,
+was the funeral; and all that was mortal of Alexander Ramsay was laid in
+the silent grave, never more to be looked upon by those who had loved
+him, and whom he had loved.
+
+The little cottage was like a casket robbed of its single jewel to those
+who were left. Earth and life seemed like a terrible blank to them. They
+could not accustom themselves to the empty chair at the window where he
+sat when his day's work was done; to the vacant place at the table,
+where he had always invoked the blessing of God on the frugal fare
+before them; and to the silent and deserted shop on the other side of
+the street, from which the noise of his hammer and the clip of his adze
+had come to them. A week wore away and nothing was done but the most
+necessary offices of the household. The neighbors came frequently to
+beguile their grief, and the minister made several visits, bearing to
+them the consolations of the gospel, and the tender message of a genuine
+sympathy.
+
+But it is not for poor people long to waste themselves in idle
+lamentations. The problem of the future was forced upon Mrs. Ramsay for
+solution. If they had been able only to live comfortably on the earnings
+of the dead husband, what should they do now when the strong arm that
+delved for them was silent in the cold embrace of death? They must all
+work now; but even then the poor woman could hardly see how she could
+keep her family together. Barbara was eighteen, but she had never done
+anything except to assist her mother, whose health was not very good,
+about the house. She was a graduate of the High School, and competent,
+so far as education was concerned, to teach a school if she could obtain
+a situation. Mrs. Ramsay might obtain work to be done at home, but it
+was only a pittance she could earn besides doing her housework. She
+wished to have Donald finish his education at the High School, but she
+was afraid this was impossible.
+
+Donald, still mourning for his father, who had so constantly been his
+companion in the cottage and in the shop, that he could not reconcile
+himself to the loss, hardly thought of the future, till his mother spoke
+to him about it. He had often, since that bitter Saturday night,
+recalled the last words his father had ever spoken to him, in which he
+had told him to be a good boy always and take care of his mother and
+sister; but they had not much real significance to him till his mother
+spoke to him. Then he understood them; then he saw that his father was
+conscious of the near approach of death, and had given his mother and
+his sister into his keeping. Then, with the memory of him who was gone
+lingering near and dear in his heart, a mighty resolution was born in
+his soul, though it did not at once take a practical form.
+
+"Don't worry about the future, mother," said he, after he had listened
+to her rather hopeless statement of her views.
+
+"I don't worry about it, Donald, for while we have our health and
+strength, we can work and make a living. I want to keep you in school
+till the end of the year, but I--"
+
+"Of course I can't go to school any more, mother. I am ready to go to
+work," interposed Donald.
+
+"I know you are, my boy; but I want you to finish your school course
+very much."
+
+"I haven't thought a great deal about the matter yet, mother, but I
+think I shall be able to do what father told me."
+
+"Your father did not expect you to take care of us till you had grown
+up, I'm sure," added Mrs. Ramsay, who had heard the dying injunction of
+her husband to their son.
+
+"I don't know that he did; but I shall do the best I can."
+
+"Poor father! He never thought of anything but us," sighed Mrs. Ramsay;
+and her woman's tears flowed freely again, so freely that there was no
+power of utterance left to her.
+
+Donald wept, too, as he thought of him who was not only his father, but
+his loving companion in study, in work, and in play. He left the house
+and walked over to the shop. For the first time since the sad event, he
+unlocked the door and entered. The tears trickled down his cheeks as he
+glanced at the bench where his father had done his last day's work. The
+planes and a few other tools were neatly arranged upon it, and his apron
+was spread over them. On the walls were models of boats and yachts, and
+in one corner were the "moulds." Donald seated himself on the
+tool-chest, and looked around at every familiar object in the shop. He
+was thinking of something, but his thought had not yet taken definite
+form. While he was considering the present and the future, Samuel Rodman
+entered the shop.
+
+"Do you suppose I can get the model of the Sea Foam, Don John?" inquired
+he, after something had been said about the deceased boat-builder.
+
+"I think you can. The model and the drawings are all here," replied
+Donald.
+
+"We intend to build the Maud this season, and I want her to be as near
+like the Sea Foam as possible."
+
+"Who is going to build her?" asked Donald, his interest suddenly kindled
+by the question.
+
+"I don't know; we haven't spoken to any one about it yet," replied
+Samuel. "There isn't anybody in these parts that can build her as
+your father would."
+
+[Illustration: DON JOHN WANTS A JOB. Page 73.]
+
+"Sam, can't I do this job for you?" said Donald.
+
+"You?"
+
+"Yes, I. You know I used to work with my father, and I understand his
+way of doing things."
+
+"Well, I hadn't thought that you could do it; but I will talk with my
+father about it," answered Samuel, who appeared to have some doubts
+about the ability of his friend to do so large a job.
+
+"I don't mean to do it all myself, Sam. I will hire one or two
+first-rate ship carpenters," added Donald. "She shall be just like the
+Sea Foam, except a little alteration, which my father explained to me,
+in the bow and run."
+
+"Do you think you could do the job, Don John?" asked Samuel, with an
+incredulous smile.
+
+"I know I could," said Donald, earnestly. "If I had time enough I could
+build her all alone."
+
+"We want her as soon as we can get her."
+
+"She shall be finished as quick as my father could have done her."
+
+"I will see my father about it to-night, Don John, and let you know
+to-morrow. I came down to see about the model."
+
+Samuel Rodman left the shop and walked down the beach to the sail-boat
+in which he had come. Donald was almost inspired by the idea which had
+taken possession of him. If he could only carry on his father's
+business, he could make money enough to support the family; and knowing
+every stick in the hull of a vessel, he felt competent to do so. Full of
+enthusiasm, he hastened into the cottage to unfold his brilliant scheme
+to his mother. He stated his plan to her, but at first she shook her
+head.
+
+"Do you think you could build a yacht, Donald?" she asked.
+
+"I am certain I could. Didn't you hear father say that my brig contained
+every timber and plank that belongs to a vessel?"
+
+"Yes, and that the work was done as well as he could do it himself; but
+that does not prove that you can carry on the business."
+
+"I want one or two men, if we build the Maud, because it would take too
+long for me to do all the work alone."
+
+"The Maud?"
+
+"That was the yacht that father was to build next. I asked Sam Rodman to
+give me the job, and he is going to talk with his father about it
+to-night."
+
+Mrs. Ramsay was rather startled at this announcement, which indicated
+that her son really meant business in earnest.
+
+"Do you think he will let you do it?" she asked.
+
+"I hope he will."
+
+"Are you sure you can make anything if you build the yacht?"
+
+"Father made over three hundred dollars on the Sea Foam, besides his day
+wages."
+
+"That is no reason why you can do it."
+
+"All his models, moulds, and draughts are in the shop. I know where they
+are, and just what to do with them. I hope you will let me try it,
+mother."
+
+"Suppose you don't make out?"
+
+"But I shall make out."
+
+"If Mr. Rodman refuses to accept the yacht after the job is done, what
+will you do?"
+
+"I shall have her myself then, and I can make lots of money taking out
+parties in her."
+
+"Your father was paid for the Sea Foam as the work progressed. He had
+received eight hundred dollars on her when she was finished."
+
+"I know it; and Captain Patterdale owes four hundred more. If you let me
+use some of the money to buy stock and pay the men till I get payment on
+the job, I shall do very well."
+
+"We must have something to live on. After I have paid the funeral
+expenses and other bills, this money that Captain Patterdale owes will
+be all I have."
+
+"But Mr. Rodman will pay me something on the job, when he is satisfied
+that the work will be done."
+
+The widow was not very clear about the business; but she concluded, at
+last, that if Mr. Rodman would give him the job, she would allow him to
+undertake it. Donald was satisfied, and went back to the shop. He opened
+his father's chest and took out his account book. Turning to a page
+which was headed "Sea Foam," he found every item of labor and
+expenditure charged to her. Every day's work, every foot of stock, every
+pound of nails, every article of brass or hardware, and the cost of
+sails and cordage, were carefully entered on the account. From this he
+could learn the price of everything used in the construction of the
+yacht, for his guidance in the great undertaking before him. But he was
+quite familiar before with the cost of everything used in building a
+boat. On a piece of smooth board, he figured up the probable cost, and
+assured himself he could make a good job of the building of the Maud.
+
+The next day was Saturday--two weeks after the organization of the yacht
+club. There had been a grand review a week before, which Donald did not
+attend. The yachtmen had taken their mothers, sisters, and other friends
+on an excursion down the bay, and given them a collation at Turtle Head.
+On the Saturday in question, a meeting of the club at the Head had been
+called to complete the arrangements for a regatta, and the Committee on
+Regattas were to make their report. Donald had been requested to attend
+in order to measure the yachts. He did not feel much like taking part in
+the sports of the club, but he decided to perform the duty required of
+him. He expected to see Samuel Rodman on this occasion, and to learn the
+decision of his father in regard to the building of the Maud.
+
+After breakfast he embarked in the sail-boat which had belonged to his
+father, and with a fresh breeze stood over to Turtle Head. He had dug
+some clams early in the morning, and told his mother he should bring
+home some fish which he intended to catch after the meeting of the club.
+As the boat sped on her way, he thought of his grand scheme to carry on
+his father's business, and everything seemed to depend upon Mr. Rodman's
+decision. He hoped for the best, but he trembled for the result. When he
+reached his destination, he found another boat at the Head, and soon
+discovered Laud Cavendish on the bluff.
+
+"Hallo, Don John!" shouted the swell, as Donald stepped on shore.
+
+"How are you, Laud? You are out early."
+
+"Not very; I came ashore here to see if I couldn't find some clams,"
+added Laud, as he held up a clam-digger he carried in his hand--a kind
+of trowel fixed in a shovel-handle.
+
+"You can't find any clams here," said Donald, wondering that even such a
+swell should expect to find them there.
+
+"I am going down to Camden to stay over Sunday, and I thought I might
+fish a little on the way."
+
+"You will find some farther down the shore, where there is a soft beach.
+Do you get off every Saturday now, Laud?"
+
+"Get off? Yes; I get off every day. I'm out of a job."
+
+"I thought you were at Miller's store."
+
+"I was there; but I'm not now. Miller shoved me out. Do you know of any
+fellow that has a good boat to sell?"
+
+"What kind of a boat?"
+
+"Well, one like the Skylark and the Sea Foam."
+
+"No; I don't know of any one around here. Do you want to buy one?"
+
+"Yes; I thought I would buy one, if I could get her about right. She
+must be cheap."
+
+"How cheap do you expect to buy a boat like the Sea Foam?" asked Donald,
+wondering what a young man out of business could be thinking about when
+he talked of buying a yacht.
+
+"Four or five hundred dollars."
+
+"The Sea Foam cost twelve hundred."
+
+"That's a fancy price. The Skylark didn't cost but five hundred."
+
+"Do you want to give five hundred for a boat?"
+
+"Not for myself, Don John. I was going to buy one for another man. I
+must be going now," added Laud, as he went down to his boat.
+
+Hoisting his sail, he shoved off, and stood over towards Searsport.
+Donald walked up the slope to the Head, from which he could see the
+yacht club fleet as soon as it sailed from the city.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+CAPTAIN SHIVERNOCK.
+
+
+Donald seated himself on a rock, with his gaze directed towards Belfast.
+His particular desire just then was to see Samuel Rodman, in order to
+learn whether he was to have the job of building the Maud. He felt able
+to do it, and even then, as he thought of the work, he had in his mind
+the symmetrical lines of the new yacht, as they were to be after the
+change in the model which his father had explained to him. He recalled a
+suggestion of a small increase in the size of the mainsail, which had
+occurred to him when he sailed the Sea Foam. His first aspiration was
+only to build a yacht; his second was to build one that would beat
+anything of her inches in the fleet. If he could realize this last
+ambition, he would have all the business he could do.
+
+The yacht fleet did not appear up the bay; but it was only nine o'clock
+in the morning, and possibly the meeting of the club would not take
+place till afternoon. If any one had told him the hour, he had forgotten
+it, but the former meeting had been in the forenoon. He was too nervous
+to sit still a great while, and, rising, he walked about, musing upon
+his grand scheme. The place was an elevated platform of rock, a portion
+of it covered with soil to the depth of several feet, on which the grass
+grew. It was not far above the water even at high tide, nor were the
+bluffs very bold. The plateau was on a peninsula, extending to the north
+from the island, which was not unlike the head of a turtle, and the
+shape had given it a name. Donald walked back and forth on the headland,
+watching for the fleet.
+
+"I wonder if Laud Cavendish was digging for clams up here," thought he,
+as he observed a spot where the earth appeared to have been disturbed.
+
+The marks of Laud's clam-digger were plainly to be seen in the loam, a
+small quantity of which remained on the sod. Certainly the swell had
+been digging there; but it could not have been for clams; and Donald was
+trying to imagine what it was for, when he heard footsteps near him.
+Coming towards him, he discovered Captain Shivernock, of the city; and
+he had two problems to solve instead of one; not very important ones, it
+is true, but just such as are suggested to everybody at times. Perhaps
+it did not make the least difference to the young man whether or not he
+ascertained why Laud Cavendish had been digging on the Head, or why
+Captain Shivernock happened to be on the island, apparently without any
+boat, at that time in the morning. I do not think Donald would have
+given a nickel five-cent piece to have been informed correctly upon
+either point, though he did propose the question to himself in each
+case. Probably Laud had no particular object in view in digging--the
+ground did not look as though he had; and Captain Shivernock was odd
+enough to do anything, or to be anywhere, at the most unseasonable
+hours.
+
+"How are you, Don John?" shouted the captain, as he came within hailing
+distance of Donald.
+
+"How do you do, Captain Shivernock," replied the young man, rather
+coldly, for he had no regard, and certainly no admiration, for the man.
+
+"You are just the man I wanted to see," added the captain.
+
+Donald could not reciprocate the sentiment, and, not being a hypocrite,
+he made no reply. The captain seemed to be somewhat fatigued and out of
+breath, and immediately seated himself on the flat rock which the young
+man had occupied. He was not more than five feet and a half high, but
+was tolerably stout. The top of his head was as bald as a winter squash;
+but extending around the back of his head from ear to ear was a heavy
+fringe of red hair. His whiskers were of the same color; but, as age
+began to bleach them out under the chin, he shaved this portion of his
+figure-head, while his side whiskers and mustache were very long. He was
+dressed in a complete suit of gray, and wore a coarse braided straw hat.
+
+Captain Shivernock, as I have more than once hinted, was an eccentric
+man. He had been a shipmaster in the earlier years of his life, and had
+made a fortune by some lucky speculations during the War of the
+Rebellion, in which he took counsel of his interest rather than his
+patriotism. He had a strong will, a violent temper, and an implacable
+hatred to any man who had done him an injury, either actually or
+constructively. It was said that he was as faithful and devoted in his
+friendships as he was bitter and relentless in his hatreds; but no one
+in the city, where he was a very unpopular man, had any particular
+experience of the soft side of his character. He was a native of
+Lincolnville, near Belfast, though he had left his home in his youth. He
+had a fine house in the city, and lived in good style. He was said to be
+a widower, and had no children. The husband of his housekeeper was the
+man of all work about his place, and both of them had come with their
+employer from New York.
+
+He seldom did anything like other people. He never went to church, would
+never put his name upon a subscription paper, however worthy the object,
+though he had been known to give a poor man an extravagant reward for a
+slight service. He would not pay his taxes till the fangs of the law
+worried the money out of him, but would give fifty dollars for the first
+salmon or the first dish of peaches of the season for his table. He was
+as full of contradictions as he was of oddities, and no one knew how to
+take him. One moment he seemed to be hoarding his money like a miser,
+and the next scattering it with insane prodigality.
+
+"I'm tired out, Don John," added Captain Shivernock, as he seated
+himself, fanning his red face with his hat.
+
+"Have you walked far, sir?" asked Donald, who was well acquainted with
+the captain; for his father had worked on his boat, and he was often in
+the shop.
+
+"I believe I have hoofed it about ten miles this morning," replied
+Captain Shivernock with an oath; and he had a wicked habit of
+ornamenting every sentence he used with a profane expletive, which I
+shall invariably omit.
+
+"Then you have walked nearly the whole length of the island."
+
+"Do you mean to tell me I lie?" demanded the captain.
+
+"Certainly not, sir," protested Donald.
+
+"My boat got aground down here. I started early this morning to go down
+to Vinal Haven; but I'm dished now, and can't go," continued Captain
+Shivernock, so interlarding with oaths this simple statement that it
+looks like another thing divested of them.
+
+"Where did you get aground?" asked Donald.
+
+"Down by Seal Harbor."
+
+"About three miles from here."
+
+"Do you think I lied to you?"
+
+"By no means, sir."
+
+Donald could not divine how the captain had got aground near Seal
+Harbor, if he was bound from Belfast to Vinal Haven, though it was
+possible that the wind had been more to the southward early in the
+morning, compelling him to beat down the bay; but it was not prudent to
+question anything the captain said.
+
+"I ran in shore pretty well, and took the ground. I tried for half an
+hour to get the Juno off, but I was soon left high and dry on the beach.
+I anchored her where she was, and I'm sorry now I didn't set her afire,"
+explained the captain.
+
+"Set her afire!" exclaimed Donald.
+
+"That's what I said. She shall never play me such a trick again,"
+growled the strange man.
+
+"Why, it wasn't the fault of the boat."
+
+"Do you mean to say it was my fault?" demanded the captain, ripping out
+a string of oaths that made Donald shiver.
+
+"It was an accident which might happen to any one."
+
+"Do you think I didn't know what I was about?"
+
+"I suppose you did, sir; but any boat may get aground."
+
+"Not with me! if she did I'd burn her or sell her for old junk. I never
+will sail in her again after I get home. I know what I'm about."
+
+"Of course you do, sir."
+
+"Got a boat here?" suddenly demanded the eccentric.
+
+"Yes, sir; I have our sail-boat."
+
+"Take me down to Seal Harbor in her," added the captain, rising from his
+seat.
+
+"I don't think I can go, sir."
+
+"Don't you? What's the reason you can't?" asked the captain, with a
+sneer on his lips.
+
+"I have to meet the yacht club here."
+
+Captain Shivernock cursed the yacht club with decided unction, and
+insisted that Donald should convey him in his boat to the place where
+the Juno was at anchor.
+
+"I have to measure the yachts when they come, sir."
+
+"Measure--" but the place the captain suggested was not capable of
+measurement. "I'll pay you well for going."
+
+"I should not ask any pay if I could go," added Donald, glancing up the
+bay to see if the fleet was under way.
+
+"I say I will pay you well, and you will be a fool if you don't go with
+me."
+
+"The yachts haven't started yet, and perhaps I shall have time to get
+back before they arrive."
+
+"I don't care whether you get back or not; I want you to go."
+
+"I will go, sir, and run the risk," replied Donald, as he led the way
+down to the boat.
+
+Shoving her off, he helped the captain into her, and hoisted the sail.
+
+"What boat's that over there?" demanded Captain Shivernock, as he
+pointed at the craft sailed by Laud Cavendish, which was still standing
+on towards Searsport.
+
+Donald told him who was in her.
+
+"Don't go near her," said he, sternly. "I always want a good mile
+between me and that puppy."
+
+"He is bound to Camden, and won't get there for a week at that rate,"
+added Donald.
+
+"Don't care if he don't," growled the passenger.
+
+"I don't know that I do, either," added the skipper. "Laud wants to buy
+a boat, and perhaps you can sell him yours, if you are tired of her."
+
+"Shut up!"
+
+Donald did "shut up," and decided not to make any more talk with the
+captain, only to give him civil answers. Ordinarily he would as soon
+have thought of wrestling with a Bengal tiger as of carrying on a
+conversation with such a porcupine as his passenger, who scrupled not to
+insult man or boy without the slightest provocation. In a few moments
+the skipper tacked, having weathered the Head, and stood into the little
+bay west of it.
+
+"Don John," said Captain Shivernock, sharply, fixing his gaze upon the
+skipper.
+
+"Sir?"
+
+The captain took his wallet from his pocket. It was well filled with
+greenbacks, from which he took several ten-dollar bills--five or six of
+them, at least.
+
+"I will pay you," said he.
+
+"I don't ask any pay for this, sir. I am willing to do you a favor for
+nothing."
+
+"Hold your tongue, you fool! A favor?" sneered the eccentric. "Do you
+think I would ask a little monkey like you to do me a favor?"
+
+"I won't call it a favor, sir."
+
+"Better not. There! take that," and Captain Shivernock shoved the bills
+he had taken from his wallet into Donald's hand.
+
+"No, sir! I can't take all that, if I do anything," protested the
+skipper, amazed at the generosity of his passenger. The captain, with a
+sudden spring, grasped a short boat-hook which lay between the rail and
+the wash-board.
+
+"Put that money into your pocket, or I'll smash your head; and you won't
+be the first man I've killed, either," said the violent passenger.
+
+Donald did not find the money hard to take on its own merits, and he
+considerately obeyed the savage order. His pride, which revolted at the
+idea of being paid for a slight service rendered to a neighbor, was
+effectually conquered. He put the money in his pocket; but as soon as
+the captain laid down the boat-hook, he took it out to count it, and
+found there was fifty dollars. He deposited it carefully in his wallet.
+
+"You don't mean to pay me all that money for this little job?" said he.
+
+"Do you think I don't know what I mean?" snarled the passenger.
+
+"I suppose you do, sir."
+
+"You suppose I do!" sneered the cynic. "You know I do."
+
+"Fifty dollars is a great deal of money for such a little job."
+
+"That's none of your business. Don John, you've got a tongue in your
+head!" said Captain Shivernock, pointing his finger at the skipper, and
+glowering upon him as though he was charging him with some heinous
+crime.
+
+"I am aware of it, sir," replied Donald.
+
+"Do you know what a tongue is for?" demanded the captain.
+
+"It is of great assistance to one in talking."
+
+"Don't equivocate, you sick monkey. Do you know what a tongue is for?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"What's a tongue for?"
+
+"To talk with, and--"
+
+"That's enough! I thought you would say so. You are an ignorant whelp."
+
+"Isn't the tongue to talk with?"
+
+"No!" roared the passenger.
+
+"What is it for, then?" asked Donald, who did not know whether to be
+alarmed or amused at the manner of his violent companion.
+
+"It's to keep still with, you canting little monkey! And that's what I
+want you to do with your tongue," replied Captain Shivernock.
+
+"I don't think I understand you, sir."
+
+"I don't think you do. How could you, when I haven't told you what I
+mean. Listen to me." The eccentric paused, and fixed his gaze earnestly
+upon the skipper.
+
+"Have you seen me this morning?" demanded he.
+
+"Of course I have."
+
+"No, you haven't!"
+
+"I really thought I had."
+
+"Thought's a fool, and you're another! You haven't seen me. If anybody
+in Belfast asks you if you have seen me, tell 'em you haven't."
+
+"If the tongue isn't to talk with, it isn't to tell a lie with," added
+Donald.
+
+"Ha, ha, ha!" laughed the captain; "you've got me there."
+
+He produced his wallet again, and took a ten-dollar bill from the roll
+it contained, which he tendered to Donald.
+
+"What's that for?" asked the skipper.
+
+"Put it in your pocket, or I'll mash your empty skull!"
+
+Donald placed it with the other bills in his wallet, more than ever
+amazed at the conduct of his singular passenger.
+
+"I never allow anyone to get ahead of me without paying for my own
+stupidity. Do you go to Sunday School, and church, and missionary
+meetings?" asked the captain, with a sneer.
+
+"I do, sir."
+
+"I thought so. You are a sick monkey. You don't let your tongue tell a
+lie."
+
+"No, sir; I don't mean to tell a lie, if I can help it, and I generally
+can."
+
+"You walk in the strait and narrow way which leads to the meeting-house.
+I don't. All right! Broad is the way! But one thing is certain, Don
+John, you haven't seen me to-day."
+
+"But I have," persisted Donald.
+
+"I say you have not; don't contradict me, if you want to take that head
+of yours home with you. Nobody will ask whether you have seen me or not;
+so that if a lie is likely to choke you, keep still with your tongue."
+
+"I am not to say that I have seen you on the island?" queried Donald.
+
+"You are not," replied the captain, with an echoing expletive.
+
+"Why not, sir?"
+
+"None of your business! Do as you are told, and spend the money I gave
+you for gingerbread and fast horses."
+
+"But when my mother sees this money she will want to know where I got
+it."
+
+"If you tell her or anybody else, I'll hammer your head till it isn't
+thicker than a piece of sheet-iron. Don't let her see the money. Hire a
+fast horse, and go to ride next Sunday."
+
+"I don't go to ride on Sunday."
+
+"I suppose not. Give it to the missionaries to buy red flannel shirts
+for little niggers in the West Indies, if you like. I don't care what
+you do with it."
+
+"You don't wish anybody to know you have been on the island this
+morning--is that the idea, Captain Shivernock?" asked Donald, not a
+little alarmed at the position in which his companion was placing him.
+
+"That's the idea, Don John."
+
+"I don't see why--"
+
+"You are not to see why," interrupted the captain, fiercely. "That's my
+business, not yours. Will you do as I tell you?"
+
+"If there is any trouble--"
+
+"There isn't any trouble. Do you think I've killed somebody?--No. Do you
+think I've robbed somebody?--No. Do you think I've set somebody's house
+on fire?--No. Do you think I've stolen somebody's chickens?--No. Nothing
+of the sort. I want to know whether you can keep your tongue still. Let
+us see. There's the Juno."
+
+"Somebody will see your boat, and know that you have been here--"
+
+"That's my business, not yours. Don't bother your head with what don't
+concern you," growled the passenger.
+
+The Juno was afloat, but she could not have been so many minutes, when
+Donald came alongside of her. It was now about half tide on the flood,
+and she must have grounded at about half tide on the ebb. This fact
+indicated that Captain Shivernock had left her at four o'clock in the
+morning. The owner of the Juno stepped into her, and Donald hoisted the
+sail for him. The boat was cat-rigged, and about twenty-four feet long.
+She was a fine craft, with a small cabin forward, furnished with every
+convenience the limited space would permit. The captain seated himself
+in the standing-room, and began to heap maledictions upon the boat.
+
+"I never will sail in her again," said he. "I will burn her, and get a
+centre-board boat."
+
+"What will you take for her, sir?" asked Donald.
+
+"Do you want her, Don John?" demanded the captain.
+
+"I couldn't afford to keep her; but I will sell her for you."
+
+"Sell--" it is no matter what; but Captain Shivernock suddenly leaped
+back into Donald's boat, and her skipper wondered what he intended to do
+next. "She is yours, Don John!" he exclaimed.
+
+"To sell for you?"
+
+"No! Sell her, if you like, but put the money in your own pocket. I will
+sail up in your boat, and you may go to Jerusalem in the Juno, if you
+like. I will never get into her again," added the captain, spitefully.
+
+"But, Captain Shivernock, you surely don't mean to _give_ me this boat."
+
+"Do you think I don't know what I mean?" roared the strange man, after a
+long string of expletives. "She is yours, now; not mine. I'll give you a
+bill of sale as soon as I go ashore. Not another word, or I'll pound
+your head. Don't tell anybody I gave her to you, or that you have seen
+me. If you do there will be a job for a coffin-maker."
+
+The captain shoved off the boat, and laid her course across the bay,
+evidently to avoid Laud Cavendish, whose craft was a mile distant; for
+he had probably put in at Searsport. Donald weighed the anchor of the
+Juno, and sailed for Turtle Head, hardly knowing whether he was himself
+or somebody else, so amazed was he at the strange conduct of his late
+passenger. He could not begin to comprehend it, and he did not have to
+strain his logic very much in coming to the conclusion that the captain
+was insane.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+DONALD GETS THE JOB.
+
+
+Whether Captain Shivernock was sane or insane, Donald Ramsay was in
+possession of the Juno. Of course he did not consider himself the
+proprietor of the craft, if he did of the sixty dollars he had in his
+pocket. She had the wind over her port quarter, and the boat tore
+through the water as if she intended to show her new skipper what she
+could do. But Donald paid little attention to the speed of the Juno, for
+his attention was wholly absorbed by the remarkable events of the
+morning. Captain Shivernock had given him sixty dollars in payment
+nominally for the slight service rendered him. But then, the strange man
+had given a poor laborer a hundred dollars for stopping his horse, when
+the animal leisurely walked towards home from the store where the owner
+had left him. Again, he had given a negro sailor a fifty-dollar bill
+for sculling him across the river. He had rewarded a small boy with a
+ten-dollar bill for bringing him a despatch from the telegraph office.
+When the woman who went to his house to do the washing was taken sick,
+and was not able to work for three months, he regularly called at her
+rooms every Monday morning and gave her ten dollars, which was three
+times as much as she ever earned in the same time.
+
+Remembering these instances of the captain's bounty, Donald had no doubt
+about the ownership of the sixty dollars in his pocket. The money was
+his own; but how had he earned it? Was he paid to keep his tongue still,
+or simply for the service performed? If for his silence, what had the
+captain done which made him desire to conceal the fact that he had been
+to the island? The strange man had explicitly denied having killed,
+robbed, or stolen from anybody. All the skipper could make of it was,
+that his desire for silence was only a whim of the captain, and he was
+entirely willing to accommodate him. If there had been any mischief done
+on the island, he should hear of it; and in that event he would take
+counsel of some one older and wiser than himself. Then he tried to
+satisfy himself as to why the captain had walked at least three miles to
+Turtle Head, instead of waiting till the tide floated the Juno. This
+appeared to be also a whim of the strange man. People in the city used
+to say it was no use to ask the reason for anything that Captain
+Shivernock did. His motive in giving Donald sixty dollars and his boat,
+which would sell readily for three hundred dollars, and had cost over
+five hundred, was utterly unaccountable.
+
+Donald was determined not to do anything wrong, and if the captain had
+committed any evil deed, he fully intended to expose him; but he meant
+to keep still until he learned that the evil deed had been done. The
+money in his pocket, and that for which the Juno could be sold, would be
+capital enough to enable him to carry on the business of boat-building.
+But he was determined to see Captain Shivernock that very day in regard
+to the boat. Perhaps the strange man would give him a job to build a
+centre-board yacht, for he wanted one.
+
+"Hallo! Juno, ahoy!" shouted Laud Cavendish.
+
+Donald threw the boat up into the wind, under the stern of Laud's craft.
+
+"I thought you were going down to Camden," said he. "You won't get there
+to-day at this rate."
+
+"I forgot some things I wanted, and ran up to Searsport after them. But
+what are you doing in the Juno, Don John?"
+
+"She's going to be sold, Laud," replied Donald, dodging the direct
+question. "Didn't you say you wanted to buy a boat?"
+
+"I said so; and I want to buy one badly. I'm going to spend my summer on
+the water. What does the captain ask for her?"
+
+"I don't know what the price is, but I'll let you know on Monday," added
+Donald, as he filled away again, for the yacht fleet was now in sight.
+
+"Hold on a minute, Don John; I want to talk with you about her."
+
+"I can't stop now. I have to go up to the Head and measure the yachts."
+
+"Don't say a word to anybody about my buying her," added Laud.
+
+He was soon out of hearing of Laud's voice. He wondered if the swell
+really wished to buy such a boat as the Juno, and could pay three
+hundred dollars for her. His father was not a rich man, and he was out
+of business himself. And he wanted Donald to keep still too. What motive
+had he for wishing his proposition to be kept in the dark? His object
+was not apparent, and Donald was obliged to give up the conundrum,
+though he had some painful doubts on the subject. As he thought of the
+matter, he turned to observe the position of the two boats to the
+southward of him. Directly ahead of Laud's craft was an island which he
+could not weather, and he was obliged to tack. He could not lay his
+course, and he had to take a short and then a long stretch, and he was
+now standing across the bay on the short leg. Captain Shivernock had run
+over towards the Northport shore, and Donald thought they could not well
+avoid coming within hailing distance of each other. But the Juno passed
+beyond the north-west point of the island, and he could no longer see
+them. He concluded, however, that the captain would not let Laud, or any
+one else, see him afloat that day. He was a very strange man.
+
+Donald ran the Juno around the point, and anchored her under the lee of
+Turtle Head. The fleet was still a couple of miles distant, and after he
+had lowered and secured the mainsail, he had nothing to do but examine
+the fine craft which had so strangely come into his possession. He went
+into the cuddy forward, and overhauled everything there, till he was
+fully qualified to set forth the merits of her accommodations to a
+purchaser. The survey was calculated to kindle his own enthusiasm, for
+Donald was as fond of boating as any young man in the club. The idea of
+keeping the Juno for his own use occurred to him, but he resisted the
+temptation, and determined not even to think of such an extravagant
+plan.
+
+The yacht fleet was now approaching, the Skylark gallantly leading the
+way, and the Christabel, with a reef in her mainsail, bringing up the
+rear. The Sea Foam did not seem to hold her own with the Skylark, as she
+had done before, but she was the second to drop her anchor under the lee
+of Turtle Head.
+
+"I cam glad to see you, Don John," said Commodore Montague, as he
+discovered Donald in the Juno. "I was afraid you were not coming, and I
+went up to the shop to look for you. But how came you in that boat?"
+
+"She is for sale," replied Donald, as the tender of the Skylark came
+alongside the Juno, and he stepped into it. "Do you know of anybody that
+wants to buy her?"
+
+"I know three or four who want boats, but I am not sure the Juno would
+suit either of them," replied the commodore.
+
+The boat pulled to the shore, and no one asked any more questions about
+the Juno, or her late owner. The members of the club on board of the
+several yachts landed, and Donald was soon in earnest conversation with
+Samuel Rodman.
+
+"What does your father say?" he asked.
+
+"He wants to see you," replied Samuel.
+
+"Does he think I can't do the job?"
+
+"He did not think so at first, but when I told him you would employ one
+or two regular ship carpenters, he was satisfied, and I think he will
+give you the job."
+
+"I hope he will, and I am sure I can give him as good work as he can get
+anywhere."
+
+"I haven't any doubt of it, Don John. But the Sea Foam isn't doing so
+well as she did the first day you had her out. The Skylark beats her
+every time they sail."
+
+"Ned Patterdale hasn't got the hang of her yet."
+
+"Perhaps not."
+
+"I should like to have Bob Montague sail her, and Ned the Skylark; I
+think it would make a difference," added Donald. "Ned does very well,
+but a skipper must get used to his boat; and he hasn't had much
+experience in yachts as large as the Sea Foam. I spoke to you of a
+change in the model for the Maud; and if I'm not greatly mistaken, she
+will beat both the Sea Foam and the Skylark."
+
+"I would give all my spending-money for a year, over and above the cost,
+if she would do that," replied Rodman, with a snap of the eye.
+
+"Of course I can't promise that she will do it, but I expect she will,"
+said Donald.
+
+The club assembled under the trees, and the members were called to order
+by the commodore. The first business was to hear the report of the
+Regatta Committee, which proved to be a very interesting document to the
+yachtmen. The race was to take place the next Saturday, and was open to
+all yachts exceeding twenty feet in length, duly entered before the
+time. All were to sail in the same class; the first prize was a silver
+vase, and the second a marine glass. The course was to be from the
+judge's boat, in Belfast harbor, by Turtle Head, around the buoy on
+Stubb's Point Ledge, leaving it on the port hand, and back to the
+starting-point. The sailing regulations already adopted by the club were
+to be in full force. The report was accepted, and the members looked
+forward with eager anticipation to what they regarded as the greatest
+event of the season. Other business was transacted, and Donald, who had
+brought with him a measuring tape and plummet, measured all the yachts
+of the club. Dinner was served on board of each craft, and the commodore
+extended the hospitalities of the Skylark to Donald.
+
+In the afternoon, the fleet made an excursion around Long Island,
+returning to Belfast about six o'clock, Donald sailing the Juno, and
+catching a mess of fish off Haddock Ledge. He moored her off the shop,
+and was rather surprised to find that his own boat had not yet been
+returned. After supper he hastened to the house of Mr. Rodman, with
+whom he had a long talk in regard to the building of the Maud. The
+gentleman had some doubts about the ability of the young boat-builder to
+do so large a job, though he desired to encourage him.
+
+"I am willing to give you the work, and to pay you the same price your
+father had for the Sea Foam; but I don't like to pay out money till I
+know that you are to succeed," said he.
+
+"I don't ask you to do so, sir," replied Donald, warmly. "You need not
+pay me a cent till you are perfectly satisfied."
+
+"But I supposed you would want money to buy stock and pay your men, even
+before you had set up your frame."
+
+"No, sir; we have capital enough to make a beginning."
+
+"I am satisfied then, and you shall have the job," added Mr. Rodman.
+
+"Thank you, sir," replied Donald, delighted at his success.
+
+"You may go to work as soon as you please; and the sooner the better,
+for Samuel is in a great hurry for his yacht."
+
+"I will go to work on Monday morning. The model, moulds, and drawings
+are all ready, and there will be no delay, sir," answered the young
+boat-builder, as he took his leave of his considerate patron.
+
+Perhaps Mr. Rodman was not satisfied that the young man would succeed in
+the undertaking, but he had not the heart to discourage one who was so
+earnest. He determined to watch the progress of the work very closely,
+and if he discovered that the enterprise was not likely to be
+successful, he intended to stop it before much time or money had been
+wasted. Donald had fully detailed the means at his command for doing the
+job in a workman-like manner, and he was well known as an ingenious and
+skilful mechanic. Mr. Rodman had strong hopes that the young man would
+succeed in his undertaking.
+
+Donald walked toward the house of Captain Shivernock, congratulating
+himself on the happy issue of his interview with Mr. Rodman. As he
+passed the book and periodical store, he saw Lawrence Kennedy, a ship
+carpenter, who had formerly worked with Mr. Ramsay, standing at the
+door, reading the weekly paper just from the press. This man was out of
+work, and was talking of going to Bath to find employment. Donald had
+already thought of him as one of his hands, for Kennedy was a capital
+mechanic.
+
+"What's the news?" asked Donald, rather to open the way to what he had
+to say, than because he was interested in the latest intelligence.
+
+"How are you, Donald?" replied the ship carpenter. "There's a bit of
+news from Lincolnville, but I suppose you heard it; for all the town is
+talking about it."
+
+"I haven't heard it."
+
+"A man in Lincolnville was taken from his bed in the dead hour of the
+night, and beaten to a jelly."
+
+"Who was the man?"
+
+"His name was Hasbrook."
+
+"Hasbrook!" exclaimed Donald.
+
+"Do you know him, lad?"
+
+"I know of him; and he has the reputation of being anything but an
+honest man."
+
+"Then it's not much matter," laughed the ship carpenter.
+
+"But who beat him?" asked Donald.
+
+"No one knows who it was. Hasbrook couldn't make him out; but likely
+it's some one the rogue has cheated."
+
+"Hasbrook must have seen him," suggested Donald.
+
+"The ruffian was disguised with his head in a bit of a bag, or something
+of that sort, and he never spoke a word from first to last," added
+Kennedy, looking over the article in the paper.
+
+Donald wondered if Captain Shivernock had any dealings with Hasbrook. He
+was just the man to take the law into his own hands, and assault one who
+had done him a real or a fancied injury. Donald began to think he
+understood why the captain did not wish it to be known that he was on
+Long Island the night before. But the outrage had been committed in
+Lincolnville, which bordered the western arm of Penobscot Bay. It was
+three miles from the main land to the island. If the captain was in
+Lincolnville in "the dead of night," on a criminal errand, what was he
+doing near Seal Harbor, where the Juno was aground, at four o'clock in
+the morning? If he was the guilty party, he would naturally desire to
+get home before daylight. The wind was fair for him to do so, and there
+was enough of it to enable the Juno to make the run in less than two
+hours. It did not seem probable, therefore, that the captain had gone
+over to the other side of the bay, three miles off his course. Besides,
+he was not disguised, but wore his usual gray suit; and Hasbrook ought
+to have been able to recognize him by his form and his dress even in the
+darkest night.
+
+Donald was perplexed and disturbed. If there was any probability that
+Captain Shivernock had committed the crime, our hero was not to be
+bribed by sixty or six thousand dollars to keep the secret. If guilty,
+he would have been more likely to go below and turn in than to walk
+three miles on the island for assistance, and he would not have gone
+three miles off his course. But Donald determined to inquire into the
+matter, and do his whole duty, even if the strange man killed him for
+it. Kennedy was reading his paper while the young man was thinking over
+the case; but, having decided what to do, he interrupted the ship
+carpenter again.
+
+"Are you still out of work, Mr. Kennedy?" he asked.
+
+"I am; and I think I shall go to Bath next week," replied Kennedy.
+
+"I know of a job for you."
+
+[Illustration: THE NEWS FROM LINCOLNVILLE. Page 110.]
+
+"Do you, lad? I don't want to move away from Belfast, and I should be
+glad to get work here. What's the job?"
+
+"We are going to build a yacht of the size of the Sea Foam."
+
+"Who?" inquired the workman.
+
+"My mother and I intend to carry on my father's business."
+
+"And you wish me to manage it for you?"
+
+"No; I intend to manage it myself," added Donald, confidently.
+
+"Well, lad, you are clever enough to do it; and if you are like your
+father, I shall be glad to work for you."
+
+The wages were agreed upon, and Kennedy promised to be at the shop on
+Monday morning, to assist the young boat-builder in selecting the stock
+for the Maud. Donald walked to the house of Captain Shivernock. In the
+yard he found Sykes, the man who did all sorts of work for his employer,
+from taking care of the horses up to negotiating mortgages. Donald had
+occasionally been to the house, and he knew Sykes well enough to pass
+the time of day with him when they met in the street.
+
+"Is Captain Shivernock at home?" asked the young man, trying to appear
+indifferent, for he wanted to get as much information in regard to the
+strange man's movements during the last twenty-four hours as possible.
+
+"No, he is not," replied Sykes, who to some extent aped the manners of
+his eccentric employer.
+
+"Not at home!" exclaimed Donald, who had not expected this answer,
+though he had not found his own boat at her moorings on his return from
+the excursion with the fleet.
+
+"Are you deaf, young man?"
+
+"No, sir; not at all."
+
+"Then you heard me say he was not at home," growled Sykes.
+
+"I want to see him very much. Will he be long away?" asked Donald.
+
+"I can't tell you. He won't come back till he gets ready, if it isn't
+for a month."
+
+"Of course not; but I should like to know when I can probably see him."
+
+"You can probably see him when he comes home. He started in his boat for
+Vinal Haven early this morning."
+
+"This morning?" repeated Donald, who wished to be sure on this point.
+
+"Didn't I say so? This morning. He comes back when he pleases."
+
+"When do you expect him?"
+
+"I don't expect him. I never expect him. He may be home in five minutes,
+in five days, or five weeks."
+
+"At what time this morning did he go?"
+
+"He left the house at five minutes after four this morning, the last
+that ever was. I looked at my watch when he went out at the gate; for I
+was thinking whether or no his boat wasn't aground. Do you want to know
+what he had for breakfast? If you do, you must ask my wife, for I don't
+know," growled Sykes.
+
+"I am very anxious to see him," continued Donald, without heeding the
+sulky tones and manner of the man. "Perhaps he told Mrs. Sykes when he
+should return."
+
+"Perhaps he did, and perhaps he told her how much money he had in his
+pocket. He was as likely to tell her one as the other. You can ask her,"
+sneered Sykes.
+
+As the housekeeper sat on the piazza enjoying the cool evening breeze,
+Donald decided to avail himself of this permission, for he desired to
+know how well the two stories would agree. He saluted the lady, who gave
+him a pleasanter reception than her bearish husband had accorded to him.
+
+"Mr. Sykes told me that Captain Shivernock was away from home," said
+Donald. "Can you tell me when he is likely to return?"
+
+"He intended to come back to-night if the wind favored him. He went to
+Vinal Haven early this morning, and as you are a sailor, you can tell
+better than I whether he is likely to return to-night," replied Mrs.
+Sykes.
+
+"The wind is fair, and there is plenty of it," added Donald. "What time
+did he leave?"
+
+"About four o'clock. I gave him his coffee at half past three, and it
+must have been about four when he went away."
+
+If the outrage at Lincolnville had been committed in "the dead of the
+night," it was perfectly evident to Donald that Captain Shivernock had
+had nothing whatever to do with it. This conclusion was a great relief
+to the mind of the young man; but he had hardly reached it before the
+captain himself passed through the gate, and fixed a searching gaze upon
+him, as though he regarded him as an interloper.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+LAYING DOWN THE KEEL.
+
+
+"What are you doing here, Don John?" demanded Captain Shivernock, as he
+ascended the steps of the piazza.
+
+"I came to see you, sir," replied Donald, respectfully.
+
+"Well, you see me--don't you?"
+
+"I do, sir."
+
+"Have you been talking to Sykes and his wife?" asked the captain,
+sternly.
+
+"I have, sir."
+
+"Have you told them that you saw me on the island?"
+
+"No, sir; not them, nor anybody else."
+
+"It's well for you that you haven't," added the captain, shaking his
+head--a significant gesture, which seemed to relate to the future,
+rather than to the present. "If you lisp a syllable of it, you will
+need a patch on your skull.--Now," he continued, "what do you want of
+me?"
+
+"I wanted to talk about the Juno with you. Perhaps I can find a customer
+for you."
+
+"Come into the house," growled the captain, as he stalked through the
+door.
+
+Donald followed him into a sitting-room, on one side of which was a
+secretary, provided with a writing-desk. The captain tossed his cap and
+overcoat into a chair, and seated himself at the desk. He picked up a
+quill pen, and began to write as though he intended to scratch a hole
+through the paper, making noise enough for a small locomotive. He
+finished the writing, and signed his name to it. Then he cast the
+contents of a sand-box upon it, returning to it the portion which did
+not adhere to the paper. The document looked as though it had been
+written with a handspike, or as though the words had been ploughed in,
+and a furrow of sand left to form the letters.
+
+"Here!" said the captain, extending the paper to his visitor, with a
+jerk, as though he was performing a most ungracious office.
+
+"What is it, sir?" asked Donald, as he took the document.
+
+"Can't you read?" growled the strange man.
+
+Under ordinary circumstances Donald could read--could read writing when
+not more than half the letters were merged into straight lines; but it
+required all his skill, and not a little of his Scotch-Yankee guessing
+ability, to decipher the vagrant, staggering characters which the
+captain had impressed with so much force upon the paper. It proved to be
+a bill of sale of the Juno, in due form, and for the consideration of
+three hundred dollars.
+
+"Surely you cannot mean this, Captain Shivernock?" exclaimed the amazed
+young man.
+
+"Can't I? Do you think I'm a lunatic?" stormed the captain.
+
+Donald did think so, but he was not so imprudent as to say it.
+
+"I can't pay you three hundred dollars for the boat," pleaded he.
+
+"Nobody asked you to pay a red cent. The boat is yours. If you don't
+want her, sell her to the first man who is fool enough to buy her.
+That's all."
+
+"I'm very grateful to you for your kindness, Captain Shivernock; and I
+hope--"
+
+"All stuff!" interposed the strange man, savagely. "You are like the
+rest of the world, and next week you would be as ready to kick me as any
+other man would be, if you dared to do so. You needn't stop any longer
+to talk that sort of bosh to me. It will do for Sunday Schools and
+prayer meetings."
+
+"But I am really--"
+
+"No matter if you are really. Shut up!"
+
+"I hope I shall be able to do something to serve you."
+
+"Bah!"
+
+"Have you heard the news, Captain Shivernock?" asked Donald, suddenly
+changing the topic.
+
+"What news?"
+
+"It's in the _Age_. A man over in Lincolnville, by the name of Hasbrook,
+was taken out of his bed last night, and severely beaten."
+
+"Hasbrook! Served him right!" exclaimed the captain, with a rough string
+of profanity, which cooled the blood of the listener. "He is the biggest
+scoundrel in the State of Maine, and I am much obliged to the man who
+did it. I would have taken a hand with him at the game, if I had been
+there."
+
+[Illustration: THE BILL OF SALE. Page 119.]
+
+This was equivalent to saying that he was not there.
+
+"Do you know this Hasbrook?" asked Donald.
+
+"Do I know him? He swindled me out of a thousand dollars, and I ought to
+know him. If the man that flogged him hasn't finished him, I'll pound
+him myself when I catch him in the right place," replied the strange
+man, violently. "Who did the job, Don John?"
+
+"I don't know, sir. He hasn't been discovered yet."
+
+"If he is discovered, I'll give him five hundred dollars, and pay the
+lawyers for keeping him out of jail. I wish I had done it myself; it
+would make me feel good."
+
+Donald was entirely satisfied that Captain Shivernock had not done it.
+He was pleased, even rejoiced, that his investigation had resulted so
+decidedly in the captain's favor, for he would have been very sorry to
+feel obliged to disregard the injunction of secrecy which had been
+imposed upon him.
+
+"Did you fall in with any one after we parted this morning?" asked
+Donald, who desired to know whether the captain had met Laud Cavendish
+when the two boats appeared to be approaching each other.
+
+"None of your business!" rudely replied the captain, after gazing a
+moment into the face of the young man, as if to fathom his purpose in
+asking the question. "Do you think the world won't move on if you don't
+wind it up? Mind your own business, and don't question me. I won't have
+anybody prying into my affairs."
+
+"Excuse me, sir; I don't wish to pry into your affairs; and with your
+permission I will go home now," replied Donald.
+
+"You have my permission to go home," sneered the strange man; and Donald
+availed himself of it without another instant's delay.
+
+Certainly Captain Shivernock was a very strange man, and Donald could
+not begin to understand why he had given him the Juno and the sixty
+dollars in cash. It was plain enough that he had not been near
+Hasbrook's house, though it was not quite clear how, if he left home at
+four o'clock, he had got aground eight miles from the city at the same
+hour; but there was probably some error in Donald's reckoning. The young
+man went home, and, on the way, having assured himself, to his own
+satisfaction, that he had no painful duty in regard to the captain to
+perform, he soon forgot all about the matter in the more engrossing
+consideration of his great business enterprise. When he entered the
+cottage, his mother very naturally asked him where he had been; and he
+gave her all the details of his interview with Mr. Rodman. Mrs. Ramsay
+was more cheerful than she had been before since the death of her
+husband, and they discussed the subject till bed time. Donald had
+seventy-two dollars in his pocket, including his fees for measuring the
+yachts. It was a new experience for him to keep anything from his
+mother; but he felt that he could not honorably tell her what had passed
+between the captain and himself. He could soon work the money into his
+business, and he need keep it only till Monday. He did not feel just
+right about it, even after he had convinced himself that he ought not to
+reveal Captain Shivernock's secret to her; but I must add,
+confidentially, that it is always best for boys--I mean young men--to
+tell their mothers "all about it;" and if Donald had done so in this
+instance, no harm would have come of the telling, and it might have
+saved him a great deal of trouble, and her a great deal of anxiety, and
+a great many painful doubts. Donald thought his view was correct; he
+meant to do exactly right; and he had the courage to do it, even if
+thereby he incurred the wrath and the vengeance of the strange man.
+
+I have no doubt, from what indications I have of the character of Donald
+Ramsay, that he tried to learn his Sunday School lesson, tried to give
+attention to the sermons he heard, and tried to be interested in the
+good books he essayed to read on Sunday; but I am not sure that he
+succeeded entirely, for the skeleton frame of the Maud would rise up in
+his imagination to cloud the vision of higher things, and the
+remembrance of his relations with Captain Shivernock would thrust itself
+upon him. Yet it is a great deal even to try to be faithful in one's
+thoughts, and Donald was generally more successful than on this
+occasion, for it was not often that he was excited by events so stirring
+and prospects so brilliant. A single week would be time enough to
+accustom the young boat-builder to his occupation and restore his mental
+equilibrium.
+
+The light of Monday morning's sun was very welcome to him; and when only
+its light gleamed in the gray east, he rose from his bed to begin the
+labors of the day. His father had enlarged the shop, so that he could
+build a yacht of the size of the Maud under its roof; and before
+breakfast time, he had prepared the bed, and levelled the blocks on
+which the keel was to rest. At seven o'clock Lawrence Kennedy appeared,
+and together they looked over the stock on hand, and made out a list of
+the pieces of timber and plank that would be required. At first the
+journeyman was inclined to take the lead in the business; but he soon
+found that his youthful employer was entirely familiar with the minutest
+details of the work, and knew precisely how to get out every stick of
+the frame. Donald constantly referred to the model of the Sea Foam,
+which he had already altered in accordance with the suggestions of his
+father, using the inch scale on which the model was projected, to get
+the size of the pieces, so that there should be no unnecessary waste in
+buying.
+
+Kennedy went with him to the lumber wharf, where the stock was carefully
+selected for the frame. Before dinner it was carted over to the shop,
+and in the afternoon the work was actually commenced. The keelson, with
+the aperture for the centre-board nicely adjusted, was laid down,
+levelled, and blocked up, so that the yacht should be as true as a hair
+when completed. The next steps were to set up the stern-post and the
+stem-piece, and Mr. Ramsay's patterns of these timbers were ready for
+use. Donald was tired enough to rest when the clock struck six; but no
+better day's work for two men could be shown than that performed by him
+and his journeyman. Another hand could now work to advantage on the
+frame, and Kennedy knew of a first-rate workman who desired employment.
+He was requested to have him in the shop the next morning.
+
+After supper, Donald went back to the shop to study, rather than to
+work. He seated himself on the bench, and was thinking over the details
+of the work, when, through the window, he saw Laud Cavendish run his
+sail-boat alongside the Juno, which was moored a short distance from the
+shore. Laud wanted to buy a boat, and Donald wanted to sell one. More
+than once he had been tempted to keep the Juno for his own use; but he
+decided that he could not afford such a luxury, even though she had cost
+him nothing. If he kept her, he would desire to use her, and he might
+waste too much of his precious time in sailing her. It would cost money
+as well as time to keep her; for boats are always in need of paint,
+spars, sails, rigging, and other repairs. He was resolute in his purpose
+to dispose of the Juno, lest the possession of her should demoralize
+him, and interfere with his attention to business.
+
+It was plain enough to Donald that he must sell the Juno, though it was
+not as clear that Laud Cavendish could buy her; but he decided to see
+him, and, launching his tender, he pulled out for the Juno. While he was
+plying his oars, it suddenly came across the mind of the young
+boat-builder that he could not sell this boat without exposing his
+relations to Captain Shivernock. He was rather startled by the thought,
+but, before he had followed it out to a conclusion, the tender was
+alongside the Juno.
+
+"How are you, Don John?" said Laud. "I thought I would come down and
+look over the Juno."
+
+"She is a first-rate boat," replied Donald.
+
+"And the captain wants to sell her?"
+
+"She's for sale," replied her owner.
+
+"What's the price of her?"
+
+"Four hundred."
+
+"That's too steep, Don John. It is of no use for me to look at her if
+the captain won't sell her for less than that."
+
+"Say three fifty, then," replied Donald.
+
+"Say three hundred."
+
+"She is worth more money," continued the owner, as he unlocked the
+cuddy. "She has a fine cabin, fitted up like a parlor. Go in and look
+round."
+
+Donald led the way, and pointed out all the conveniences of the cabin,
+eloquently setting forth the qualities of the boat and her
+accommodations.
+
+"I'll give three hundred for her," said Laud.
+
+"She is worth more than that," replied Donald. "Why, she cost the
+captain over five hundred; and I wouldn't build her for a mill less than
+that."
+
+"You?" laughed Laud.
+
+"I'm building a yacht thirty feet long for Sam Rodman; and I'm to have
+twelve hundred for her," answered Donald, struggling to be modest.
+
+"You are some punkins--ain't you, Don John?"
+
+"I can't quite come up to you, Mr. Cavendish."
+
+"Perhaps you will when you are as old as I am."
+
+"Possibly; but it's a big height to reach in two years. A man of your
+size ought not to haggle for fifty dollars on a boat."
+
+"I can't afford to give more than three hundred for the Juno," protested
+Laud, very decidedly.
+
+"Can you afford to give that?" asked Donald, with a smile.
+
+Laud looked at him sharply, and seemed to be somewhat embarrassed.
+
+"I suppose I can't really afford it; but what's life for? We can't live
+it over again, and we ought to make the best of it. Don't you think so?"
+
+"Certainly--the best of it; but there may be some difference of opinion
+in regard to what the best of it may be."
+
+"I mean to be a gentleman, and not a philosopher. I go in for a good
+time. Will you take three hundred for the boat? or will you tell the
+captain I will give that?"
+
+"I can sell her without going to him. I haven't offered her to anybody
+but you, and I have no doubt I can get my price for her."
+
+Laud talked till it was nearly dark; but Donald was firm, and at last he
+carried his point.
+
+"I will give the three hundred and fifty, because I want her very badly;
+but it's a big price," said Laud.
+
+"It's dog cheap," added Donald, who was beginning to think how he should
+manage the business without informing the purchaser that the Juno was
+his own property.
+
+Donald was a young man of many expedients, and he finally decided to ask
+Captain Shivernock to exchange the bill of sale for one conveying the
+boat directly to Laud Cavendish. This settled, he wondered how Laud
+expected to pay for his purchase, for it was utterly incredible to him
+that the swell could command so large a sum as three hundred and fifty
+dollars. After all, perhaps it would not be necessary to trouble the
+captain about the business, for Donald did not intend to give a bill of
+sale without the cash.
+
+"When do you want to close the trade?" he asked.
+
+"I thought we had closed it," replied Laud.
+
+"You want a bill of sale--don't you?"
+
+"No, I don't; I would rather not have one. When I get the boat, I know
+how to keep her. Besides, you will be a witness that I have bought her."
+
+"That isn't the way to do business," protested Donald.
+
+"If I'm satisfied, you need not complain. If I pay you the cash down,
+that ends the matter."
+
+"If you do."
+
+"Well, I will; here and now," added Laud, pulling out his wallet.
+
+"Where did you get so much money, Laud?" asked Donald.
+
+It was doubtless an impertinent question, but it came from the heart of
+him who proposed it; and it was not resented by him to whom it was put.
+On the contrary, Laud seemed to be troubled, rather than indignant.
+
+"Don John, you are a good fellow," said Laud, after a long pause.
+
+"Of course I am."
+
+"For certain reasons of my own, I want you to keep this trade to
+yourself."
+
+"Why so?"
+
+"I can't tell you."
+
+"Then I won't do it. If there is any hitch about the money, I won't have
+anything to do with it."
+
+"Any hitch? What do you mean by that?" demanded Laud, with a lofty air.
+
+"It's no use to mince the matter, Laud. Three hundred and fifty dollars
+don't grow on every bush in your or my garden; and I have been
+wondering, all the time, where a fellow like you should get money enough
+to buy a boat like the Juno."
+
+Donald said all this fairly and squarely; but it occurred to him just
+then, that after he had sold the boat, any one might ask him the same
+question, and he should not feel at liberty to answer it.
+
+"Do you mean to insult me?" demanded Laud.
+
+"Nothing of the sort; and you needn't ride that high horse. I won't sell
+the boat till I know where the money came from."
+
+"Do you doubt my honor?"
+
+"Confound your honor! I think we have said enough."
+
+"If you mean to say that I didn't come honorably by my money, you are
+mistaken."
+
+"Where did you get it, then?"
+
+"Are you always willing to tell where you get every dollar in your
+pocket?" retorted Laud.
+
+That was a home-thrust, and Donald felt it in his trowsers pocket, where
+he kept his wallet.
+
+"I am generally ready to tell where I get my money," he replied, but he
+did not speak with much energy.
+
+Laud looked about him, and seemed to be considering the matter.
+
+"I don't like to be accused of stealing," mused he.
+
+"I don't accuse you of anything," added Donald.
+
+"It's the same thing. If I tell you where I got this money, will you
+keep it to yourself?" asked Laud.
+
+"If it's all right I will."
+
+"Honor bright, Don John?"
+
+"If it's all right."
+
+"O, it is!" protested Laud. "I will tell you; but you must keep the
+secret, whatever happens."
+
+"I will, if everything is as it should be."
+
+"Well, Captain Shivernock gave it to me," said Laud, in confidential
+tones, and after looking about to satisfy himself that no third person
+was within hearing.
+
+"Captain Shivernock!" exclaimed Donald.
+
+"Just so."
+
+"What for?"
+
+"I can't tell you any more. The captain would kill me if he found out
+that I had told you so much," answered Laud. "I don't understand the
+matter myself; but the captain gave me that money and fifty dollars
+more;" and he handed Donald the price of the Juno. "You are not to say
+that I have even seen the captain."
+
+"When was this?"
+
+"Last Saturday; but that's all; not another word from me."
+
+"It's very odd," mused Donald.
+
+"You will keep still--won't you?"
+
+"Yes; until I am satisfied the thing is not all right."
+
+"I shall not say that I own the Juno yet a while," added Laud, as he
+returned to the boat in which he had come.
+
+Donald pulled ashore, with the money in his pocket.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+THE FIRST REGATTA.
+
+
+Donald was not disposed to doubt the truth of Laud Cavendish's story,
+for the circumstances were precisely the same as those under which he
+had received the boat and the money from Captain Shivernock. If he had
+had no experience with the eccentric shipmaster himself, he would have
+doubted the whole explanation, and refused to take the money. He
+recalled the events of Saturday. The last he saw of Laud, on that day,
+was when he ran his boat over towards the Northport shore, whither the
+captain had gone before him. He had lost sight of both their boats at a
+time when it seemed very probable that they would meet. After what Laud
+had just said to him, and with the money he had paid him in his pocket,
+he was confident they had met. The strange man had purchased the silence
+of Laud, as he had his own, and at about the same price.
+
+Donald realized that Captain Shivernock had thrown away about seven
+hundred dollars that morning, and, as he thought of it, he was amazed at
+his conduct; but the captain did not mind paying a thousand dollars any
+time to gratify the merest whim. The young man tried again to fathom the
+motive of his eccentric but liberal patron in thus throwing away such
+large sums, unnecessarily large, to accomplish his object. The
+Lincolnville outrage was the only possible solution; but if he were the
+ruffian, he would not have been on Long Island when he had a fair wind
+to run home, and Sykes and his wife both agreed that he had left the
+house on the morning that Donald had seen him. It was not possible,
+therefore, that the captain was guilty of the outrage. Laud had paid him
+seven fifty dollar bills, and he had over four hundred dollars in his
+pocket. He did not know what to do with it, and feeling that he had come
+honestly by it, he was vexed at the necessity of concealing it from his
+mother; but he was determined to pay it out, as occasion required, for
+stock and hardware for the yacht he was building. When he went to his
+chamber, he concealed three hundred and fifty dollars of the money in a
+secret place in the pine bureau in which his clothes were kept.
+
+The next morning Kennedy appeared with the man he was authorized to
+employ, and the chips flew briskly in the shop all that day. At noon
+Donald went to the wharf where he had bought his stock, and paid the
+bill for it. The lumber dealer commended his promptness, and offered to
+give him credit for any lumber he might need; but Donald proudly
+declared that he should pay cash for all he bought, and he wanted the
+lowest cash prices. On his return to the shop, he entered, in the
+account-book his father had kept, the amount he had expended. The work
+went bravely on, for his two journeymen were interested in his success.
+They were glad to get employment, and desired that the young
+boat-builder should not only build a fine yacht, but should make money
+by the job. The stem-piece and stern-post were set up, and gradually the
+frame began to assume the shape of a vessel. Donald watched the forming
+of the yacht very carefully, and saw that everything was done according
+to the model and the scale.
+
+On Saturday morning Mr. Rodman, accompanied by a friend who was a
+ship-builder, visited the shop to inspect the work. The frame, so far as
+it had been set up, was carefully examined, and the expert cordially
+approved all that had been done, declaring that he had never seen a
+better job in his life. Of course Donald was proud of this partial
+success.
+
+"I have had some doubts, Don John," laughed Mr. Rodman; "but I am
+entirely satisfied now."
+
+"Thank you, sir. I have had no doubts; I could see that frame in my mind
+as plainly before a stick had been touched as I do now."
+
+"You have done well, and I am quite sure that you will make a yacht of
+it. Now, if you will give me a receipt for one hundred dollars, I will
+let you have so much towards the price of the Maud, for I suppose you
+want to pay your men off to-night."
+
+"I have money enough, sir, to pay my men, and I don't ask you for any
+money yet," replied the young boat-builder.
+
+"But I prefer to pay you as the work progresses."
+
+Donald did not object, and wrote the receipt. He was a minor, and his
+mother, who was the administratrix of her husband's estate, was the
+responsible party in the transaction of business; but he did not like to
+sign his mother's name to a receipt, and thus wholly ignore himself,
+and, adopting a common fiction in trade, he wrote, "Ramsay and son,"
+which he determined should be the style of the firm. Ramsay might mean
+his father or his mother, and he had already arranged this matter with
+her. Mr. Rodman laughed at the signature, but did not object to it, and
+Donald put the money in his pocket, after crediting it on the book.
+
+This was the day appointed for the first regatta of the Yacht Club. The
+coming event had been talked about in the city during the whole week,
+not only among the boys, but among the men who were interested in
+yachting. About a dozen yachts had been entered for the race, though
+only four of them belonged to the club; those that were not enrolled
+being nominally in charge of members, in order to conform to the
+regulations. Donald had measured all these boats, and made a schedule of
+them, in which appeared the captain's name, the length of the craft,
+with the correction to be subtracted from the sailing time in order to
+reduce it to standard time. There were columns in the table for the
+starting time, the return time, and the sailing time. The "correction"
+was virtually the allowance which a large yacht made to a smaller one
+for the difference in length.
+
+The club had adopted the regulation of the Dorchester Yacht Club, which
+contained a "table of allowance per mile." In this table, a yacht one
+hundred and ten feet six inches long, is taken as the standard for
+length. The Skylark was just thirty feet long on the water-line, and her
+allowance by the table was two minutes forty-three and four tenths
+seconds for every mile sailed in a regatta. The Sea Foam's length was
+three inches less, and her allowance was one and three tenths seconds
+more. Donald had his table all ready for the use of the judges, of whom
+he had been appointed the chairman. Mr. Montague's large yacht had been
+anchored in the bay, gayly dressed with flags and streamers, to be used
+as the judges' boat. The yachts were to start at ten o'clock.
+
+"I don't want to leave my work a bit," said Donald, as he took off his
+apron. "I may have to lose a whole day in the race, and I can't afford
+it."
+
+"Now, I think you can," replied Kennedy.
+
+"It looks too much like boys' play."
+
+"No matter what it is. If you are going to make a business of building
+yachts and sail-boats, it is for your interest to encourage this sort of
+thing all you can," added Kennedy.
+
+"I think you are right there," answered Donald, who had not before taken
+this view.
+
+"Besides, you ought to see how the boats work. You will get some ideas
+that will be of use to you. You should observe every movement of the
+boats with the utmost care. I think you will make more money attending
+the regattas, if there was one every week, than by working in the shop."
+
+"You are right, Kennedy, and I am glad you expressed your opinions, for
+I shall feel that I am not wasting my time."
+
+"Your father has been to Newport and New York on purpose to attend
+regattas, and I am sure, if he were here now, he would not miss this
+race for a fifty-dollar bill," continued the workman.
+
+Donald was entirely satisfied, and went into the house to dress for the
+occasion. He was soon ready, and walked down the beach towards the
+skiff he used to go off to the sail-boat. The sky was overcast, and the
+wind blew a smashing breeze, promising a lively race. The Juno had been
+entered for the regatta, but she was still at her moorings off the shop,
+and Donald wondered where Laud was, for he had been very enthusiastic
+over the event. Before he could embark, the new proprietor of the Juno
+appeared. He was dressed in a suit of new clothes, wore a new round-top
+hat, and sported a cane in his hand. His mustache had been freshly
+colored, and every hair was carefully placed. He did not look like a
+yachtman; more like a first-class swell.
+
+"I have been all the morning looking for some fellows to sail with me,"
+said Laud. "I can't find a single one. Won't you go with me, Don John?"
+
+"Thank you; I am one of the judges, and I can't go," replied Donald,
+who, if he had not been engaged, would have preferred to sail with some
+more skilful and agreeable skipper than Laud Cavendish.
+
+"Won't your men go with me?"
+
+"I don't know; you can ask them."
+
+"I am entitled to carry five, and I want some live weights to-day, for
+it is blowing fresh," added Laud, as he walked towards the shop.
+
+Neither of Donald's men was willing to lose his time, and as Laud came
+out of the shop, he discovered a young lady walking up the beach towards
+the city. A gust of wind blew her hat away at this moment, and Mr.
+Cavendish gallantly ran after, and recovered it, as Donald would have
+done if he had not been anticipated, for he recognized the young lady as
+soon as he saw her. Even as it was, he was disposed to run after that
+hat, and dispute the possession of it with Mr. Laud Cavendish, for the
+owner thereof was Miss Nellie Patterdale.
+
+"Allow me to return your truant hat, Miss Patterdale," said Laud.
+
+"Thank you, Mr. Cavendish," replied Nellie, rather coldly, as she
+resumed her walk towards the place where Donald stood, a few rods
+farther up the beach.
+
+"We have a fine breeze for the race, Miss Patterdale," added Laud,
+smirking and jerking, as though he intended to improve the glorious
+opportunity, for the young lady was not only bewitchingly pretty, but
+her father was a nabob, with only two children.
+
+"Very fine, I should think," she answered; and her tones and manner were
+anything but encouraging to the aspirant.
+
+"I hope you are going to honor the gallant yachtmen with your presence,
+Miss Patterdale."
+
+"I shall certainly see the race.--Good morning, Don John," said she,
+when she came within speaking distance of Donald.
+
+"Good morning, Nellie," replied he, blushing, as he felt the full force
+of her glance and her smile--a glance and a smile for which Laud would
+have sacrificed all he held dear in the world, even to his cherished
+mustache. "Don't you attend the race?"
+
+"Yes, I want to attend now. Ned invited me to go on board of the judge's
+boat; but the sun was out then, and mother would not let me go. Father
+said the day would be cloudy, and I decided to go; but Ned had gone. I
+came down here to see if I couldn't hail him. Won't you take me off to
+the Penobscot in your boat?"
+
+"Certainly I will, with the greatest pleasure," replied Donald, with
+enthusiasm.
+
+"I beg your pardon, Miss Patterdale," interposed Laud. "I am going off
+in the Juno; allow me to tender her for your use. I can take you off,
+Don John, at the same time."
+
+"It's quite rough; as you see, Nellie, and the Juno is much larger than
+my boat. You can go in her more comfortably than in mine," added Donald.
+
+"Thank you; just as you please, Don John," she answered.
+
+"Bring her up to the wharf, Mr. Cavendish," continued Donald.
+
+Laud leaped into his skiff, and pulled off to the Juno, while Nellie and
+Donald walked around to the wharf. In a few moments the boat was ready,
+and came up to the pier, though her clumsy skipper was so excited at the
+prospect of having the nabob's pretty daughter in his boat, that he had
+nearly smashed her against the timbers. The gallant skipper bowed, and
+smirked, and smiled, as he assisted Miss Patterdale to a place in the
+standing-room. Donald shoved off the bow, and the Juno filled her
+mainsail, and went off flying towards the Penobscot.
+
+"It's a smashing breeze," said Donald, as the boat heeled down.
+
+"Glorious!" exclaimed Laud. "Are you fond of sailing, Miss Patterdale?"
+
+"I am very fond of it."
+
+"Perhaps you would like to sail around the course in one of the yachts?"
+suggested the skipper.
+
+"I should be delighted to do so," she replied, eagerly; and she glanced
+at Donald, as if to ascertain if such a thing were possible.
+
+"I should be pleased to have you sail in the Juno," added Laud, with an
+extra smirk.
+
+"Thank you, Mr. Cavendish; you are very kind; but perhaps I had better
+not go."
+
+"I should be delighted to have you go with me."
+
+"I don't think you would enjoy it, Nellie," said Donald. "It blows
+fresh, and the Juno is rather wet in a heavy sea."
+
+Laud looked at him with an angry expression, and when Nellie turned away
+from him, he made significant gestures to induce Donald to unsay what he
+had said, and persuade her to go with him.
+
+"I am sure you will be delighted with the sail, Miss Patterdale. You
+will be perfectly dry where you are sitting; or, if not, I have a rubber
+coat, which will protect you."
+
+"I think I will not go," she replied, so coldly that her tones would
+have frozen any one but a simpleton like Laud.
+
+The passage was of brief duration, and Donald assisted Nellie up the
+accommodation steps of the Penobscot, stepping forward in season to
+deprive Laud of this pleasant office.
+
+"I am much obliged to you, Mr. Cavendish," said she, walking away from
+the steps.
+
+"That was mean of you, Don John," muttered Laud, as Donald came down the
+steps to assist in shoving off the Juno.
+
+"What was mean?"
+
+"Why, to tell Nellie she would not enjoy the sail with me."
+
+"She could do as she pleased."
+
+"But you told her the Juno was wet," added Laud, angrily.
+
+"She is wet when it blows."
+
+"No matter if she is. It was mean of you to say anything about it, after
+all I have done for you."
+
+"It wasn't mean to tell the truth, and save her from a ducking, and I
+don't know what you have done for me."
+
+"You don't? Didn't I buy this boat of you, and pay you fifty dollars
+more than she is worth?"
+
+"No, you didn't. But if you are dissatisfied with your bargain, I will
+take her off your hands."
+
+"You! I want the money I paid."
+
+"You shall have it. Come to the shop after the race, and you may throw
+up the trade."
+
+"Will Captain Shivernock pay you back the money?" sneered Laud.
+
+"I'll take care of that, if you want to give her up," added Donald,
+warmly.
+
+"Never mind that now. Can't you persuade Nellie to sail with me?"
+continued Laud, more gently. "If you will, I will give you a five-dollar
+bill."
+
+Donald would have given double that sum rather than have had her go with
+him, and she would have given ten times the amount to avoid doing so.
+
+"I can't persuade her, for I don't think it is best for her to go,"
+replied Donald.
+
+"No matter what you think. You are a good fellow, Don John: do this for
+me--won't you? It would be a great favor, and I shall never forget it."
+
+"Why do you want her to go with you?" demanded Donald, rather
+petulantly. "A yacht in a race is no place for ladies. I can find some
+fellows on board here who will be glad to go with you."
+
+"But I want her to go with me. The fact of it is, Don John, I rather
+like Nellie, and I want to be better acquainted with her."
+
+"If you do, you must paddle your own canoe," replied Donald,
+indignantly, as he ascended the steps, and joined the other two judges
+on deck.
+
+"We are waiting for you, Don John," said Sam Rodman, who was one of
+them.
+
+"It isn't ten yet, and I have the papers all ready. Who is to be
+time-keeper?" asked the chairman.
+
+"I have a watch with a second hand, and I will take that office," said
+Frank Norwood, who was the third.
+
+Most of the yachts were already in line, and the captain of the fleet,
+in the tender of his yacht, was arranging them, the largest to
+windward. The first gun had been fired at half past nine which was the
+signal to get into line, and at the next, the yachts were to get under
+way. All sail except the jib was set, and at the signal each craft was
+to slip her cable, hoist her jib, if she had one, and get under way, as
+quickly as possible. The "rode" was simply to be cast off, for the end
+of it was made fast to the tender, which was used as a buoy for the
+anchor.
+
+"Are they all ready?" asked Donald, as the time drew near.
+
+"All but the Juno. Laud has picked up two live weights, and wants
+another man," replied Sam Rodman.
+
+"We won't wait for him."
+
+But Laud got into line in season. One of the seamen of the Penobscot
+stood at the lock-string of the gun forward, ready to fire when the
+chairman of the judges gave the word.
+
+"Have your watch ready, Frank," said Donald.
+
+"All ready," answered Norwood.
+
+"Fire!" shouted Donald.
+
+Some of the ladies "squealed" when the gun went off, but all eyes were
+immediately directed to the yachts. The Christabel, with a reef in her
+fore and main sails, was next to the Penobscot; then came the Skylark,
+the Sea Foam, and the Phantom. Before the gun was fired, the captain had
+stationed a hand in each yacht at the cable, and others at the
+jib-halyards and down-hauls. The instant the gun was discharged, the
+jibs were run up, and the "rodes" thrown overboard. Some of the yachts,
+however, were unfortunate, and did not obtain a good start. In one the
+jib down-haul fouled, and another ran over her cable, and swamped her
+tender. The conflict was believed to be between the Skylark and the Sea
+Foam, for there was too much wind for the Christabel, which was the
+fastest light-weather craft in the line.
+
+It was a beautiful sight when the yachts went off, with the wind only a
+little abaft the beam. The young gentlemen sailing them were rather
+excited, and made some mistakes. The Skylark at once took the lead, for
+Commodore Montague was the most experienced boatman in the fleet. He
+made no mistakes, and his superior skill was soon evident in the
+distance between him and the Sea Foam.
+
+The crowd of people on the shore and the judges' yacht watched the
+contestants till they disappeared beyond Turtle Head. The boats had a
+free wind both ways, with the exception of a short distance beyond the
+head, where they had to beat up to Stubb's Point Ledge. There was
+nothing for the judges to do until the yachts came in, and Donald spent
+a couple of delightful hours with Nellie Patterdale. Presently the
+Skylark appeared again beyond the Head, leading the fleet as before. On
+she drove, like a bolt from an arrow, carrying a big bone in her mouth;
+and the judges prepared to take her time.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+THE SKYLARK AND THE SEA FOAM.
+
+
+Frank Norwood was the time-keeper, and he stood with his watch in his
+hand. Each yacht was to pass to windward of the Penobscot, and come
+round her stern, reporting as she did so. Sam Rodman was to call "time"
+when the foremast of each yacht was in range with a certain chimney of a
+house on the main shore. At the word Frank was to give the time, and
+Donald was to write it down on his schedule. Everything was to be done
+with the utmost accuracy. The Skylark was rapidly approaching, with the
+Sea Foam nearly half a mile astern of her. The Phantom and Christabel
+were not far behind the Sea Foam, while the rest were scattered along
+all the way over to Turtle Head.
+
+"Ready there!" shouted Donald, as the Skylark came nearly in range of
+the Penobscot and the chimney.
+
+"All ready," replied Sam Rodman.
+
+The gun forward had been loaded, and a seaman stood at the lock-string,
+to salute the first boat in.
+
+"Time!" shouted Sam, as the mainsail of the Skylark shut in the chimney
+on the shore; and the six-pounder awoke the echoes among the hills.
+
+"Twelve, forty, and thirty-two seconds," added Frank, as he took the
+time from the watch.
+
+"Twelve, forty, thirty-two," repeated Donald, as he wrote it on the
+schedule.
+
+The crowd on the judges' yacht cheered the commodore as the Skylark
+rounded the Penobscot, and the ladies waved their handkerchiefs at him
+with desperate enthusiasm.
+
+"I thought you said the Sea Foam was to beat the Skylark," said Nellie
+Patterdale.
+
+"I think she may do it yet," replied Donald.
+
+"And Sam's new boat must beat them both, Don John," laughed Maud Rodman.
+
+"Time!" called Sam.
+
+"Twelve, forty-five, two," added Frank.
+
+"Twelve, forty-five, two," repeated Donald, writing down the time.
+
+By this time the Skylark had come about, not by gybing,--for the wind
+was too heavy to make this evolution in safety,--but had come round head
+to the wind, and now passed under the stern of the Penobscot.
+
+"Skylark!" reported the commodore.
+
+A few minutes later the Sea Foam did the same. The Phantom came in a
+minute after the Sea Foam, and for a few moments the judges were very
+busy taking the time of the next four boats. The Juno did not arrive
+till half past one, and she was the last one. As fast as the yachts
+rounded the Penobscot, they went off to the line and picked up their
+cables and anchors. The captains of the several craft which had sailed
+in the race then boarded the Penobscot to ascertain the decision of the
+judges.
+
+"You waxed me badly, Robert," said Ned Patterdale, who was mortified at
+the defeat of the Sea Foam, though he kept good-natured about it.
+
+"I still think the Skylark can't be beaten by anything of her inches,"
+replied Commodore Montague.
+
+"I am rather disappointed in the Sea Foam," added Ned.
+
+Donald heard this remark, and he was much disturbed by it; for it
+seemed like a reproach upon the skill of his father, and an imputation
+upon the reputation of Ramsay and Son. If the yachts built by the "firm"
+were beaten as badly as the Sea Foam had been, though she had outsailed
+the Phantom, it would seriously injure the business of the concern. The
+defeat of the Sea Foam touched the boat-builder in a tender place, and
+he found it necessary to do something to maintain the standing of the
+firm. He knew just what the matter was; but under ordinary circumstances
+he would not have said a word to damage the pride of the present owner
+of the Sea Foam.
+
+"I am sorry you are not satisfied with her, Ned," said Donald.
+
+"But I expected too much of her; for I thought she was going to beat the
+Skylark," replied Ned Patterdale. "I think you encouraged me somewhat in
+that direction, Don John."
+
+"I did; and I still think she can beat the Skylark."
+
+"It's no use to think so; for she has just beaten me four minutes and a
+half; and that's half a mile in this breeze. Nothing could have been
+more fairly done."
+
+"It was all perfectly fair, Ned; but you know that winning a race does
+not depend entirely upon the boat," suggested Donald, hinting mildly at
+his own theory of the defeat.
+
+"Then you think I didn't sail her well?" said Ned.
+
+"I think you sailed her very well; but it could not be expected that you
+would do as well with her as Bob Montague with the Skylark, for he has
+sailed his yacht for months, while you have only had yours a few weeks.
+This is a matter of business with me, Ned. If our boats are beaten, we
+lose our work. It is bread and butter to me."
+
+"If it was my fault, I am sorry she was beaten, for your sake, Don John;
+but I did my best with her," replied Ned, with real sympathy for his
+friend.
+
+"Of course I am not going to cry over spilt milk."
+
+"Do you really think the Sea Foam can beat the Skylark?"
+
+"I think so; but I may be mistaken. At any rate, I should like the
+chance to sail the Sea Foam with the Skylark. I don't consider it
+exactly an even thing between you and the commodore, because he has had
+so much more experience than you have," replied Donald.
+
+"You believe you can sail the Sea Foam better than I can--do you, Don
+John?"
+
+"It wouldn't be pleasant for me to say that, Ned."
+
+"But that's what you mean?"
+
+"I have explained the reason why I spoke of this matter at all, Ned. It
+is bread and butter to me, and I hope you don't think I am vain."
+
+Ned was a little vexed at the remarks of his friend, and rather
+indignant at his assumed superiority as a boatman. Donald was usually
+very modest and unpretentious. He was not in the habit of claiming that
+he could do anything better than another. Generally, in boating matters,
+when he saw that a thing was done wrong, he refrained from criticising
+unless his opinion was asked, and was far from being forward in
+fault-finding. Though he was an authority among the young men in sailing
+boats, he had not attained this distinction by being a critic and
+caviller. Ned was therefore surprised, as well as indignant, at the
+comments and the assumption of Donald; but a little reflection enabled
+him to see the boat-builder's motive, which was anything but vanity. He
+had some of this weakness himself, and felt that he had sailed the Sea
+Foam as well as any one could have done it, and was satisfied that the
+Skylark was really a faster yacht than his own. The race was plain
+sailing, with a free wind nearly all the way, and there was not much
+room for the exercise of superior skill in handling the craft. At least,
+this was Ned's opinion. If the course had been a dead beat to windward
+for ten miles, the case would have been different; and Ned had failed to
+notice that he had lost half the distance between the Skylark and the
+Sea Foam when he rounded the stake buoy.
+
+It was a fact that among the large party on board the Penobscot, the
+boats of the firm of Ramsay and Son were just then at a discount, and
+those of the Newport builders at a corresponding premium. Donald was
+grieved and vexed, and trembled for the future of the firm of which he
+was the active representative. But he figured up the results of the
+race, and when the captains of all the yachts had come on board of the
+judges' boat, he announced the prizes and delivered them to the winners,
+with a little speech. The silver vase was given to the commodore, with
+liberal and magnanimous commendations both of the yacht and her captain.
+The marine glass was presented to Edward Patterdale, as the winner of
+the second prize, with some pleasant words, which did not in the least
+betray the personal discomfiture of the chairman. There was a further
+ceremony on the quarter-deck of the Penobscot, which was not in the
+programme, and which was unexpected to all except the officers of the
+club.
+
+"Captain Laud Cavendish, of the Juno," said the chairman of the judges,
+who stood on the trunk of the yacht, where all on board, as well as
+those in the boats collected around her, could see him.
+
+Laud stepped forward, wondering what the call could mean.
+
+"I find, after figuring up the results of the race," continued the
+chairman, glancing at the schedule he held in his hand, "that you are
+entitled to the third and last prize. By carefully timing the movements
+of your excellent craft, and by your superior skill in sailing her, you
+have contrived to come in--last in the race; and the officers of the
+club have instructed the judges to award this medal to you. I have the
+honor and the very great pleasure of suspending it around your neck."
+
+The medal was made of sole leather, about six inches in diameter.
+Attached to it was a yard of stove-pipe chain, by which it was hung
+around the neck of the winner of the _last_ prize. A shout of laughter
+and a round of applause greeted the presentation of the medal. Laud did
+not know whether to smile or get mad; for he felt like the victim of a
+practical joke. Miss Nellie Patterdale stood near him, and perhaps her
+presence restrained an outburst of anger. Mr. Montague, the father of
+the commodore, had provided a bountiful collation in the cabin of the
+Penobscot, and the next half hour was given up to the discussion of the
+repast. Laud tried to make himself agreeable to Nellie, and the poor
+girl was persecuted by his attentions until she was obliged to break
+away from him.
+
+"Don John, I am told that everybody is satisfied with this race except
+you," said Commodore Montague, as the party went on deck after the
+collation.
+
+"I am satisfied with it," replied Donald. "Everything has been perfectly
+fair, and the Skylark has beaten the Sea Foam."
+
+"But you still think the Sea Foam can outsail the Skylark?"
+
+"I think so; but of course I may be mistaken."
+
+"You believe that Ned Patterdale didn't get all her speed out of the Sea
+Foam," added the commodore.
+
+"I don't mean to say a word to disparage Ned; but he don't know the Sea
+Foam as you do the Skylark."
+
+"There is hardly a particle of difference between the boats."
+
+"I know it; but you have had so much more experience than Ned, that he
+ought not to be expected to compete with you. If you will exchange
+boats, and you do your best in the Sea Foam, I believe you would beat
+your own yacht. I think Ned does first rate for the experience he has
+had."
+
+"So do I; but I believe the difference is in the sailing of the boats;
+for you may build two yachts as near alike as possible, and one of them
+will do better than the other," said Robert Montague.
+
+"I should like to have you sail the Sea Foam against the Skylark, Bob,"
+added Donald.
+
+"You don't want me to beat my own boat, if I can--do you, Don John?"
+laughed Robert.
+
+"I think you could."
+
+"I'll tell you what I'll do: I'll sail the Skylark against the Sea Foam
+this afternoon, and you shall handle Ned's yacht. I have been talking
+with him about it, and he agrees to it."
+
+"I'm willing, Bob," replied Donald, eagerly.
+
+"All right."
+
+"I hope Ned don't think hard of me for speaking of this matter," added
+Donald. "I wouldn't have uttered a word if this result did not affect
+our business."
+
+"I understand it, Don John; and so does Ned. But I think you are making
+a mistake; for if the Sea Foam is beaten again by the Skylark,--as I
+believe she will be,--it will be all the worse for your firm," laughed
+Robert.
+
+"I am willing to run the risk," replied Donald. "If we can't build a
+boat as fast as the Skylark, I want to know it."
+
+"But, Don John, you don't expect me to _let_ you beat me--do you?"
+
+"Certainly not, Bob. I hope you will do your very best, and I shall be
+satisfied with the result."
+
+It was soon reported over the Penobscot that another race was to be
+sailed immediately, and the report created intense excitement when the
+circumstances of the affair were explained. Judges were appointed, and
+other arrangements concluded. Donald and Ned Patterdale went on board of
+the Sea Foam, and Commodore Montague on board of the Skylark. The two
+yachts anchored in line, with the Skylark to windward, as she was three
+inches longer than the other. The start was to be made at the firing of
+the first gun. Donald took his place at the helm of the Sea Foam, and
+stationed the hands. He was a little afraid that Ned Patterdale was not
+as enthusiastic as he might be; for if his yacht won the race, the
+responsibility for the loss of the first prize in the regatta would rest
+upon him, and not upon his craft. It would not be so pleasant for him to
+know that he had failed, in any degree, as a skipper. The position of
+Donald, therefore, was not wholly agreeable; for he did not like to
+prove that his friend was deficient in skill, though the future
+prosperity of the firm of Ramsay and Son required him to do so.
+
+The wind was even fresher than before, and dark clouds indicated a heavy
+rain before night; but Donald did not heed the weather. He stationed Ned
+in the standing-room to tend the jib-sheets and mind the centre-board.
+Two hands were at the cable, and two more at the jib-halyards.
+
+"Are you all ready forward?" called the skipper _pro tem._ of the Sea
+Foam.
+
+"All ready," replied the hands. And Donald waited with intense interest
+for the gun.
+
+Bang.
+
+"Let go! Hoist the jib!" cried Donald.
+
+The hands forward worked with a will. The rope was thrown into the
+tender, to which the end of it was made fast, and the jib, crackling and
+banging in the stiff breeze, now almost a gale, went up in an instant.
+
+"Haul down the lee jib-sheet," said Donald to his companion in the
+standing-room. And it is but fair to say that Ned worked as briskly as
+the yachtmen at the bow.
+
+The Sea Foam heeled over, as the blast struck her sails, till her rail
+went under; but Donald knew just what she would bear, and kept the
+tiller stiff in his hand. Stationing Dick Adams at the main sheet behind
+him, he placed the others upon the weather side. In a moment more the
+yacht came to her bearings, and lying well over, she flew off on her
+course. She had made a capital start, and the Skylark was equally
+fortunate in this respect. The two yachts went off abeam of each other,
+and for half a mile neither gained a hair upon the other. Then commenced
+the struggle for the victory. First the Skylark gained a few inches;
+then the Sea Foam made half a length, though she immediately lost it;
+for in these relative positions, she came under the lee of her opponent.
+
+Again the Skylark forged ahead, and was a length in advance of the Sea
+Foam, when the yachts came up with Turtle Head.
+
+"You are losing it, Don John," said Ned, apparently not much displeased
+at the result.
+
+"Not yet," replied Donald. "A pull on the main sheet, Dick," added the
+skipper, as he put the helm down. "Give her six inches more
+centre-board, Ned."
+
+"You will be on the rocks, Don John!" shouted the owner of the yacht, as
+the Sea Foam dashed under the stern of the Skylark, and ran in close to
+the shore.
+
+"Don't be alarmed, Ned. Haul down the jib-sheet a little more! Steady!
+Belay!" said the confident skipper.
+
+By this manoeuvre the Sea Foam gained a position to windward of her
+rival; but she ran within half her breadth of beam of the dangerous
+rocks, and Ned expected every instant the race would end in a
+catastrophe. She went clear, however; for Donald knew just the depth of
+water at any time of tide. Both yachts were now under the lee of the
+island, and went along more gently than before. It was plain enough now
+that the Sea Foam had the advantage. Beyond the Head, and near the
+ledge, she was obliged to brace up to the wind, in order to leave the
+buoy on the port, as required by the rule. Donald kept her moving very
+lively, and when she had made her two tacks, she had weathered the buoy,
+and, rounding it, she gybed so near the ledge that the commodore could
+not have crawled in between him and the buoy if he had been near enough
+to do so. Hauling up the centre-board, and letting off the sheets, the
+Sea Foam went for a time before the wind.
+
+When the Skylark had rounded the buoy, and laid her course for Turtle
+Head again, she was at least an eighth of a mile astern of her rival.
+Donald hardly looked at her, but gazed steadfastly at the sails and the
+shore of the island. The sheets had to be hauled in little by little, as
+she followed the contour of the land, till at the point below Turtle
+Head the yacht had the wind forward of the beam. Then came the home
+stretch, and the skipper trimmed his sails, adjusted the centre-board,
+and stationed his crew as live weights with the utmost care. It was only
+necessary for him to hold his own in order to win the race, and he was
+painfully anxious for the result.
+
+[Illustration: DONALD SAILING THE SEA FOAM. Page 166.]
+
+In the Skylark the commodore saw just where he had lost his advantage,
+and regretted too late that he had permitted the Sea Foam to get to
+windward of him; but he strained every nerve to recover his position.
+The wind continued to freshen, and probably both yachts would have done
+better with a single reef in the mainsail; but there was no time to
+reduce sail. As they passed Turtle Head and came out into the open bay,
+the white-capped waves broke over the bows, dashing the spray from
+stem to stern. Neither Donald nor Robert flinched a hair, or permitted a
+sheet to be started.
+
+"You'll take the mast out of her, Don John," said Ned Patterdale, wiping
+the salt water from his face.
+
+"If I do, I'll put in another," replied Donald. "But you can't snap that
+stick. The Skylark's mast will go by the board first, and then it will
+be time enough to look out for ours."
+
+"You have beaten her, Don John," added Ned.
+
+"Not yet. 'There's many a slip between the cup and the lip.'"
+
+"But you are a quarter of a mile ahead of her, at least. It's blowing a
+gale, and we can't carry all this sail much longer."
+
+"She can carry it as long as the Skylark. When she reefs, we will do the
+same. I want to show you what the Sea Foam's made of. She is as stiff as
+a line-of-battle ship."
+
+"But look over to windward, Don John," exclaimed Ned, with evident
+alarm. "Isn't that a squall?"
+
+"No; I think not. It's only a shower of rain," replied Donald. "There
+may be a puff of wind in it. If there is, I can touch her up."
+
+"The Skylark has come up into the wind, and dropped her peak," added
+Norman, considerably excited.
+
+But Donald kept on. In a moment more a heavy shower of rain deluged the
+deck of the Sea Foam. With it came a smart puff of wind, and the skipper
+"touched her up;" but it was over in a moment, and the yacht sped on her
+way towards the goal. Half an hour later she passed the Penobscot, and a
+gun from her saluted the victor in the exciting race. About four minutes
+later came the Skylark, which had lost half this time in the squall.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+THE LAUNCH OF THE MAUD.
+
+
+The heavy rain had driven nearly all the people on board of the
+Penobscot below, but the judges, clothed in rubber coats, kept the deck,
+in readiness to take the time of the rival yachts. After the squall, the
+weather was so thick that both of them were hidden from view. The craft
+not in the race had anchored near the Penobscot, and on board of all the
+yachts the interest in the result was most intense.
+
+"I'm afraid it will be no race," said Sam Rodman, who was now the
+chairman of the judges.
+
+"The commodore will put the Skylark through, whatever the weather,"
+replied Frank Norwood.
+
+"Don John will keep the Sea Foam flying as long as Bob runs the Skylark,
+you may depend."
+
+"It was quite a little squall that swept across the bay just now," added
+Rodman. "I hope no accident has happened to them."
+
+"I'll risk the accidents. I would give a dollar to know which one was
+ahead."
+
+"Not much doubt on that point."
+
+"I think there is. Don John generally knows what he is about. He don't
+very often say what he can do, but when he does, he means it."
+
+"The commodore is too much for him."
+
+"Perhaps he is, but I have hopes of the Sea Foam. Don John is building
+the Maud for me, and I have some interest in this race. I don't want a
+yacht that is to be beaten by everything in the fleet. If the Skylark is
+too much for the Sea Foam, the chance of the Maud won't be much better."
+
+The judges discussed the merits of the two yachts for half an hour
+longer, and there was as much difference of opinion among them as among
+the rest of the spectators of the race.
+
+"There's one of them!" shouted Frank Norwood, as the Sea Foam emerged
+from the cloud of mist which accompanied the rain.
+
+"Which is it?" demanded Rodman.
+
+"I can't make her out," replied Norwood, for the yacht was over a mile
+distant.
+
+"But where is the other? One of them is getting badly beaten," added
+Rodman.
+
+"That must be the Skylark we see."
+
+"I don't believe it is. It is so thick we can't make her out, but her
+sails look very white. I think it is the Sea Foam."
+
+"There's the other!" exclaimed Norwood, as the Skylark was dimly
+perceived in the distance.
+
+"She is half a mile astern. It is a bad beat for one of them."
+
+"That's so; and if it is the Sea Foam, I shall want to throw up the
+contract for the Maud," said Rodman.
+
+"There is one thing about it; both of those craft are good sea boats,
+and if they can carry whole jib and mainsail in this blow, they are just
+the right kind of yachts for me. I like an able boat, even if she don't
+win any prizes. Give me a stiff boat before a fast one."
+
+"I should like to have mine both stiff and fast."
+
+"Look at the Christabel. She went round the course with a reef in the
+fore and main sails, and was beaten at that," added Norwood. "Here comes
+the head boat. It is the Skylark, as sure as you live."
+
+"Not much, Frank. Do you see her figure-head? Is it a bird?" demanded
+Rodman, triumphantly.
+
+"It isn't; that's a fact."
+
+"That's the Sea Foam fast enough."
+
+This was exciting news, and Sam Rodman walked rapidly to the
+companion-way of the Penobscot.
+
+"Yachts in sight!" shouted he to the people below.
+
+"Which is ahead?" asked Mr. Montague.
+
+"The Sea Foam," replied Rodman.
+
+"I'm so glad!" exclaimed Miss Nellie Patterdale.
+
+Mr. Montague and Captain Patterdale only laughed, but they were
+sufficiently interested to go on deck in spite of the pouring rain, and
+they were followed by many others.
+
+"Time!" shouted Sam Rodman, as the gun was fired.
+
+"Four, thirty-two, ten," added Frank Norwood; and the figures were
+entered upon the schedule.
+
+The Sea Foam passed the judges' yacht, came about, and went under her
+stern.
+
+"The Sea Foam," shouted Donald.
+
+Though the spectators were not all satisfied with the result, they gave
+three cheers to the victorious yacht, magnanimously led off by Mr.
+Montague himself.
+
+"Time!" called Sam, as the Skylark came into the range of the chimney on
+shore.
+
+"Four, thirty-six, twelve," said Norwood.
+
+The Skylark came about, and passed under the stern of the Penobscot,
+reporting her name. The judges went below, and figured out the result,
+by which it appeared that the Sea Foam had beaten the Skylark, after the
+correction for the three inches' difference in length, by three minutes
+fifty-nine and four tenths seconds.
+
+Donald was the first to come on board of the Penobscot, and was
+generously congratulated on his decisive victory, especially by Mr.
+Montague, the father of the commodore. Robert followed him soon after,
+and every one was curious to know what he would say and do.
+
+"Don John, you have beaten me," exclaimed he, grasping the hand of
+Donald. "You have done it fairly and handsomely, and I am ready to give
+up the first prize to the Sea Foam."
+
+The party in the cabin of the Penobscot heartily applauded the conduct
+of the commodore.
+
+"You are very kind and generous, Bob," replied Donald, deeply moved by
+the magnanimity of the commodore.
+
+"When I am whipped, I know it as well as the next man. The silver vase
+belongs to the Sea Foam."
+
+"Not at all," protested Donald. "This last race was not for the vase,
+and you won the first one fairly."
+
+"Of course the vase belongs to the commodore," added Rodman. "The judges
+have already awarded and presented the prizes."
+
+This was the unanimous sentiment of all concerned, and Robert consented
+to retain the first prize.
+
+"I say, Don John," continued the commodore, removing his wet coat and
+cap, "I want to have an understanding about the affair. While I own that
+the Skylark has been beaten, I am not so clear that the Sea Foam is the
+faster boat of the two."
+
+"I think she is, commodore," laughed Donald; "though I believe I
+understand your position."
+
+"We made an even thing of it till we came up with Turtle Head--didn't
+we?"
+
+"Yes, that's so. If either gained anything for the moment, he lost it
+again," replied Donald.
+
+"Then, if we made exactly the same time to Turtle Head, it seems to me
+the merits of the two boats are about the same."
+
+"Not exactly, commodore. You forgot that the Skylark has to give time to
+the Sea Foam--one and three-tenths seconds per mile; or about eight
+seconds from here to the Head."
+
+"That's next to nothing," laughed Robert. "But I was a length ahead of
+you."
+
+"I let you gain that, so that I could go to windward of you."
+
+"You made your first point by running nearer to the rocks than I like to
+go, by which you cut off a little of the distance; and inches counted in
+so close a race."
+
+"That's part of the game in sailing a race."
+
+"I know that, and it's all perfectly fair. I lost half my time when the
+squall came. I thought it was going to be heavier than it proved to be."
+
+"I threw the Sea Foam up into the wind when it came," said Donald.
+
+"But you didn't drop your peak, and I lost two minutes in doing it. Now,
+Don John, I can put my finger on the four minutes by which you beat me;
+and I don't think there is any difference between the two yachts."
+
+"You forget the allowance."
+
+"That's nothing. In all future regattas the result will depend more upon
+the sailing than upon the boats."
+
+"I think you are quite right, Bob; and the fellow who makes the most
+mistakes will lose the race. But when the Maud is done she is going to
+beat you right along, if she has anything like fair play," laughed
+Donald.
+
+"She may if she can," replied Robert.
+
+The reputation of Ramsay & Son, boat builders, was greatly increased by
+the result of the race. If Edward Patterdale was a little mortified to
+have it demonstrated that the Sea Foam had lost the first prize by his
+own want of skill and tact in sailing her, he was consoled by the fact
+that Commodore Montague, who had the credit of being the best skipper in
+Belfast, had been beaten by his yacht. When the shower was over the
+party went on shore, and Donald hastened to the shop to attend to
+business. He found that his men had done a good day's work in his
+absence, and he related to Kennedy all the particulars of the two
+races.
+
+"It would have been a bad egg for you if you had not been present," said
+Kennedy, much interested in the story. "In these regattas the sailing of
+the yacht is half the battle, and these young fellows may ruin your
+reputation as a boat-builder, if you don't look out for them."
+
+"When I heard Ned Patterdale say he was disappointed in the Sea Foam, I
+felt that our business was nearly ruined. I think I have done a good
+thing for our firm to-day."
+
+"So you have, Donald; and when the Maud is finished, I hope you will
+sail her yourself in the first race she enters."
+
+"I will, if Sam Rodman consents."
+
+Donald paid off his men that night from the money received from Mr.
+Rodman. The next week he employed another hand, and worked diligently
+himself. Every day his mother came out to see how the work progressed,
+as she began to have some hope herself of the success of the firm of
+Ramsay & Son. Donald paid her all the fees he received for measuring
+yachts, and thus far this had been enough to support the family. She
+did not inquire very closely into the financial affairs of the concern,
+and the active member of it was not very communicative; but she had
+unbounded confidence in him, and while he was hopeful she was satisfied.
+
+It would be tedious to follow the young builder through all the details
+of his business. The frame of the Maud was all set up in due time, and
+then planked. By the first of August, when the vacation at the High
+School commenced, she was ready to be launched. All the joiner work on
+deck and in the cabin was completed, and had received two coats of
+paint. Mr. Rodman had paid a hundred dollars every week on account,
+which was more than Donald needed to carry on the work, and the affairs
+of Ramsay & Son were in a very prosperous condition.
+
+On the day of the launch, the Yacht Club attended in a body, and all the
+young ladies of the High School were present. Miss Maud Rodman, with a
+bottle in her hand, had consented formally to give her own name to the
+beautiful craft. Nellie Patterdale was to be on deck with her, attended
+by Donald and Sam Rodman. The boarding at the end of the shop had been
+removed, to allow the passage of the yacht into her future element. The
+ways had been laid down into the water, and well slushed. It was high
+tide at ten o'clock, and this hour had been chosen for the great event.
+
+"Are you all ready, Mr. Kennedy?" asked Donald.
+
+"All ready," replied the workman.
+
+"Let her slide!" shouted the boat-builder.
+
+A few smart blows with the hammers removed the dog-shores and the
+wedges, and the Maud began to move very slowly at first. Those on deck
+were obliged to stoop until the hull had passed out of the shop.
+
+"Now stand up," said Donald, as the yacht passed the end of the shop;
+and he thrust a long pole, with a flag attached to the end, into the
+mast hole.
+
+The boat increased her speed as she advanced, and soon struck the water
+with a splash.
+
+"Now break the bottle, Maud," added Donald.
+
+"I give this yacht the name of Maud," said Miss Rodman, in a loud tone,
+as she broke the bottle upon the heel of the bowsprit.
+
+"Won't she tip over, Don John?" asked Nellie.
+
+"Not at all; nearly all her ballast has been put into her, and she will
+stand up like a queen on the water," answered Donald, proudly, as he
+realized that the launch was a perfect success.
+
+Loud cheers from the crowd on shore greeted the yacht as she went into
+the embrace of her chosen element. The ladies waved their handkerchiefs,
+and the gentlemen their hats. Maud and Nellie returned the salute, and
+so did Sam Rodman; but Donald was too busy, just then, even to enjoy his
+triumph. As the hull slid off into the deep water, the boat-builder
+threw over the anchor, and veered out the cable till her headway was
+checked. The Maud rested on the water as gracefully as a swan, and the
+work of the day was done.
+
+Hardly had the yacht brought up at her cable, when the Juno, in which
+Laud Cavendish had been laying off and on where he could see the launch,
+ran alongside of her.
+
+"Keep off!" shouted Donald; "you will scrape her sides."
+
+"No; hold on, Don John; I have a cork fender," replied Laud, as he threw
+his painter on board of the Maud. "Catch a turn--will you?"
+
+"Don't let him come on board, if you can help it," whispered Nellie
+Patterdale. "He is a terrible bore."
+
+"I can help it," replied Donald, as, with a boat-hook he shoved off the
+bow of the Juno.
+
+Then, for the first time, he observed that Laud had a passenger, a man
+whom he remembered to have seen before, though he did not think where.
+
+"What are you about, Don John?" demanded Laud.
+
+"Keep off, then," replied Donald. "We don't want any visitors on board
+yet. We are going to haul her up to the wharf at once."
+
+"But I came off to offer the ladies a passage to the shore," said Laud.
+
+"They don't want any passage to the shore."
+
+"Good morning, Miss Patterdale," added Laud, as Nellie went to the rail
+near the Juno. "Allow me to offer you a place in this boat to convey you
+to the shore."
+
+"Thank you, Mr. Cavendish; I intend to remain where I am," replied she,
+rather haughtily.
+
+"I shall be happy to take you out to sail, if you will do me the honor
+to accompany me; and Miss Rodman, too, if she will go."
+
+"No, I thank you; I am otherwise engaged," answered Nellie, as she
+retreated to the other side of the yacht.
+
+"I say, Donald, let me come on board," asked Laud, who was desperately
+bent upon improving his acquaintance with Nellie Patterdale.
+
+"Not now; you can come on board at the wharf."
+
+Donald was resolute, and Laud, angry at his rebuff, filed away.
+
+"Here is a man that wants to see you, Don John," shouted Laud, as he ran
+his boat up to the Maud again.
+
+"I can't see him now," replied Donald.
+
+Kennedy now came alongside in the skiff, bringing a warp-line from the
+shore, by which the Maud was hauled up to the wharf. The spectators went
+on board, and examined the work. Many of them crawled into the cabin and
+cook-room, and all of them were enthusiastic in their praise, though a
+few seasoned it with wholesome criticism. Some thought the cabin ought
+to be longer, evidently believing that it was possible to put a quart of
+water into a pint bottle; others thought she ought to be rigged as a
+schooner instead of a sloop, which was a matter of fancy with the owner;
+but all agreed that she was a beautiful yacht. In honor of the event,
+and to please the young people, Mr. Rodman had prepared a collation at
+his house, to which the members of the Yacht Club and others were
+cordially invited. Kennedy and the other men who worked on the Maud were
+included in the invitation, and the afternoon was to be a holiday. Laud
+Cavendish, who had moored the Juno and come on shore, liberally
+interpreted the invitation to include himself, and joined the party,
+though he was not a member of the club. Some people have a certain
+exuberance on the side of their faces, which enables them to do things
+which others cannot do.
+
+"I want to see you, Don John," said Laud, as the party began to move
+from the wharf towards the mansion of Mr. Rodman.
+
+"I'll see you this evening," replied Donald, who was anxious to gain a
+position at the side of Miss Nellie Patterdale.
+
+"That will be too late. You saw the man in the Juno with me--didn't
+you?" continued Laud, proceeding to open his business.
+
+"I saw him."
+
+"Did you know him?"
+
+"No; though I thought I had seen him before," replied Donald, as they
+walked along in the rear of the party.
+
+"He is the man who was beaten within an inch of his life over to
+Lincolnville, a while ago."
+
+"Hasbrook?"
+
+"Yes, his name is Jacob Hasbrook."
+
+"He was with us in the library of Captain Patterdale the day we were
+there, when the man had a sun-stroke."
+
+"Was he? Well, I don't remember that. Folks say he is a big rascal, and
+the licking he got was no more than he deserved. He was laid up for a
+month after it; but now he and the sheriff are trying to find out who
+did it."
+
+Donald was interested, in spite of himself, and for the time even forgot
+the pleasant smile of Nellie, which was a great deal for him to forget.
+
+"Has he any idea who it was that beat him?"
+
+"I don't know whether he has or not. He only asks questions, and don't
+answer any. You know I met you over to Turtle Head the morning after the
+affair in Lincolnville."
+
+"I remember all about it," answered Donald.
+
+"I saw you in the Juno afterwards. By the way, Don John, you didn't
+tell me how you happened to be in the Juno at that time. I don't
+recollect whether you had her at Turtle Head, or not. I don't think I
+saw her there, at any rate."
+
+"No matter whether you did or not. Go on with your story, for we are
+almost to Mr. Rodman's house," replied Donald, impatiently.
+
+"Well, after I left you, I ran over towards Saturday Cove," continued
+Laud. "You know where that is."
+
+"Of course I do."
+
+This was the place towards which Captain Shivernock had gone in the
+sail-boat, and where Laud had probably seen him, when he gave him the
+money paid for the Juno. Laud did not say that this was the time and
+place he had met the captain, but Donald was entirely satisfied on this
+point.
+
+"From Saturday Cove I ran on the other tack over to Gilky's Harbor,"
+added Laud.
+
+"Did you see anybody near the cove?"
+
+"I didn't say whether I did or not," replied Laud, after some
+hesitation, which confirmed Donald's belief that he had met the captain
+on this occasion. "Never mind that. Off Gilky's Harbor I hailed Tom
+Reed, who had been a-fishing. It seems that Tom told Hasbrook he saw me
+that forenoon, and Hasbrook has been to see me half a dozen times about
+it. I don't know whether he thinks I am the fellow that thrashed him, or
+not. He has pumped me dry about it. I happened to let on that I saw you,
+and Hasbrook wants to talk with you."
+
+By this time they reached Mr. Rodman's house, and to the surprise of
+Donald, Laud Cavendish coolly walked into the grounds with him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+THE WHITE CROSS OF DENMARK.
+
+
+Laud Cavendish was at Donald's side when they entered the grounds of Mr.
+Rodman, where the tables were spread under the trees in the garden. As
+the collation was in honor of the launch of the Maud, of course the
+young boat-builder was a person of no little consequence, and being with
+him, Laud was permitted to enter the grounds unchallenged; but they soon
+separated.
+
+Donald was disturbed by what Laud had told him, and he did not wish to
+answer any questions which might be put to him by Hasbrook, who was
+evidently working his own case, trying to ascertain who had committed
+the outrage upon him. He did not wish to tell whom he had seen on that
+Saturday forenoon, and thus violate the confidence of Captain
+Shivernock. But he was entirely satisfied that the captain had nothing
+to do with it, for he had not left his house until after the deed was
+done, according to the testimony of Sykes and his wife, whom he had
+separately interviewed. To decline to answer Hasbrook's questions, on
+the other hand, was to excite suspicion. He could not tell any lies
+about the case. If he could, it would have been easily managed; as it
+was, the situation was very awkward. But he had not time to think much
+of the matter, for one and another began to congratulate him upon the
+success of the launch, the fine proportions and the workmanship of the
+Maud. The praise of Captain Patterdale was particularly agreeable to
+him; but the best news he heard was that Major Norwood intended to have
+a yacht built for his son, and would probably give the job to Ramsay &
+Son.
+
+"Well, Don John, you are a real lion," laughed Nellie Patterdale, when,
+at last, the young boat-builder obtained a place at her side, which had
+been the objective point with him since he entered the grounds.
+
+"Better be a lion than a bear," replied Donald.
+
+"Everybody says you have built a splendid yacht, and Maud is delighted
+to have it named after her."
+
+"I think the Sea Foam ought to have been called the Nellie," added
+Donald.
+
+"Pooh! I asked Ned to call her the Sea Foam."
+
+"If I ever build a yacht on my own account, I shall certainly name her
+the Nellie Patterdale," continued Donald, though the remark cost him a
+terrible struggle.
+
+"I thank you, Don John; but I hope you will never build one on your own
+account, then," answered she, with a slight blush.
+
+"Why, wouldn't you like to have a boat named after you?" asked he,
+rather taken aback at her reply.
+
+"I shouldn't like to have my whole name given to a boat. It is too
+long."
+
+"O, well! Then I shall call her the Nellie."
+
+"You are too late, Don John," laughed Laud Cavendish, who was standing
+within hearing distance, and who now stepped forward, raised his hat,
+bowed, and smirked. "I have already ordered the painter to inscribe that
+word on the bows and stern of the Juno, for I never liked her present
+name."
+
+Nellie blushed deeper than before, but it was with anger this time,
+though she made no reply to Laud's impudent remark. At this moment Mr.
+Rodman invited the party to gather around the tables and partake of the
+collation.
+
+"Will Miss Patterdale allow me to offer her my arm?" added Laud, as he
+thrust his elbow up before her.
+
+"No, I thank you," she replied, walking towards the tables, but keeping
+at Donald's side.
+
+The boat-builder had not the courage to offer her his arm, though some
+of the sons of the nabobs had done so to the ladies; but he kept at her
+side. Laud was desperate, for Nellie seemed to be the key of destiny to
+him. If he could win her heart and hand, or even her hand without the
+heart, his fortune would be made, and the wealth and social position of
+which cruel fate had thus far robbed him would be obtained. Though she
+snubbed him, he could not see it, and would not accept the situation. If
+Donald had not been there, she would not have declined his offered arm;
+and he regarded the boat-builder as the only obstacle in his path.
+
+"I wish you had not invited that puppy, Don John," said Nellie, as they
+moved towards the tables; and there was a snap in her tones which
+emphasized the remark.
+
+"I didn't invite him," replied Donald, warmly.
+
+"He came in with you, and Mr. Rodman said you must have asked him."
+
+"Indeed, I did not; I had no right to invite him," protested Donald.
+
+Nellie immediately told this to the host of the occasion, and in doing
+so she left Donald for a moment.
+
+"Why don't you get out of the way, Don John, when you see what I am up
+to?" said Laud, in a low tone, but earnestly and indignantly, as though
+Donald had stepped between him and the cheerful destiny in which his
+imagination revelled.
+
+"What are you up to?"
+
+"I told you before that I liked Nellie, and you are all the time coming
+between me and her. She would have taken my arm if you had stepped
+aside."
+
+"I don't choose to step aside," added Donald.
+
+"I want to get in there, Don John," added Laud, in a milder tone.
+
+"Paddle your own canoe."
+
+"You don't care anything about her."
+
+"How do you know I don't?"
+
+"Do you?"
+
+"That's my affair."
+
+"She don't care for you."
+
+"Nor you, either."
+
+"Perhaps not now, but I can make it all right with her," said Laud, as
+he twirled his colored mustache, which he probably regarded as a
+lady-killer. "Besides, you are not old enough to think of such things
+yet, Don John."
+
+"Well, I don't think of such things yet," replied Donald, who really
+spoke only the truth, so far as he was consciously concerned.
+
+"But you ought not to stick by her to-day. You are the boat-builder, and
+you should bestow your attentions upon Maud Rodman, after whom the yacht
+was named. She is the daughter of the man who gave you the job. If you
+will just keep away from Nellie, I can paddle my own canoe, as you say."
+
+"Mr. Cavendish," interposed Mr. Rodman, "I believe you are not a member
+of the Belfast Yacht Club."
+
+"I am not yet, but I intend to join," replied Laud.
+
+"In the mean time, this occasion is for the members of the club and
+their friends; and I wish to suggest the propriety of your withdrawing,
+as I believe you are here without an invitation," added Mr. Rodman.
+
+"I came with Don John," said Laud, rather startled by the plain speech
+of the host.
+
+"If Don John invited you--"
+
+"I didn't invite him, or any one else. I did not consider that I had any
+right to do so," protested Donald, as he walked forward and joined
+Nellie.
+
+Laud could not gainsay this honest avowal; but there was no limit to his
+wrath at that moment, and he determined to punish the boat-builder for
+"going back" on him, as he regarded it.
+
+The collation was a sumptuous one, for when Belfast nabobs do anything,
+they do it. The guests had good appetites, and did abundant justice to
+the feast. The incident of which Laud Cavendish had been the central
+figure caused some talk and some laughter.
+
+"He had the impudence to say he was going to name his boat after me,"
+said Nellie Patterdale. "He don't like the name of Juno."
+
+"Does he own the Juno?" asked Captain Patterdale, quietly.
+
+"I suppose he does."
+
+"How is that, Don John?" added the captain.
+
+"Yes, sir, he owns her; Captain Shivernock got tired of the Juno, and
+Laud bought her."
+
+Captain Patterdale made a note of that piece of information, and
+regarded it as a clew to assist in the discovery of the tin box, which
+had not yet been found, though the owner and the deputy sheriff had been
+looking diligently for it ever since its disappearance.
+
+"What did he pay for her?" inquired Captain Patterdale.
+
+"Three hundred and fifty dollars," answered Donald, who hoped he would
+not be asked of whom Laud had bought the Juno.
+
+The captain did not ask the question, for it seemed to be self-evident
+that he had purchased her of Captain Shivernock. Indeed, nothing more
+was said about the matter. A dance on the shaven lawn followed the
+collation, and the guests remained until the dews of evening began to
+fall. Donald walked home with Nellie, and then went to the shop. He
+expected to find Hasbrook there, but he had returned to Lincolnville. He
+saw that the sails for the Maud had been sent down during his absence,
+and on the desk lay the bill for them, enclosed in an envelope, directed
+to "Messrs. Ramsay & Son." While he was looking at it, Mr. Leach, the
+sail-maker, entered the shop. He had come to look after his money, for
+possibly he had not entire confidence in the financial stability of the
+firm.
+
+"Have you looked over those sails, Don John?" asked Leach.
+
+"Not yet; it is rather too dark to examine them to-night," replied
+Donald.
+
+"That's the best suit of sails I ever made," added the sail-maker. "You
+said you wanted the best that could be had."
+
+"I did." And Donald unrolled them. "They look like a good job."
+
+"If they are not as good as anything that ever went on a boat, I'll make
+you another suit for nothing. I was in hopes you would look them over
+to-night. I don't want to trouble you, Don John, but I'm a little short
+of money. Captain Patterdale has a mortgage on my house, and I like to
+pay the interest on it the day it is due. You said you would let me have
+the money when the sails were delivered."
+
+"And so I will."
+
+"If they are not all right, I will make them so," added Leach. "I should
+like to pay the captain my interest money to-night, if I can."
+
+"You can. I will go into the house and get the money."
+
+Donald went to his room in the cottage, and took from their hiding-place
+the bills which had been paid to him by Laud Cavendish for the Juno.
+Without this he had not enough to pay the sail-maker. He did not like to
+use this money, for he was not fully satisfied that Laud would not get
+into trouble on account of it, or that he might not himself have some
+difficulty with Captain Shivernock. He feared that he should be called
+upon to refund this money; but Mr. Rodman would pay him another
+instalment of the price of the Maud in a few days, and he should then be
+in condition to meet any demand upon him. Laud had paid him seven
+fifty-dollar bills, and he put them in his pocket. As he passed through
+the kitchen, he lighted the lantern, and returned to the shop.
+
+"I didn't mean to dun you up so sharp for this bill," said Leach; "but I
+haven't a dollar in my pocket at this minute, and I am very anxious to
+be punctual in the payment of my interest."
+
+"It's all right; I had as lief pay it now as at any other time. In fact,
+I like to pay up as soon as the work is done," replied Donald, as he
+handed the sail-maker three of the fifty-dollar bills, which was the
+price agreed upon for the sails, five in number.
+
+Leach looked carefully at each of the bills. All of them were quite new
+and fresh, and one was peculiar enough to attract the attention of any
+one through whose hands it might pass. It was just like the others, but
+at some period, not very remote in its history, it had been torn into
+four parts. It might have been in a sheet of note paper, torn up by some
+one who did not know the bill was between the leaves. It had been mended
+with two narrow slips of thin, white paper, extending across the length
+and width of the bill, like the horizontal white cross on the flag of
+Denmark.
+
+"That bill has been in four pieces," said Leach, as he turned it over
+and examined it; "but I suppose it is good."
+
+"If it is not, I will give you another for it," answered Donald.
+
+"It is all here; so I think it is all right. I wonder who tore it up."
+
+"I don't know; it was so when I took it."
+
+"I am very much obliged to you, Don John; and the next time I make a
+suit of sails for you, you needn't pay me till you get ready," said the
+sail-maker, as he put the money in his wallet.
+
+"I didn't pay for this suit till I got ready," laughed the boat-builder;
+"and when you get up another, I hope I shall be able to pay you the cash
+for them."
+
+Leach left the shop a happy man; for most men are cheerful when they
+have plenty of money in their pocket. He was more especially happy
+because, being an honest man, he was able now to pay the interest on the
+mortgage note on the day it was due. He had worked half the night before
+in order to finish the sails, so that he might get the money to pay it.
+With a light step, therefore, he walked to the elegant mansion of
+Captain Patterdale, and rang the bell at the library door. There was a
+light in the room, which indicated that the captain was at home. He was
+admitted by the nabob himself, who answered his own bell at this door.
+
+"I suppose you thought I wasn't going to pay my interest on the day it
+was due," said Leach, with a cheerful smile.
+
+[Illustration: THE SAIL-MAKER'S BILL. Page 199.]
+
+"On the contrary, I didn't think anything at all about it," replied
+Captain Patterdale. "I was not even aware that your interest was due
+to-day."
+
+"I came pretty near not paying it, for work has been rather slack this
+season; but the firm of Ramsay & Son helped me out by paying me promptly
+for the sails I made for the Maud."
+
+"Ramsay & Son is a great concern," laughed the nabob.
+
+"It pays promptly; and that's more than all of them do," added Leach,
+drawing his wallet from his pocket.
+
+"I haven't your note by me, Mr. Leach," said Captain Patterdale; but he
+did not consider it necessary to state that the important document was
+at that moment in the tin box, wherever the said tin box might be. "I
+will give you a receipt for the amount you pay, and indorse it upon the
+note when I have it."
+
+"All right, captain."
+
+"Do you know how much the interest is? I am sure I have forgotten,"
+added the rich man.
+
+"I ought to know. I have had to work too hard to get the money in time
+to forget how much it was. It is just seventy dollars," answered Leach.
+
+"You needn't pay it now, if you are short."
+
+"I'm not short now. I'm flush, for which I thank Don John," said the
+sail-maker, as he placed two of the fifty-dollar bills on the desk, at
+which the captain was writing the receipt.
+
+The uppermost of the two bills was the mended one, for Leach thought if
+there was any doubt in regard to this, it ought to be known at once. If
+the nabob would take it, the matter was settled. Captain Patterdale
+wrote the receipt, and did not at once glance at the money.
+
+"There's a hundred, captain," added the sail-maker.
+
+The rich man picked up the bills, and turned over the upper one. If he
+did not start, it was not because he was not surprised. He was utterly
+confounded when he saw that bill, and his thoughts flashed quickly
+through his mind. But he did not betray his thoughts or his emotions,
+quick as were the former, and intense as were the latter. He took up the
+mended bill, and looked it over several times.
+
+"That's the white cross of Denmark," said he, suppressing his emotions.
+
+"Isn't the bill good?" asked the sail-maker.
+
+"Good as gold for eighty-eight cents on a dollar," replied the captain.
+
+"Then it is not good," added Leach, who did not quite comprehend the
+nabob's mathematics.
+
+"Yes, it is."
+
+"But you say it is worth only eighty-eight cents on a dollar."
+
+"That is all any paper dollar is worth when gold is a little rising
+fourteen per cent. premium. The bill is perfectly good, in spite of the
+white cross upon it. You want thirty dollars change."
+
+The captain counted out this sum, and handed it to the debtor.
+
+"If the bill isn't good, I can give you another," replied Leach, as he
+took the money.
+
+"It is a good bill, and I prefer it to any other for certain reasons of
+my own. It has the white cross of Denmark upon it; at least, the white
+bars on this bill remind me of the flag of that nation."
+
+"It's like a flag--is it?" added the sail-maker, who did not understand
+the rich man's allusion.
+
+"Like the flag of Denmark. I made a voyage to Copenhagen once, and this
+bill reminds me of the merchant's flag, which has a couple of white bars
+across a red ground. Where did you say you got this bill, Mr. Leach?"
+
+"Don John gave it to me, not half an hour ago."
+
+"It has been torn into quarters some time, and the pieces put together
+again. Did Don John mend the bill himself?"
+
+"No, sir; he says the bill is just as it was when he received it. I
+looked at it pretty sharp when I took it; but he said if it wasn't good,
+he would give me another."
+
+"It is perfectly good. Did he tell you where he got the bill?" asked
+Captain Patterdale, manifesting none of the emotion which agitated him.
+
+"No, sir; he did not. I didn't ask him. If it makes any difference, I
+will do so."
+
+"It makes no difference whatever. It is all right, Mr. Leach."
+
+The sail-maker folded up his receipt, and left the library. He went home
+with eighty dollars in his pocket, entirely satisfied with himself, with
+the nabob, and especially with the firm of Ramsay & Son. He did not care
+a straw about the white cross of Denmark, so long as the bill was good.
+Captain Patterdale was deeply interested in the bill which bore this
+mark, and possibly he expected to conquer by this sign. He was not so
+much interested in the bill because he had made a voyage up the Baltic
+and seen the white cross there, as because he had seen it on a bill in
+that tin box. He was not only interested, but he was anxious, for the
+active member of the firm of Ramsay & Son seemed to be implicated in a
+very unfortunate and criminal transaction.
+
+More than once Captain Patterdale had observed the pleasant relations
+between Don John and his fair daughter. As Nellie was a very pretty
+girl, intelligent, well educated, and agreeable, and in due time would
+be the heiress of a quarter or a half million, as the case might be, he
+was rather particular in regard to the friendships she contracted with
+the young gentlemen of the city. Possibly he did not approve the
+intimacy between them. But whatever opinions he may have entertained in
+regard to the equality of social relations between his daughter and the
+future partner of her joys and sorrows, we must do him the justice to
+say that he preferred honor and honesty to wealth and position in the
+gentleman whom Nellie might choose for her life companion. The
+suspicion, or rather the conviction, forced upon him by "the white cross
+of Denmark," that Donald was neither honest nor honorable, was vastly
+more painful than the fact that he was poor, and was the son of a mere
+ship carpenter.
+
+Certainly Nellie did like the young man, though, as she was hardly more
+than a child, it might be a fancy that would pass away when she realized
+the difference between the daughter of a nabob and the son of a ship
+carpenter. While he was thinking of the subject, Nellie entered the
+library, as she generally did when her father was alone there. She was
+his only confidant in the house in the matter of the tin box, and he
+determined to talk with her about the painful discovery he had just
+made.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+DONALD ANSWERS QUESTIONS.
+
+
+"Well, Nellie, did you have a good time to-day?" asked Captain
+Patterdale, as his daughter seated herself near his desk.
+
+"I did; a capital time. Everybody seemed to enjoy it," replied she.
+
+"But some seemed to enjoy it more than others," added the captain, with
+a smile.
+
+"Now, father, you have something to say," said she, with a blush. "I
+wish you would say it right out, and not torment me for half an hour,
+trying to guess what it is."
+
+"Of course, if I hadn't anything to say, I should hold my tongue,"
+laughed her father.
+
+"Everybody don't."
+
+"But I do."
+
+"Do you think I enjoyed the occasion more than any one else, father?"
+
+"I thought you were one of the few who enjoyed it most."
+
+"Perhaps I was; but what have I done?"
+
+"Done?"
+
+"What terrible sin have I committed now?"
+
+"None, my child."
+
+"But you are going to tell me that I have sinned against the letter of
+the law of propriety, or something of that kind. This is the way you
+always begin."
+
+"Then this time is an exception to all other times, for I haven't a word
+of fault to find with you."
+
+"I am so glad! I was trying to think what wicked thing I had been
+doing."
+
+"Nothing, child. Don John seemed to be supremely happy this afternoon."
+
+"I dare say he was; but the firm of Ramsay & Son had a successful
+launch, and Don John had compliments enough to turn the head of any one
+with a particle of vanity in his composition."
+
+"No doubt of it; and I suppose you were not behind the others in adding
+fuel to the flame."
+
+"What flame, father?"
+
+"The flame of vanity."
+
+"On the contrary, I don't think I uttered a single compliment to him."
+
+"It was hardly necessary to utter it; but if you had danced with him
+only half as often, it would have flattered his vanity less."
+
+"How could I help it, when he asked me? There were more gentlemen than
+ladies present, and I did not like to break up the sets," protested
+Nellie.
+
+"Of course not; but being the lion of the occasion, don't you think he
+might have divided himself up a little more equitably?"
+
+"I don't know; but I couldn't choose my own partner," replied Nellie,
+her cheeks glowing.
+
+"You like Don John very well?"
+
+"I certainly do, father," replied she, honestly. "Don't you?"
+
+"Perhaps it don't make so much difference whether I like him or not."
+
+"You have praised him to the skies, father. You said he was a very smart
+boy; and not one in a hundred young fellows takes hold of business with
+so much energy and good judgment. I am sure, if you had not said so much
+in his favor, I shouldn't have thought half so much of him," argued
+Nellie.
+
+"I don't blame you for thinking well of him, my child," interposed her
+father. "I only hope you are not becoming too much interested in him."
+
+"I only like him as a good-hearted, noble fellow," added Nellie, with a
+deeper blush than before, for she could not help understanding just what
+her father meant.
+
+"He appears to be a very good-hearted fellow now; but he is young, and
+has not yet fully developed his character. He may yet turn out to be a
+worthless fellow, dissolute and dishonest," continued the captain.
+
+"Don John!" exclaimed Nellie, utterly unwilling to accept such a
+supposition.
+
+"Even Don John. I can recall more than one young man, who promised as
+well as he does, that turned out very badly; and men fully developed in
+character, sustaining the highest reputations in the community, have
+been detected in the grossest frauds. I trust Don John will realize the
+hopes of his friends; but we must not be too positive."
+
+"I can't believe that Don John will ever become a bad man," protested
+Nellie.
+
+"We don't know. 'Put not your trust in princes,' in our day and nation,
+might read, 'Put not your trust in young men.'"
+
+"Why do you say all this, father?" asked Nellie, anxiously. "Has Don
+John done anything wrong; or is he suspected of doing anything wrong?"
+
+"He is at least suspected," replied Captain Patterdale.
+
+"Why, father!"
+
+"You need not be in haste to condemn him, or even to think ill of him,
+Nellie."
+
+"I certainly shall not."
+
+"There is the white cross of Denmark," added the captain, holding up the
+bank bill which had told him such a terrible story about the
+boat-builder.
+
+"What is it, father? It looks like a bank note."
+
+"It is; but there is the white cross of Denmark on it."
+
+"I don't understand what you mean."
+
+"I only mean that these white slips of paper make the bill look like the
+flag of Denmark."
+
+Nellie took the bill and examined it.
+
+"It has been torn into four pieces and mended," said she.
+
+"That is precisely how it happens to be the white cross of Denmark. Do
+you think, if you had ever seen that bill before, you would recognize it
+again, if it fell into your hands?" added the captain.
+
+"Certainly I should."
+
+"Well, it has been in my hands before. Do you remember the day that
+Michael had the sun-stroke?"
+
+"Yes, sir; and your tin box disappeared that day."
+
+"Precisely so; and this bill was in that tin box. Jacob Hasbrook, of
+Lincolnville, paid me a note. I put the money in the box, intending to
+take it over to the bank before night, and deposit it the next day. I
+looked at the bill when I counted the money, and I spoke to Hasbrook
+about it. I called it the white cross of Denmark then."
+
+"Where did you get it now?" inquired Nellie, her heart in her throat
+with anxiety.
+
+"Mr. Leach, the sail-maker, paid it to me just before you came into the
+library."
+
+"Mr. Leach!" exclaimed she, permitting herself to be cheered by a ray of
+hope that her father was not working up a case against Donald Ramsay.
+
+"Yes; you remember who were in the library on the day I lost the tin
+box."
+
+"I remember very well; for all of you went out and carried Michael into
+the house. Besides we talked about the box ever so long. You asked me
+who had been in the library while you were up stairs; and I told you Mr.
+Hasbrook, Laud Cavendish, and Don John."
+
+"Precisely so; I remember it all very distinctly. Now, one of the bills
+that was in that box comes back to me."
+
+"But it was paid to you by Mr. Leach."
+
+"It was; but he had it from Don John half an hour before he paid it to
+me."
+
+"Why, father!" exclaimed Nellie, with real anguish; for even a suspicion
+against Donald was a shock to her. "I can never believe it!"
+
+"I don't wish you to believe anything yet; but you may as well be
+prepared for anything an investigation may disclose."
+
+"That Don John should steal!" ejaculated Nellie. "Why, we all considered
+him the very soul of honor!"
+
+"You are getting along faster than I do with your conclusions, child,"
+added Captain Patterdale. "A suspicion is not proof. The bill came from
+him, beyond a doubt. But something can be said in his favor, besides the
+statement that his character is excellent. Of the three persons who were
+in the library that day, two of them had wagons on the street. It does
+not seem probable that Don John walked through the city with that tin
+box in his hand. If he did, some one must have seen it. Of course he
+would not have carried it openly, while it could easily have been
+concealed in the wagon of Hasbrook or Laud Cavendish."
+
+"Certainly; if Don John had taken it, he would not have dared to carry
+it through the streets," added Nellie, comforted by the suggestion.
+
+"Again, if he had stolen this white cross of Denmark, he would not have
+been likely to pass it off here in Belfast," continued the captain; "for
+he is sharp enough to see that it would be identified as soon as it
+appeared. Very likely Mr. Leach told him he intended to pay me some
+money, and he surely would not have allowed the bill to come back to
+me."
+
+"I know he didn't do it," cried Nellie, with enthusiasm.
+
+"You are too fast again, child. It is possible that he did, however
+improbable it may seem now, for rogues often make very silly blunders.
+Is Edward in the house?"
+
+"I think so; he was reading the _Age_ when I came in."
+
+"Tell him to go down and ask Don John to come up and see me. We will
+have the matter cleared up before we sleep. But, Nellie, don't tell
+Edward what I want to see Don John for. Not a word about that to any
+one. By keeping my own counsel, I may get at the whole truth; whereas
+the thief, if he gets wind of what I am doing, may cover his tracks or
+run away."
+
+"I will be very discreet, father," replied Nellie, as she left the
+library.
+
+In a few moments she returned.
+
+"He has gone, father; though he is very tired," said she.
+
+"I suppose he is; but I don't want to believe that Don John is a thief
+even over one night," replied the captain.
+
+"He asked me what you wanted of Don John; but I didn't tell him."
+
+The father and daughter discussed the painful suspicion until Donald
+arrived, and entered the library with Edward. A conversation on
+indifferent topics was continued for some time, and the boat-builder
+wondered if he had been sent for to talk about the launch of the Maud,
+which was now an old story.
+
+"How is the wind, Edward?" asked Captain Patterdale.
+
+"'Sou'-sou'-west, half west," laughed Edward, who understood precisely
+what his father meant by his question; and bidding Donald good night, he
+left the library, without the formality of saying he would go and see
+which way the wind was.
+
+"You know which way the wind is, Nellie; and so you need not leave,"
+added the captain, as she rose from her seat to follow the example of
+her brother.
+
+"So did Ned, for he told you," she answered.
+
+"And you heard him, and know also."
+
+When Captain Patterdale had private business with a visitor, and he
+wished any member of his own family to retire, he always asked which way
+the wind was.
+
+"Don John, you had a great success in the launch of the Maud to-day,"
+said the nabob; but as the same thing had been said half a dozen times
+before since the boat-builder entered the room, it was hardly to be
+regarded as an original idea; and Donald was satisfied that the launch
+was not the business upon which he had been sent for.
+
+"Yes, sir; we got her off very well," he replied. "I was sorry I
+couldn't launch her with the mast stepped, so as to dress her in the
+colors."
+
+"In that case, you would have needed the flags of all nations. I have
+them, and will lend them to you any time when you wish to make a
+sensation."
+
+"Thank you, sir."
+
+"I have here the white cross of Denmark," added the captain, holding up
+the mended bill.
+
+"A fifty-dollar white-cross," laughed Donald. "I have seen it before."
+
+"This bill?"
+
+"Yes, sir; I paid it to Mr. Leach for the Maud's sails since dark,"
+answered Donald, so squarely that the nabob could not help looking at
+his daughter and smiling.
+
+"He said you paid promptly, which is a solid virtue in a business man.
+By the way, Don John, you will be out of work as soon as the Maud is
+finished."
+
+"I hope to have another yacht to build by that time, especially if the
+Maud does well."
+
+"I wanted to say a word to you about that, and tell you some good news,
+Don John," continued Captain Patterdale, as calmly as though he had no
+interest whatever in the mended bill. "I had a long talk with Mr.
+Norwood this afternoon. He says he shall give you the job if the Maud
+sails as well as the Skylark or the Sea Foam. He don't insist that she
+shall beat them."
+
+"But I expect she will do it; if she don't I shall be disappointed,"
+added Donald.
+
+"Don't expect too much, Don John. I thought you would sleep better if
+you knew just how Mr. Norwood stood on this question."
+
+"I shall, sir; and I am very much obliged to you."
+
+"Do you think you will make any money on the building of the Maud?"
+asked the nabob.
+
+"Yes, sir. I think I shall do pretty well with her."
+
+"You seem to have money enough to pay your bills as you go along. Did
+Mr. Rodman pay you this bill?" inquired the captain, as he held up the
+cross again.
+
+"No, sir; he did not. I have had that bill in the house for some time,"
+replied Donald.
+
+"Are you so flush as that?"
+
+"Yes, sir; I had considerable cash in the house."
+
+"Your father left something, I suppose."
+
+"Yes, sir; but he never had that bill and the other two I paid Mr.
+Leach," replied Donald; and he could not help thinking all the time that
+they were a part of the sum Laud Cavendish had paid him for the Juno,
+under promise not to say where he got it, if everything was all right.
+
+Though the boat-builder was a square young man, he could not help being
+somewhat embarrassed, for his sense of honor did not permit him to
+violate the confidence of any one.
+
+"If it is a fair question, Don John, where did you get this bill?" asked
+the captain.
+
+Donald thought it was hardly a fair question under the circumstances,
+and he made no answer, for he was thinking how he could get along
+without a lie, and still say nothing about Laud's connection with the
+bill, for that would expose Captain Shivernock.
+
+"You don't answer me, Don John," added the nabob, mildly.
+
+"I don't like to tell," replied Donald.
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"I promised not to do so."
+
+"You promised not to tell where you got this money?"
+
+Poor Nellie was almost overwhelmed by these answers on the part of
+Donald, and her father began to have some painful doubts.
+
+"I did, sir; that is, I promised not to tell if everything about the
+money was all right."
+
+"If you don't tell where you got the money, how are you to know whether
+everything is all right or not?" demanded Captain Patterdale, in sharper
+tones than he had yet used.
+
+"Well, I don't know," answered the boat-builder, not a little confused,
+and sadly troubled by the anxious expression on Miss Nellie's pretty
+face.
+
+Perhaps her father, who understood human nature exceedingly well, had
+required her to remain in the library during this interview, for a
+purpose; but whether he did or not, Donald was really more concerned
+about her good opinion than he was about that of any other person in the
+world, unless it was his mother. He was conscious that he was not
+making a good appearance; and under the sad gaze of those pretty eyes,
+he was determined to redeem himself.
+
+"You ought not to make such promises, Don John," said the captain; and
+this time he spoke quite sternly.
+
+"You have that bill, sir. Is there anything wrong about it?" asked
+Donald.
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Then my promise covers nothing. Laud Cavendish paid me that bill,"
+added the boat-builder.
+
+"Laud Cavendish!" exclaimed Nellie.
+
+Her father shook his head, to intimate that she was to say nothing.
+
+"Laud Cavendish gave you this bill?" repeated the captain.
+
+"Yes, sir, and six more just like it; only the others were not mended. I
+paid Mr. Leach three of them, and here are the other four," said Donald,
+producing his wallet, and taking from it the four bills, which he had
+not returned to their hiding-place in the bureau.
+
+Captain Patterdale examined them, and compared them with the two in his
+possession. They looked like the bills he had deposited in the tin box,
+when Hasbrook paid him the thirteen hundred and fifty dollars and
+interest. Twelve of the bills which made up this sum were fifties,
+nearly new; the balance was in hundreds, and smaller notes, older, more
+discolored, and worn.
+
+"Laud Cavendish paid you three hundred and fifty dollars, then?"
+continued the nabob.
+
+"Yes, sir; just that. But what is there wrong about it?" asked Donald,
+trembling with emotion, when he realized what a scrape he had got into.
+
+"Following your example, Don John, I shall for the present decline to
+answer," replied the captain. "If you don't know--"
+
+"I don't!" protested Donald, earnestly.
+
+"If you don't know, I thank God; and I congratulate you that you don't
+know."
+
+"I haven't the least idea."
+
+"Of course, if you don't wish to answer any question I may ask, you can
+decline to answer, as I do, Don John."
+
+"I am entirely willing to answer any and every question that concerns
+me."
+
+"As you please; but you can't be called upon to say anything that will
+criminate yourself."
+
+"Criminate myself, sir!" exclaimed Donald, aghast. "I haven't done
+anything wrong."
+
+"I don't say that you have, Don John; more than that, I don't believe
+you have; but if you answer any question of mine, you must do it of your
+own free will and accord."
+
+"I will, sir."
+
+"For what did Laud Cavendish pay you three hundred and fifty dollars?"
+
+"For the Juno," replied Donald, promptly.
+
+"I did not know he owned the Juno."
+
+"He said he did to-day; at least, he said he was going to change her
+name," added Nellie.
+
+"The fact that I did not know it doesn't prove that it was not so. You
+sold the Juno to Laud, did you, Don John?"
+
+"I did, sir."
+
+"Did you own the Juno?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"Did you buy her of Captain Shivernock?"
+
+"No, sir; I did not buy her; he made me a present of her."
+
+"A present!"
+
+"Yes, sir; he got disgusted with her, and gave her to me. I could not
+afford to keep her, and sold her to Laud Cavendish."
+
+"Gave her to you! That's very strange."
+
+"But Captain Shivernock is a very strange man."
+
+"None will dispute that," replied Captain Patterdale, with a smile and a
+shrug of the shoulders. "That man throws away his property with utter
+recklessness; and I should not be surprised if he ended his life in the
+almshouse. I will not ask any explanation of the conduct of Captain
+Shivernock. Laud Cavendish is not a man of means. Did he tell you,
+Donald, where he got his money to buy a boat worth three hundred and
+fifty dollars?"
+
+"He did, sir, and explained the matter so that I was satisfied; for I
+would not sell him the Juno till he convinced me that there was no hitch
+about the money."
+
+"Well, where did he get it?"
+
+"I don't feel at liberty to tell, sir; for he told me it was a great
+secret, which did not affect him, but another person. I inquired into
+the matter myself, and was satisfied it was all right."
+
+"I am afraid you have been deceived, Don John; but I am convinced you
+have done no wrong yourself--at least, not intentionally. Secrets are
+dangerous; and when people wish you to conceal anything, you may
+generally be sure there is something wrong somewhere, though it may look
+all right to you. I have no more questions to ask to-night, Don John;
+but I may wish to see you again in regard to this subject. I must see
+Mr. Laud Cavendish next."
+
+[Illustration: DONALD ANSWERS QUESTIONS. Page 225.]
+
+Donald declared that he was ready to give all the information in his
+power; and after a little chat with Nellie, he went home, with more on
+his mind than had troubled him before, since he could remember.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+MOONLIGHT ON THE JUNO.
+
+
+Donald felt that he was in hot water, in spite of the assurance of
+Captain Patterdale that he believed him innocent of all wrong, and he
+was sorry that he had made any bargains, conditional or otherwise, with
+Captain Shivernock or Laud Cavendish. The nabob would not tell him what
+was wrong, and he could not determine whether Laud or some other person
+had stolen the money. He went into the house on his return from the
+elegant mansion. His mother had gone to watch with a sick neighbor,
+though his sister Barbara was sewing in the front room.
+
+Donald was troubled, not by a guilty conscience, but by the fear that he
+had innocently done wrong in concealing his relations with Captain
+Shivernock and with Laud Cavendish. Somehow the case looked different
+now from what it had before. Laud had told where he got his money, and
+given a good reason, as it seemed to him at the time, for concealment;
+but why the strange man desired secrecy he was utterly unable to
+imagine. He almost wished he had told Captain Patterdale all about his
+meeting with Captain Shivernock on Long Island, and asked his advice. It
+was not too late to do so now. Donald was so uneasy that he could not
+sit in the house, and went out doors. He walked about the beach for a
+time, and then sat down in front of the shop to think the matter over
+again.
+
+Suddenly, while he was meditating in the darkness, he saw the trunk
+lights of the Maud illuminated, as though there was a fire in her cabin.
+He did not wait to study the cause, but jumping into his skiff, he
+pushed off, and sculled with all his might towards the yacht. He was mad
+and desperate, for the Maud was on fire! He leaped on board, with the
+key of the brass padlock which secured the cabin door in his hand; but
+he had scarcely reached the deck before he saw a man on the wharf
+retreating from the vicinity of the yacht. Then he heard the flapping of
+a sail on the other side of the pier; but he could not spend an instant
+in ascertaining who the person was. He opened the cabin door, and
+discovered on the floor a pile of shavings in flames. Fortunately there
+was a bucket in the standing-room, with which he dashed a quantity of
+water upon the fire, and quickly extinguished it. All was dark again;
+but to make sure, Donald threw another pail of water on the cabin floor,
+and then it was not possible for the fire to ignite again.
+
+Although the deck had been swept clean before the launch, the side next
+to the wharf was littered with shavings, and a basket stood there, in
+which they had been brought on board, for it was still half full. Donald
+found that one of the trunk lights had been left unfastened, in the
+hurry and excitement of attending the festival at Mr. Rodman's house.
+Through the aperture the incendiary had stuffed the shavings, and
+dropped a card of lighted matches upon them, for he saw the remnants of
+it when he threw on the first water. Who had done this outrageous deed?
+Donald sprang upon the wharf as he recalled the shadowy form and the
+flapping sail he had seen. Leaping upon the pier, he rushed over to the
+other side, where he discovered a sail-boat slowly making her way, in
+the gentle breeze, out of the dock.
+
+Beyond a peradventure, the boat was the Juno. Her peculiar rig enabled
+him readily to identify her. Was Laud Cavendish in her, and was he
+wicked enough to commit such an act? Donald returned to the Maud to
+assure himself that there was no more fire in her. He was satisfied that
+the yacht was not injured, for he had extinguished the fire before the
+shavings were well kindled. He fastened the trunk lights securely,
+locked the cabin door, and taking possession of the basket, he embarked
+in his skiff again. Sculling out beyond the wharf, he looked for the
+Juno. The wind was so light she made but little headway, and was
+standing off shore with the breeze nearly aft. It was Laud's boat, but
+it might not be Laud in her. Why should the wretch attempt to burn the
+Maud?
+
+Then the scene in Mr. Rodman's garden, when Laud had been invited to
+leave, came to his mind, and Donald began to understand the matter.
+While he was thinking about it, the moon came out from behind a cloud
+which had obscured it, and cast its soft light upon the quiet bay,
+silvering the ripples on its waters with a flood of beauty.
+
+Donald glanced at the basket in the skiff, still half filled with
+shavings. It was Laud's basket, beyond a doubt, for he had often seen
+it when the owner came down to the shore to embark in his boat. The
+initials of his father's name, "J. C.," were daubed upon the outside of
+it, for there is sometimes as much confusion in regard to the ownership
+of baskets as of umbrellas. Donald was full of excitement, and full of
+wrath; and as soon as he got the idea of the guilty party through his
+head, he sculled the skiff with all the vigor of a strong arm towards
+the Juno, easily overhauling her in a few moments. He was so excited
+that he dashed his skiff bang into the Juno, to the serious detriment of
+the white paint which covered her side.
+
+"What are you about, Don John?" roared Laud Cavendish, who had seen the
+approaching skiff, but had not chosen to hail her.
+
+"What are you about?" demanded Donald, answering the question with
+another, Yankee fashion, as he jammed his boat-hook into the side of the
+Juno, and drew the skiff up to the yacht, from which it had receded.
+
+Taking the painter, he jumped on the forward deck of the Juno, with the
+boat-hook still in his hand.
+
+"What do you mean by smashing into me in that kind of style, and jabbing
+your boat-hook into the side of my boat?" cried Laud, as fiercely as he
+could pitch his tones, though there seemed to be a want of vim to them.
+
+"What do you mean by setting the Maud afire?" demanded Donald. "That's
+what I want to know."
+
+"Who set her afire?" replied Laud, in rather hollow tones.
+
+"You did, you miserable spindle-shanks!"
+
+"I didn't set her afire, Don John," protested Laud.
+
+"Yes, you did! I can prove it, and I will prove it, too."
+
+"You are excited, Don John. You don't know what you are talking about."
+
+"I think I do, and I'll bet you'll understand it, too, if there is any
+law left in the State of Maine."
+
+"What do you mean by that?"
+
+"I mean what I say, and say what I mean."
+
+"I haven't been near the Maud."
+
+"Yes, you have! Didn't I see you sneaking across the wharf? Didn't I see
+your mainsail alongside the pier? You can't humbug me. I know a pint of
+soft soap from a pound of cheese," rattled Donald, who could talk very
+fast when he was both excited and enraged; and Laud's tongue was no
+match for his member.
+
+"I tell you, I haven't been near the Maud."
+
+"Don't tell me! I saw it all; I have two eyes that I wouldn't sell for
+two cents apiece; and I'll put you over the road at a two-forty gait."
+
+Laud saw that it was no use to argue the point, and he held his peace,
+till the boat-builder had exhausted his rhetoric, and his stock of
+expletives.
+
+"What did you do it for, Laud?" asked he, at last, in a comparatively
+quiet tone.
+
+"I have told you a dozen times I didn't do it," replied the accused.
+"You talk so fast I can't get a word in edgeways."
+
+"It's no use for you to deny it," added Don John.
+
+"Do you think I'd burn your yacht?"
+
+"Yes, I do; and I know you tried to do it. If I hadn't been over by the
+shop, you would have done it."
+
+[Illustration: DON JOHN VISITS THE JUNO. Page 230.]
+
+"I didn't do it, I repeat. Do you think I would lie about it? Do you
+think I have no sense of honor about me!"
+
+"Confound your honor!" sneered Donald.
+
+"Don't insult me. When you assail my honor, you touch me in a tender
+place."
+
+"In a soft place, and that's in your head."
+
+"Be careful, Don John. I advise you not to wake a sleeping lion."
+
+"A sleeping jackass!"
+
+"I claim to be a gentleman, and my honor is my capital stock in life."
+
+"You have a very small capital to work on, then."
+
+"I warn you to be cautious, Don John. My honor is all I have to rest
+upon in this world."
+
+"It's a broken reed. I wouldn't give a cent's worth of molasses candy
+for the honor of a fellow who would destroy the property of another,
+because he got mad with him."
+
+In spite of his repeated warnings, Laud Cavendish was very forbearing,
+though Donald kept the boat-hook where it would be serviceable in an
+emergency.
+
+"No, Don John, I did not set the Maud afire. Though you went back on me
+this afternoon, and served me a mean and shabby trick, I wouldn't do
+such a thing as burn your property."
+
+"Who went back on you?" demanded Donald.
+
+"You did; when you could have saved me from being driven out of the
+garden, you took the trouble to say, you did not invite me," replied
+Laud, reproachfully.
+
+"I didn't invite you; and I had no right to invite you."
+
+"No matter for that; if you had just said that your friend, Mr.
+Cavendish, had come in with you it would have been all right."
+
+"My friend, Mr. Cavendish!" repeated Donald, sarcastically. "I didn't
+know I had any such friend."
+
+"I didn't expect that of you, after what I had done for you, Don John."
+
+"Spill her on that tack! You never did anything for me."
+
+"I took that boat off your hands, and I suppose you got a commission for
+selling her. Wasn't that doing something for you?"
+
+"No!" protested Donald.
+
+"I have always used you well, and done more for you than you know of.
+You wouldn't have got the job to build the Maud if it hadn't been for
+me. I spoke a good word for you to Mr. Rodman," whined Laud.
+
+"You!" exclaimed Donald, disgusted with this ridiculous pretension. "If
+you said anything to Mr. Rodman about it, I wonder he didn't give the
+job to somebody else."
+
+"You think I have no influence, but you are mistaken; and if you insist
+on quarrelling with me, you will find out, when it is too late, what
+folks think of me."
+
+"They think you are a ninny; and when they know what you did to-night,
+they will believe you are a knave," replied Donald. "You didn't cover
+your tracks so that I couldn't find them; and I can prove all I say. I
+didn't think you were such a rascal before."
+
+"You won't make anything out of that sort of talk with me, Don John,"
+said Laud, mildly. "You provoke me to throw you overboard, but I don't
+want to hurt you."
+
+"I'll risk your throwing me overboard. I can take care of myself."
+
+"I said I didn't want to hurt you, and I don't. I didn't set your boat
+afire; I wouldn't do such a thing."
+
+"You can tell that to Squire Peters to-morrow."
+
+"You don't mean to say that you will prosecute me, Don John?"
+
+"Yes; I do mean it."
+
+"I came down from the harbor, and tacked between those two wharves,"
+explained Laud. "I was standing off on this tack when you bunted your
+skiff into me. That's all I know about it."
+
+"But I saw you on the wharf. No matter; we won't argue the case here,"
+said Donald, as he made a movement to go into his skiff.
+
+"Hold on, Don John. I want to talk with you a little."
+
+"What about?"
+
+"Two or three things. I am going off on a long cruise in a day or two. I
+think I shall go as far as Portland, and try to get a situation in a
+store there."
+
+"I don't believe you will have a chance to go to Portland, or anywhere
+else, unless it's Thomaston, where the state prison is located."
+
+"I didn't think you would be so rough on me, Don John. I didn't set your
+boat afire; but I can see that it may go hard with me, because I
+happened to be near the wharf at the time."
+
+"You will find that isn't the worst of it," added Donald.
+
+"What is the worst of it?"
+
+"Never mind; I'll tell Squire Peters to-morrow, when we come together."
+
+"Don't go to law about it, Don John; for though I didn't do it, I don't
+want to be hauled up for it. Even a suspicion is sometimes damaging to
+the honor of a gentleman."
+
+"You had better come down from that high horse, and own up that you set
+the Maud afire."
+
+"Will you agree not to prosecute, if I do?" asked Laud.
+
+Donald, after his anger subsided, thought more about the "white cross of
+Denmark" than he did about the fire; for the latter had done him no
+damage, while the former might injure his character which he valued more
+than his property.
+
+"I will agree not to prosecute, if you will answer all my questions," he
+replied; but I confess that it was an error on the part of the young
+man.
+
+Donald fastened the painter of his skiff at the stern, and took a seat
+in the standing-room of the Juno.
+
+"I will tell you all I know, if you will keep me out of the courts,"
+added Laud, promptly.
+
+"Why did you set the Maud afire?"
+
+"Because I was mad, and meant to get even with you for what you did at
+Rodman's this afternoon. You might do me a great service, Don John, if
+you would. I like Nellie Patterdale; I mean, I'm in love with her. I
+don't believe I can live without her."
+
+"I'll bet you'll have to," interposed Donald, indignantly.
+
+"You don't know what it is to love, Don John."
+
+"I don't want to know yet awhile; and I think you had better live on a
+different sort of grub. What a stupid idea, for a fellow like you to
+think of such a girl as Nellie Patterdale!"
+
+"Is it any worse for me to think of her, than it is for you to do so?"
+asked Laud.
+
+"I never thought of her in any such way as that. We went to school
+together, and have always been good friends; that's all."
+
+"That's enough," sighed Laud. "I actually suffer for her sake. If the
+quest were hopeless," Laud read novels--"I think I should drown myself."
+
+"You had better do it right off, then," added Donald.
+
+"You can pity me, Don John, for I am miserable. Day and night I think
+only of her. My feelings have made me almost crazy, and I hardly knew
+what I was about when I applied the incendiary torch to the Maud."
+
+"I thought it was a card of friction matches."
+
+"The world will laugh and jeer at me for loving one above my station;
+but love makes us equals."
+
+"Perhaps it does when the love is on both sides," added the practical
+boat-builder.
+
+"But I think I am fitted to adorn a higher station than that in which I
+was born."
+
+"If so, you will rise like a stick of timber forced under the water; but
+it strikes me that you have begun in the wrong way to figure for a
+rise."
+
+"But I wish to rise only for Nellie's sake. You can help me, Don John;
+you can take me into her presence, where I can have the opportunity to
+win her affection."
+
+"I guess not, Laud. Shall I tell you what she said to me this
+afternoon?"
+
+"Tell me all."
+
+"She said you were an impudent puppy, and she was sorry I invited you."
+
+"Did she say that?" asked Laud, looking up to the cold, pale moon.
+
+"She did; and I was obliged to tell her that I didn't invite you."
+
+"Perhaps I have been a fool," mused the lover.
+
+"There's no doubt of it. Nellie Patterdale dislikes, and even despises
+you. I have heard her say as much, in so many words. That ought to
+comfort you, and convince you that it is no use to fish any longer in
+those waters."
+
+"Possibly you are right; but it is only because she does not know me. If
+she only knew me better--"
+
+"She would dislike and despise you still more," said Donald, sharply.
+"If she only knew that you set the Maud afire, she would love you as a
+homeless dog likes the brickbats that are thrown at him."
+
+"You will not tell her that, Don John?"
+
+"I will not tell her, or any one else, if you behave yourself. Now I
+want to ask some more questions."
+
+"Go on, Don John."
+
+"Where did you get the money you paid for the Juno?" demanded Donald,
+with energy.
+
+"Where did I get it?" repeated Laud, evidently startled by the question,
+so vigorously put. "I told you where I got it."
+
+"Tell me again."
+
+"Captain Shivernock gave it to me."
+
+"What for?"
+
+"I can't tell you that."
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"Because it is a matter between the captain and me."
+
+"I don't care if it is. You said you would answer all my questions, if I
+would not prosecute."
+
+"Questions about the Maud," explained Laud. "I have told you the secret
+of my love--"
+
+"Hang the secret of your love!" exclaimed Donald, disgusted with that
+topic. "I meant all questions."
+
+"But I cannot betray the secrets of Captain Shivernock. My honor--"
+
+"Stick your honor up chimney!" interrupted Donald. "If you go back on
+the agreement, I shall take the fire before Squire Peters. The question
+I asked was, why Captain Shivernock gave you four or five hundred
+dollars?"
+
+"I wish I could answer you, Don John; but I do not feel at liberty to do
+so just now. I will see the captain, and perhaps I may honorably give
+you the information you seek."
+
+"You needn't mince the matter with me. I know all about it now; but I
+want it from you."
+
+"All about what?" asked Laud.
+
+"You needn't look green about it. Do you remember the Saturday when I
+told you the Juno was for sale?"
+
+"I do, very distinctly," answered Laud. "You were in the Juno at the
+time."
+
+"I was; we parted company, and you stood over towards the Northport
+shore."
+
+"Just so."
+
+"Over there you met Captain Shivernock."
+
+"I didn't say I did."
+
+"But I say you did," persisted Donald. "For some reason best known to
+himself, the captain did not want any one to know he was on Long Island
+that night."
+
+Laud listened with intense interest.
+
+"Do you know what his reason was, Don John?"
+
+"No, I don't. You saw his boat, and overhauled him near the shore."
+
+"Well?"
+
+"You overhauled him near the shore, and he gave you a pile of money not
+to say that you had seen him."
+
+"It is you who says all this, and not I," added Laud, with more spirit
+than he had before exhibited. "My honor is not touched."
+
+"I wish you wouldn't say anything more about your honor. It is like a
+mustard seed in a haymow, and I can't see it," snapped Donald.
+
+"You can see that I came honorably by the money."
+
+"Honestly by it; I am satisfied on that point," replied Donald. "If I
+had not been, I wouldn't have sold you the boat. You see I knew
+something of Captain Shivernock's movements about that time. If I
+hadn't, I wouldn't have believed that he gave it to you."
+
+"Then you must have seen the captain at the same time."
+
+"I didn't say I saw him," laughed Donald. "But the wind is breezing up,
+and we are half way over to Brigadier Island. Come about, Laud."
+
+The skipper acceded to the request, and headed the Juno for Belfast.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+CAPTAIN SHIVERNOCK'S JOKE.
+
+
+Donald considered himself shrewd, sharp, and smart, because he had
+induced Laud virtually to own that Captain Shivernock had given him the
+money to purchase his silence, but Donald was not half so shrewd, sharp,
+and smart as he thought he was.
+
+"Mr. Cavendish, it's no use for us to mince this matter," he continued,
+determined further to draw out his companion, and feeling happy now, he
+was very respectful to him.
+
+"Perhaps not, Don John."
+
+"It can do no harm for you and me to talk over this matter. You saw
+Captain Shivernock on that Saturday morning--didn't you?"
+
+"Of course, if I say I did, you will not let on about it--will you?"
+
+"Not if I can help it; for the fact is, I am in the same boat with
+you."
+
+"Then you saw the captain."
+
+"Of course I did."
+
+"But what was he doing down there, that made him so particular to keep
+shady about it?"
+
+"I haven't the least idea. It was the morning after Hasbrook was pounded
+to a jelly in his own house; but I am satisfied that the captain had
+nothing to do with it."
+
+"I am not so sure of that," added Laud.
+
+"I am. I went to the captain's house before he returned that day, and
+both Sykes and his wife told me he had left home at four o'clock that
+morning, and this was after the pounding was done. Besides, the captain
+was over on Long Island when I saw him. If he had done the deed, he
+would have got home before daylight, for the wind was fresh and fair.
+Instead of that, he was over at Turtle Head when I first saw him. The
+Juno got aground with him near Seal Harbor, which made him so mad he
+would not keep her any longer. He was mad because she wasn't a
+centre-boarder. I suppose after we parted he went over to the
+Lincolnville or Northport Shore, and hid till after dark in Spruce
+Harbor, Saturday Cove, or some such place. At any rate, I was at his
+house in the evening, when he came home."
+
+"The old fellow had been up to some trick, you may depend upon it,"
+added Laud, sagely.
+
+"I came to the conclusion that his desire to keep dark was only a whim,
+for he is the strangest man that ever walked the earth."
+
+"That's so; but why should he give me such a pile if he hadn't been up
+to something?"
+
+"And me another pile," added Donald. "We can talk this thing over
+between ourselves, but not a word to any other person."
+
+"Certainly; I understand. I am paid for holding my tongue, and I intend
+to do so honorably."
+
+"So do I, until I learn that there is something wrong."
+
+"You have told me some things I did not know before, Don John,"
+suggested Laud.
+
+"You knew that the captain was down by Long Island."
+
+"Yes, but I didn't know he was at Turtle Head; and I am satisfied now
+that he is the man that shook up Hasbrook that night," continued Laud,
+in meditative mood.
+
+"Are you? Then I will let the whole thing out," exclaimed Donald.
+
+"No, no! don't do that!" protested Laud. "That wouldn't be fair, at
+all."
+
+"I would not be a party to the concealment of such an outrage."
+
+"You don't understand it. Hasbrook is a regular swindler."
+
+"That is no reason why he should be pounded half to death in the middle
+of the night."
+
+"He borrowed a thousand dollars of Captain Shivernock a short time
+before the outrage. The captain told him he would lend him the money if
+Hasbrook would give him a good indorser on the paper. After the captain
+had parted with the money, he ascertained that the indorser was not
+worth a dollar. Hasbrook had told him the name was that of a rich
+farmer, and of course the captain was mad. He tried to get back his
+money, for he knew Hasbrook never paid anything if he could help it.
+Here is the motive for the outrage," reasoned Laud.
+
+"Why didn't he prosecute him for swindling? for that's what it was."
+
+"Captain Shivernock says he won't trouble any courts to fight his
+battles for him; he can fight them himself."
+
+"It was wrong to pound any man as Hasbrook was. Why, he wasn't able to
+go out of the house for a month," added Donald, who was clearly opposed
+to Lynch law.
+
+Donald was somewhat staggered in his belief by the evidence of his
+companion, but he determined to inquire further into the matter, and
+even hoped now that Hasbrook would call upon him.
+
+"One more question, Laud. Do you know where Captain Shivernock got the
+bills he paid you, and you paid me?" asked he.
+
+"Of course I don't. How should I know where the captain gets his money?"
+replied Laud, in rather shaky tones.
+
+"True; I didn't much think you would know."
+
+"What odds does it make where he got the bills?" asked Laud, faintly.
+
+"It makes a heap of odds."
+
+"I don't see why."
+
+"I'll tell you why. I paid three of those bills to Mr. Leach to-night
+for the Maud's suit of sails. One of them was a mended bill."
+
+"Yes, I remember that one, for I noticed it after the captain gave me
+the money," added Laud.
+
+"Mr. Leach paid that bill to Captain Patterdale."
+
+"To Captain Patterdale!" exclaimed Laud, springing to his feet.
+
+"What odds does it make to you whom he paid it to?" asked Donald,
+astonished at this sudden demonstration.
+
+"None at all," replied Laud, recovering his self-possession.
+
+"What made you jump so, then?"
+
+"A mosquito bit me," laughed Laud. But it was a graveyard laugh. "Leach
+paid the bill to Captain Patterdale--you say?"
+
+"Yes, and Captain Patterdale says there is something wrong about the
+bill," continued Donald, who was far from satisfied with the explanation
+of his companion.
+
+"What was the matter? Wasn't the bill good?" inquired Laud.
+
+"Yes, the bill was good; but something was wrong, he didn't tell me
+what."
+
+"That was an odd way to leave it. Why didn't he tell you what was
+wrong?"
+
+"I don't know. I suppose he knows what he is about, but I don't."
+
+"I should like to know what was wrong about this bill. It has passed
+through my hands, and it may affect my honor in some way," mused Laud.
+
+"You had better have your honor insured, for it will get burned up one
+of these days," added Donald, as he rose from his seat, and hauled in
+his skiff, which was towing astern.
+
+He stepped into the boat, and tossed Laud's basket to him.
+
+"Here is your basket, Laud," added he. "It was my evidence against you;
+and next time, when you want to burn a yacht, don't leave it on her
+deck."
+
+"You will keep shady--won't you, Don John?" he pleaded.
+
+"That will depend upon what you say and do," answered Donald, as he
+shoved off, and sculled to the wharf where the Maud lay, to assure
+himself that she was in no danger.
+
+He was not quite satisfied to trust her alone all night, and he decided
+to sleep in her cabin. He went to the house, and told Barbara he was
+afraid some accident might happen to the yacht, and with the lantern and
+some bed-clothes, he returned to her. He swept up the half-burned
+shavings, and threw them overboard. There was not a vestige of the fire
+left, and he swabbed up the water with a sponge. Making his bed on the
+transom, he lay down to think over the events of the evening. He went
+to sleep after a while, and we will leave him in this oblivious
+condition while we follow Laud Cavendish, who, it cannot be denied, was
+in a most unhappy frame of mind. He ran the Juno up to her moorings, and
+after he had secured her sail, and locked up the cabin door, he went on
+shore. Undoubtedly he had done an immense amount of heavy thinking
+within the last two hours, and as he was not overstocked with brains, it
+wore upon him.
+
+It was nearly ten o'clock in the evening, but late as it was, Laud
+walked directly to the house of Captain Shivernock. There was a light in
+the strange man's library, or office, and another in the dining-room,
+where the housekeeper usually sat, which indicated that the family had
+not retired. Laud walked up to the side door, and rang the bell, which
+was promptly answered by Mrs. Sykes.
+
+"Is Captain Shivernock at home?" asked the late visitor.
+
+"He is; but he don't see anybody so late as this," replied the
+housekeeper.
+
+"I wish to speak to him on very important business, and it is absolutely
+necessary that I should see him to-night," persisted Laud.
+
+"I will tell him."
+
+Mrs. Sykes did tell him, and the strange man swore he would not see any
+one, not even his grandmother, come down from heaven. She reported this
+answer in substance to Laud.
+
+"I wish to see him on a matter in which he is deeply concerned," said
+the troubled visitor. "Tell him, if you please, in regard to the
+Hasbrook affair."
+
+Perhaps Mrs. Sykes knew something about the Hasbrook affair herself, for
+she promptly consented to make this second application for the admission
+of the stranger, for such he was to her.
+
+She returned in a few moments with an invitation to enter, and so it
+appeared that there was some power in the "Hasbrook affair." Laud was
+conducted to the library,--as the retired shipmaster chose to call the
+apartment, though there were not a dozen books in it,--where the captain
+sat in a large rocking-chair, with his feet on the table.
+
+"Who are you?" demanded the strange man; and we are obliged to modify
+his phraseology in order to make it admissible to our pages.
+
+"Mr. Laud Cavendish, at your service," replied he, politely.
+
+"_Mister_ Laud Cavendish!" repeated the captain, with a palpable sneer;
+"you are the swell that used to drive the grocery wagon."
+
+"I was formerly employed at Miller's store, but I am not there now."
+
+"Well, what do you want here?"
+
+"I wish to see you, sir."
+
+"You do see me--don't you?" growled the eccentric. "What's your
+business?"
+
+"On the morning after the Hasbrook outrage, Captain Shivernock, you were
+seen at Seal Harbor," said Laud.
+
+"Who says I was?" roared the captain, springing to his feet.
+
+"I beg your pardon sir; but I say so," answered Laud, apparently unmoved
+by the violence of his auditor. "You were in the boat formerly owned by
+Mr. Ramsay, and you ran over towards the Northport shore."
+
+"Did you see me?"
+
+"I did," replied Laud.
+
+"And you have come to levy black-mail upon me," added the captain, with
+a withering stare at his visitor.
+
+"Nothing of the sort, sir. I claim to be a gentleman."
+
+"O, you do!"
+
+Captain Shivernock laughed heartily.
+
+"I do, sir. I am not capable of anything derogatory to the character of
+a gentleman."
+
+"Bugs and brickbats!" roared the strange man, with another outburst of
+laughter. "You are a gentleman! That's good! And you won't do anything
+derogatory to the character of a gentleman. That's good, too!"
+
+"I trust I have the instincts of a gentleman," added Laud, smoothing
+down his jet mustache.
+
+"I trust you have; but what do you want of me, if you have the instincts
+of a gentleman, and don't bleed men with money when you think you have
+them on the hip?"
+
+"If you will honor me with your attention a few moments, I will inform
+you what I want of you."
+
+"Good again!" chuckled the captain. "I will honor you with my attention.
+You have got cheek enough to fit out a life insurance agency."
+
+"I am not the only one who saw you that Saturday morning," said Laud.
+
+"Who else saw me?"
+
+"Don John."
+
+"How do you know he did?"
+
+"He told mo so."
+
+"The young hypocrite!" exclaimed the strange man, with an oath. "I made
+it a rule years ago never to trust a man or a boy who has much to do
+with churches and Sunday Schools. The little snivelling puppy! And he
+has gone back on me."
+
+"It is only necessary for me to state facts," answered Laud. "You can
+form your own conclusions, without any help from me."
+
+"Perhaps I can," added Captain Shivernock, who seemed to be in an
+unusual humor on this occasion, for the pretentious manners of his
+visitor appeared to amuse rather than irritate him.
+
+"Again, sir, Jacob Hasbrook, of Lincolnville, believes you are the man
+who pounded him to a jelly that night," continued Laud.
+
+"Does he?" laughed the captain. "Well, that is a good joke; but I want
+to say that I respect the man who did it, whoever he is."
+
+"Self-respect is a gentlemanly quality. The man who don't respect
+himself will not be respected by others," said Laud, stroking his chin.
+
+"Eh?"
+
+Laud confidently repeated the proposition.
+
+"You respect yourself, and of course you respect the man that pounded
+Hasbrook," he added.
+
+"Do you mean to say I flogged Hasbrook?" demanded the strange man,
+doubling his fist, and shaking it savagely in Laud's face.
+
+"It isn't for me to say that you did, for you know better than I do; but
+you will pardon me if I say that the evidence points in this direction.
+Hasbrook has been over to Belfast several times to work up his case. The
+last time I saw him he was looking for Don John, who, I am afraid, is
+rather leaky."
+
+In spite of his bluff manners, Laud saw that the captain was not a
+little startled by the information just imparted.
+
+"The miserable little psalm-singer," growled the strange man, walking
+the room, muttering to himself. "If he disobeys my orders, I'll thrash
+him worse than--Hasbrook was thrashed."
+
+"It is unpleasant to be suspected of a crime, and revolting to the
+instincts of a gentleman," added Laud.
+
+"Do you mean to say that I am suspected of a crime, you long-eared
+puppy?" yelled the captain.
+
+"I beg your pardon, Captain Shivernock, but it isn't agreeable to a
+gentleman to be called by such opprobrious names," said Laud, rising
+from his chair, and taking his round-top hat from the table. "I am
+willing to leave you, but not to be insulted."
+
+Laud looked like the very impersonation of dignity itself, as he walked
+towards the door.
+
+"Stop!" yelled the captain.
+
+"I do not know that any one but Hasbrook suspects you of a crime," Laud
+explained.
+
+"I'm glad he does suspect me," added the strange man, more gently.
+"Whoever did that job served him just right, and I envy the man that did
+it."
+
+"Still, it is unpleasant to be suspected of a crime."
+
+"It wasn't a crime."
+
+"People call it so; but I sympathize with you, for like you I am
+suspected of a crime, of which, like yourself, I am innocent."
+
+"Are you, indeed? And what may your crime be, Mr. Cavendish?"
+
+"It is in this connection that I wish to state my particular business
+with you."
+
+"Go on and state it, and don't be all night about it."
+
+"I may add that I also came to warn you against the movements of
+Hasbrook. I will begin at the beginning."
+
+"Begin, then; and don't go round Cape Horn in doing it," snarled the
+captain.
+
+"I will, sir. Captain Patterdale--"
+
+"Another miserable psalm-singer. Is he in the scrape?"
+
+"He is, sir. He has lost a tin box, which contained nearly fourteen
+hundred dollars in cash, besides many valuable papers."
+
+"I'm glad of it; and I hope he never will find it," was the kindly
+expression of the eccentric nabob for the Christian nabob. "Was the box
+lost or stolen?"
+
+"Stolen, sir."
+
+"So much the better. I hope the thief will never be discovered."
+
+Laud did not say how he happened to know that the tin box had been
+stolen, for Captain Patterdale, the deputy sheriff, and Nellie were
+supposed to be the only persons who had any knowledge of the fact.
+
+"It appears that in this tin box there was a certain fifty-dollar bill,
+which had been torn into four parts, and mended by pasting two strips of
+paper upon it, one extending from right to left, and the other from top
+to bottom, on the back."
+
+"Eh?" interposed the wicked nabob. "Wait a minute."
+
+The captain opened an iron safe in the room, and from a drawer took out
+a handful of bank bills. From these he selected three, and tossed them
+on the table.
+
+"Like those?" he inquired, with interest.
+
+"Exactly like them," replied Laud, astonished to find that each was the
+counterpart of the one he had paid Donald for the Juno, and had the
+"white cross of Denmark" upon it.
+
+"Do you know how those bills happened to be in that condition, Mr.
+Cavendish?" chuckled the captain.
+
+"Of course I do not, sir."
+
+"I'll tell you, my gay buffer. I have got a weak, soft place somewhere
+in my gizzard; I don't know where; if I did, I'd cut it out. About three
+months ago, just after I brought from Portland one hundred of these new
+fifty-dollar bills, there was a great cry here for money for some
+missionary concern. I read something in the newspaper, at this time,
+about what some of the missionaries had done for a lot of sailors who
+had been cast away on the South Sea Islands. I thought more of the
+psalm-singers than ever before, and I was tempted to do something for
+them. Well, I actually wrote to some parson here who was howling for
+money, and stuck four of those bills between the leaves. I think it is
+very likely I should have sent them to the parson, if I hadn't been
+called out of the room. I threw the note, with the bills in it, on the
+table, and went out to see a pair of horses a jockey had driven into the
+yard for me to look at. When I came back and glanced at the note, I
+thought what a fool I had been, to think of giving money to those
+canting psalm-singers. I was mad with myself for my folly, and I tore
+the note into four pieces before I thought that the bills were in it.
+But Mrs. Sykes mended them as you see. Go on with your yarn, my buffer."
+
+"That bill I paid to Don John for the Juno," continued Laud. "He paid it
+to Mr. Leach, the sail-maker, who paid it to Captain Patterdale, and he
+says it was one of the bills in the tin chest when it was stolen. Don
+John says he had it from me."
+
+"Precisely so; and that is what makes it unpleasant to be suspected of a
+crime," laughed Captain Shivernock. "But you don't state where you got
+the bill, Mr. Cavendish. Perhaps you don't wish to tell."
+
+"I shall tell the whole story with the greatest pleasure," added Laud.
+"I was sailing one day down by Haddock Ledge, when I saw a man tumble
+overboard from a boat moored where he had been fishing. He was staving
+drunk, and went forward, as I thought, to get up his anchor. The boat
+rolled in the sea, and over he went. I got him out. The cold water
+sobered him in a measure, and he was very grateful to me. He went to his
+coat, which he did not wear when he fell, and took from his pocket a
+roll of bills. He counted off ten fifties, and gave them to me. Feeling
+sure that I had saved his life, I did not think five hundred dollars was
+any too much to pay for it, and I took the money. I don't think he would
+have given me so much if he hadn't been drunk. I asked him who he was,
+but he would not tell me, saying he didn't want his friends in Boston
+to know he had been over the bay, and in the bay; but he said he had
+been staying in Belfast a couple of days."
+
+"Good story!" laughed the wicked nabob.
+
+"Every word of it is as true as preaching," protested Laud.
+
+"Just about," added the captain, who hadn't much confidence in
+preaching.
+
+"You can see, Captain Shivernock, that I am in an awkward position,"
+added Laud. "I have no doubt the man I saved was the one who stole the
+tin box. He paid me with the stolen bills."
+
+"It is awkward, as you say," chuckled the strange man. "I suppose you
+wouldn't know the fellow you saved if you saw him."
+
+"O, yes, I think I should," exclaimed Laud. "But suppose, when Captain
+Patterdale comes to me to inquire where I got the marked bill, I should
+tell him this story. He wouldn't believe a word of it."
+
+"He would be a fool if he did," exclaimed Captain Shivernock, with a
+coarse grin. "Therefore, my gay buffer, don't tell it to him."
+
+"But I must tell him where I got the bill," pleaded Laud.
+
+"Ha, ha, ha!" laughed the eccentric, shaking his sides as though they
+were agitated by a young earthquake. "Tell him I gave you the bill!"
+
+The captain seemed to be intensely amused at the novel idea; and Laud
+did not object; on the contrary, he seemed to appreciate the joke. It
+was midnight when he left the house, and went to the Juno to sleep in
+her cabin. If he had gone home earlier in the evening, he might have
+seen Captain Patterdale, who did him the honor to make a late call upon
+him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+LAUD CAVENDISH TAKES CARE OF HIMSELF.
+
+
+Donald did not sleep very well in the cabin of the Maud, not only
+because his bed was very hard and uncomfortable, but because he was
+troubled; and before morning he fully realized the truth of the saying,
+in regard to certain persons, that "they choose darkness, because their
+deeds are evil." He wished he had not consented to keep the secret of
+either Captain Shivernock or Laud Cavendish, and was afraid he had
+compromised himself by his silence. When he turned out in the morning,
+he believed he had hardly slept a wink all night, though he had actually
+slumbered over six hours; but a person who lies awake in the darkness,
+especially if his thoughts are troublesome, lengthens minutes into
+hours. But Donald welcomed the morning light when he awoke, and the
+bright sun which streamed through the trunk ports. He went to the shop,
+and for two hours before his men arrived worked on the tender of the
+Maud.
+
+The mast of the yacht was stepped during the forenoon, and after dinner
+the rigger came to do his part of the work. Samuel Rodman was now so
+much interested in the progress of the labor on the new yacht, that he
+spent nearly all his time on board of her. The top mast, gaff, and boom
+were all ready to go into their places, and the Maud looked as though
+she was nearly completed. All the members of the Yacht Club were
+impatient for her to be finished, for the next regatta had been
+postponed a week, so that the Maud could take part in the affair; and
+the club were to go on a cruise for ten days, after the race.
+
+There was no little excitement in the club in relation to the Maud.
+Donald had confidently asserted his belief, weeks before, that she would
+outsail the Skylark, not as a mere boast, but as a matter of business.
+His father had made an improvement upon the model of the Sea Foam, which
+he was reasonably certain would give her the advantage. The young
+boat-builder had also remedied a slight defect in the arrangement of
+the centre-board in the Maud, had added a little to the size of the jib
+and mainsail, and he hoped these alterations would tell in favor of the
+new craft, while they would not take anything from her stiffness in
+heavy weather.
+
+"I believe the old folks are as much interested in the next race as the
+members of the club, Don John," said Rodman, one day, as he came upon
+the wharf.
+
+"I am glad they are," replied Donald, laughing. "It will make business
+good for Ramsay & Son."
+
+"Half a dozen of them are going to make up a first prize of one hundred
+dollars for the regatta; so that the winner of the race will make a good
+thing by it," added Rodman.
+
+"That will be a handsome prize."
+
+"If the Maud takes it, Don John, the money shall be yours, as you are to
+sail her."
+
+"O, no!" exclaimed Donald. "I don't believe in that. The prize will
+belong to the boat."
+
+"If you win the race in the Maud, I shall be satisfied with the glory,
+without any of the spoils."
+
+"Well, we won't quarrel about it now, for she may not win the first
+prize."
+
+"Well, the same gentlemen will give a second prize of fifty dollars,"
+continued Rodman. "But don't you expect to get the first prize, Don
+John?"
+
+"I do; but to expect is not always to win, you know."
+
+"You have always talked as though you felt pretty sure of coming in
+first," said Rodman, who did not like to see any abatement of confidence
+on the part of the boat-builder.
+
+"It is the easiest thing in the world to be mistaken, Sam. If the Maud
+loses the first prize, I may as well shut up shop, and take a situation
+in a grocery store, for my business would be ruined."
+
+"Not quite so bad as that, I hope," added Rodman.
+
+"Mr. Norwood is waiting to see how she sails, before he orders a yacht
+for Frank. Can't you invite Frank and his father to sail with us in the
+race?"
+
+"Certainly, if you desire it, Don John," replied Rodman. "Mr. Norwood is
+a big man, and he will be a capital live weight for us, if it happens to
+blow fresh."
+
+"I hope it will blow; if it don't, the Christabel is sure of the first
+prize. I want just such a day as we had when the Sea Foam cleaned out
+the Skylark."
+
+"That was a little too much of a good thing. You came pretty near taking
+the mast out of the Sea Foam that day."
+
+"Not at all; our masts don't come out so easily as that, though I think
+the mast of the Sea Foam would snap before she would capsize."
+
+"I like that in a boat; it is a good thing to have a craft that will
+stay right side up. The fellows have got another idea, Don John."
+
+"Well, ideas are good things to have. What is it now?" asked Donald.
+
+"They are going to build a club-house over on Turtle Head."
+
+"On Turtle Head! Why don't they have it down on Manhegan?" which is an
+island ten miles from the coast of Maine.
+
+"It will be only a shanty, where the fellows can have a good time, and
+get up chowders. They talk of hiring a hall in the city, and having
+meetings for mutual improvement during the fall and winter."
+
+"That will be a capital idea."
+
+"We can have a library of books on nautical and other subjects, take the
+newspapers and magazines, and hang up pictures of yachts and other
+vessels on the walls. I hope, when you get the Maud done, you will not
+be so busy, Don John, for you don't attend many of our club meetings."
+
+"I hope to be busier than ever. You see, Sam, I can't afford to run with
+you rich fellows. I don't wear kid gloves," laughed Donald.
+
+"No matter if you don't; you are just as good a fellow as any of them."
+
+"Everybody uses me first rate; as well as though my father had been a
+nabob."
+
+"Well, they ought to; for it is brains, not money, that makes the man.
+We want to see more of you in the club. You must go with us on our long
+cruise."
+
+"I am afraid I can't spare the time. Ten days is a good while; but it
+will depend upon whether I get the job to build Mr. Norwood's yacht."
+
+Donald would gladly have spent more time with the club, but his
+conscience would not permit him to neglect his business. He felt that
+his success depended entirely upon his own industry and diligence; and
+he never left his work, except when the occasion fully justified him in
+doing so. He attended all the regattas as a matter of business, as well
+as of pleasure; and he had seen the Sea Foam beaten twice by the
+Skylark since he won the memorable race in the former. Edward Patterdale
+was fully satisfied, now, that a skilful boatman was as necessary as a
+fast boat, in order to win the honors of the club, and he wished Donald
+to "coach" him, until he obtained the skill to compete with the
+commodore. Donald had promised to do it, as soon as he had time, and the
+owner of the Sea Foam hoped the opportunity would be afforded during the
+long cruise.
+
+The work on the Maud was hurried forward as rapidly as was consistent
+with thoroughness, and in a few days she was ready for the last coats of
+paint. The boat-builder was favored with good, dry weather, and on the
+day before the great regatta, she was ready to receive her furniture and
+stores. The paint was dry and hard; but when the stove-dealer came with
+the little galley for the cook-room, the deck was carefully covered with
+old cloths, the cushions were placed on the transoms, the oil-cloth
+carpet was laid on the floor by Kennedy, who was experienced in this
+kind of work, and Samuel Rodman was as busy as a bee arranging the
+crockery ware and stores which he had purchased. It only remained to
+bend on the sails, which was accomplished early in the afternoon.
+
+With Mr. Rodman, Samuel, and the two workmen on board, Donald made a
+trial trip in the new craft. The party went down the bay as far as Seal
+Harbor; but the wind was rather light for her, and she had no
+opportunity to show her sailing qualities, though with her gaff-topsail
+and the balloon-jib, she walked by everything afloat that day.
+
+"I am entirely satisfied with her, Don John," said Mr. Rodman, as the
+Maud approached the city on her return. "I think she will sail well."
+
+"I hope she will, sir," replied Donald. "To-morrow will prove what there
+is in her."
+
+"She is well built and handsomely finished, and whether she wins the
+race or not I shall be satisfied. I never looked upon a handsomer yacht
+in my life. You have done your work admirably, Don John."
+
+"Mr. Kennedy did the joiner work," said Donald, willing to have his
+foreman, as he called him, share the honors of the day.
+
+"He did it well."
+
+"I only did just what my boss ordered me to do," laughed Kennedy; "and
+I want to say, that I didn't do the first thing towards planning any
+part of her. Don John hasn't often asked for any advice from me. He is
+entitled to all the credit."
+
+"I have no doubt you did all you could to make the job a success," added
+Mr. Rodman.
+
+"I did; and so did Walker," said Kennedy, indicating the other ship
+carpenter. "Both of us did our very best, never idling a moment, or
+making a bad joint; and I can say, there isn't a better built craft in
+the United States than this yacht. Not a knot or a speck of rot has been
+put into her. Everything has been done upon honor, and she will be stiff
+enough to cross the Atlantic in mid-winter. I'd rather be in her than in
+many a ship I've worked on."
+
+"I'm glad to know all this," replied Mr. Rodman. "Now, Don John, if the
+firm of Ramsay & Son is ready to deliver the Maud, I will give you a
+check for the balance due on her."
+
+Donald was all ready, and after the yacht had been moored off the wharf
+where she had been completed, the business was transacted in the shop. A
+bill of sale was given, and the boat-builder received a check for four
+hundred dollars, which he carried into the house and showed to his
+mother. Of course the good lady was delighted with the success of her
+son, and Barbara laughed till she shook her curls into a fearful snarl.
+
+"You have done well, Donald," said Mrs. Ramsay. "I thank God that you
+have been so successful."
+
+"I have paid nearly all my bills, and I shall make about two hundred and
+fifty dollars on the job," added the young boat-builder. "I think I can
+build the next one for less money."
+
+"You may not get another one to build, my son."
+
+"That depends upon the race to-morrow. If I beat the Skylark, I'm sure
+of one."
+
+"Don't be too confident."
+
+"I am to sail the Maud to-morrow, and if there is any speed in her, as I
+think there is, I shall get it out of her. To-morrow will be a big day
+for me; but if I lose the race, the firm of Ramsay & Son is used up."
+
+Donald put the check in his wallet, and went out to the shop again,
+where he found Samuel Rodman looking for him. The owner of the Maud was
+so delighted with the craft, that he could not keep away from her, and
+he wanted to go on board again.
+
+"Bob Montague is going to give you a hard pull to-morrow, Don John,"
+said Rodman, as they got into the tender.
+
+"I hope he will do his best; and the harder the pull, the better,"
+replied Donald.
+
+"If we only beat him," suggested Rodman.
+
+"I expect to beat him; but I may be mistaken."
+
+"Bob hauled up the Skylark on the beach this afternoon, and rubbed her
+bottom with black lead."
+
+"I am glad to hear it."
+
+"Glad? Why?"
+
+"It proves that he means business."
+
+"Of course he means business."
+
+"I wonder if he knows I am to build a yacht for Mr. Norwood, in case I
+win this race."
+
+"I don't believe he does. I never heard of it till you told me."
+
+"He is such a splendid fellow, that I was afraid he would _let_ me beat
+him, if he knew I was to make anything by it."
+
+"I think it very likely he would."
+
+"But I want to beat the Skylark fairly, or not at all."
+
+"There comes Laud Cavendish," said Rodman, as the Juno came up the bay,
+and bore down upon the Maud. "He was blackballed in the club the other
+day, and he don't feel good. Let's go ashore again, and wait till he
+sheers off, for I don't want to see him. He will be sure to go on board
+of the yacht if we are there, for he is always poking his nose in where
+he is not wanted."
+
+Donald, who was at the oars, pulled back to the shore. The Juno ran
+close up to the Maud, tacked, and stood up the bay.
+
+"He is gone," said Rodman. "I don't want him asking me why he was
+blackballed. He is an intolerable spoony."
+
+"Don John!" called some one, as he was shoving off the tender.
+
+Donald looked up, and saw Mr. Beardsley, the deputy sheriff, who had
+been working up the tin box case with Captain Patterdale.
+
+"I want to see you," added the officer.
+
+Donald wondered if Mr. Beardsley wanted to see him officially; but he
+was thankful that he was able to look even a deputy sheriff square in
+the face.
+
+He jumped out of the tender, and Rodman went off to the yacht alone. We
+are somewhat better informed than the young boat-builder in regard to
+the visit of the sheriff, and we happen to know that he did come
+officially; and in order to explain why it was so, it is necessary to go
+back to the point where we left Mr. Laud Cavendish. He slept in the
+cabin of the Juno after he left the house of Captain Shivernock. He did
+not sleep any better than Donald Ramsay that night; and the long surges
+rolled in by the paddle-wheels of the steamer Richmond, as she came into
+the harbor early the next morning, awoke him.
+
+The first thing he thought of was his visit to the house of the strange
+man; the next was his breakfast, and he decided to go on shore, and get
+the meal at a restaurant. The Juno was moored near the steamboat wharf,
+where the Portland boat made her landings. This was a convenient place
+for him to disembark, and he pulled in his tender to the pier. As he
+approached the landing steps, he saw Captain Shivernock hastening down
+the wharf with a valise in his hand. It was evident that he was going up
+the river, perhaps to Bangor. Laud did not like the idea of the
+captain's going away just at that time. Donald had told Captain
+Patterdale that the mended bill came from him, and of course the owner
+of the tin box would immediately come to him for further information.
+
+"Then, if I tell him Captain Shivernock gave it to me, he will want to
+see him; and he won't be here to be seen," reasoned Laud. "I can't
+explain why the captain gave me the money, and in his absence I shall be
+in a bad fix. I must take care of myself."
+
+Laud went to the restaurant, and ate his breakfast; after which he
+returned to the Juno. He took care of himself by getting under way, and
+standing over towards Castine, where he dined that day. Then he
+continued his voyage down the bay, through Edgemoggin Reach to Mount
+Desert, where he staid several days, living upon "the fat of the land"
+and the fish of the sea, which go well together. When he was confident
+that Captain Shivernock had returned, he sailed for Belfast, and arrived
+after a two days' voyage. The strange man had not come back, and Laud
+thought it very singular that he had not. Then he began to wonder why
+the captain had laughed so unreasonably long and loud when he told him
+to say that he had given him the mended bill. Laud could not see the
+joke at the time; but now he concluded that the laugh came in because
+he was going away on a long journey, and would not be in town to answer
+any questions which Captain Patterdale might propose.
+
+Mr. Cavendish was disturbed, and felt that he was a victim of a
+practical joke, and he determined to get out of the way again.
+Unfortunately for him, he had shown himself in the city, and before he
+could leave he was interviewed by Captain Patterdale and Mr. Beardsley.
+The white cross of Denmark was pleasantly alluded to again by the
+former, and exhibited to Laud. Did he know that bill? Had he ever seen
+it before?
+
+He did not know it; had never seen it.
+
+It was no use to say, in the absence of that gentleman, that Captain
+Shivernock had given him the bill. It would be equally foolish to tell
+the Haddock Ledge story in the absence of the generous stranger, who had
+declined to give his name, though he was kind enough to say that he had
+spent a few days in Belfast. Since neither of these fictions was
+available in the present emergency, Laud "went back" on Donald Ramsay.
+He did not love the boat-builder, and so it was not a sacrifice of
+personal feeling for him to do it. On the contrary, he would rather
+like to get his "rival," as he chose to regard him, out of the way.
+
+"But you paid him a considerable sum of money some two months ago,"
+suggested Captain Patterdale.
+
+"Not a red!" protested Laud. "I never paid him any money in my life."
+
+"You bought the Juno of him."
+
+"No, sir; nor of any one else. She don't belong to me."
+
+"But you are using her all the time."
+
+"Captain Shivernock got tired of her, and lets me have the use of her
+for taking care of her."
+
+"Didn't you say you owned her, and that you were going to change her
+name from Juno to Nellie?" demanded the captain, sternly.
+
+"I did; but that was all gas," replied Laud, with a sickly grin.
+
+"If you would lie about one thing, perhaps you would about another,"
+said the captain.
+
+"I was only joking when I said I owned the Juno. If you will go up to
+Captain Shivernock's house, he will tell you all about it."
+
+That was a plain way to solve the problem, and they went to the strange
+man's house. Laud knew the captain was not at home; but his persecutors
+gave him the credit of suggesting this step. Sykes and his wife were at
+home. They did not know whether or not Captain Shivernock had given Laud
+the use of the Juno, but presumed he had, for the young man was in the
+house with him half the night, about ten days before. Thus far
+everything looked well for Laud; and the Sykeses partially confirmed his
+statements.
+
+"Now, Captain Patterdale, I have answered all your questions, and I wish
+you would answer mine. What's the matter?" said Laud, putting on his
+boldest face.
+
+"Never mind what the matter is."
+
+"Well, I know as well as you do. I used to think Don John was a good
+fellow, and liked him first rate. I didn't think he would be mean,
+enough to shove his own guilt upon me," replied Laud.
+
+"What do you mean by that?" demanded Captain Patterdale.
+
+"Though I knew about it all the time, I didn't mean to say a word."
+
+"About what?"
+
+[Illustration: THE PAPERS FROM THE TIN BOX. Page 281.]
+
+"About your tin trunk. We didn't keep any such in our store! I knew what
+you meant all the time; but I didn't let on that Don John had done it."
+
+"Done what?"
+
+"Stolen it. That day I was in the library with Don John and Hasbrook, I
+was discharged from Miller's, because I wanted to go away to stay over
+Sunday. I had a boat down by Ramsay's shop, and I went there to get off.
+Well, captain, I saw Don John have the same tin trunk I saw in your
+library."
+
+"Are you telling the truth?"
+
+"Of course I am. I wouldn't go back on Don John if he hadn't tried to
+lay it to me. If you search his house and shop, I'll bet you'll find the
+tin trunk, or some of the money and papers."
+
+Captain Patterdale was intensely grieved, even to believe Laud's
+statement was possibly true; but he decided to have the boat-builder's
+premises searched before he proceeded any further against Laud. Mr.
+Beardsley was to do this unpleasant duty, and for this purpose he called
+on Donald the night before the great race.
+
+The deputy sheriff did his work thoroughly, in spite of the confidence
+of Donald and the distress of his mother and sister. Perhaps he would
+not have discovered the four fifty-dollar bills concealed in the bureau
+if Donald had not assisted him; but he had no help in finding a lot of
+notes and other papers hidden under a sill in the shop. The boat-builder
+protested that he knew nothing about these papers, and had never seen
+them before in his life.
+
+Mrs. Ramsay and Barbara wept as though their hearts would break; but
+Donald was led away by the sheriff.
+
+That night Captain Shivernock returned by the train from Portland.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+SATURDAY COVE.
+
+
+Mr. Beardsley, the deputy sheriff, conducted Donald to the elegant
+mansion of Captain Patterdale. Perhaps no one who saw them walking
+together suspected that the boat-builder was charged with so gross a
+crime as stealing the tin box and its valuable contents. Some persons do
+not like to walk through the streets with sheriffs and policemen; but
+Donald was not of that sort, for in spite of all the evidence brought
+against him, he obstinately refused to believe that he was guilty. Even
+the fact that several notes and other papers had been found in the shop
+did not impair his belief in his own innocence. Captain Patterdale was
+in his library nervously awaiting the return of the officer, when they
+arrived.
+
+"Don John, I hope you will come out of this all right," said he, as they
+entered.
+
+"I have no doubt I shall, sir," replied Donald. "If I don't, it will be
+because I can't prove what is the truth."
+
+Mr. Beardsley reported the result of the search, and handed the captain
+the four fifty-dollar bills with the papers.
+
+"I have no doubt all these were in the tin box," said the nabob, sadly.
+"The bills are like those paid me by Hasbrook, and these notes are
+certainly mine. I don't ask you to commit yourself, Don John, but--"
+
+"Commit myself!" exclaimed Donald, with a look of contempt, which, in
+this connection, was sublime. "I mean to speak the truth, whether I am
+committed or not."
+
+"Perhaps you will be able to clear this thing up," added Captain
+Patterdale. "I wish to ask you a few questions."
+
+"I will answer them truly. The only wrong I have done was to conceal
+what I thought there was no harm in concealing."
+
+"It is not wise to do things in the dark."
+
+"You will excuse me, sir, but you have done the same thing. If I had
+known that your tin box was stolen, I should have understood several
+things which are plain to me now."
+
+"What, for instance?"
+
+"If I had known it, I should have brought these bills to you as soon as
+Laud paid them to me, to see if they belonged to you. And I should have
+known why Laud was digging clams on Turtle Head."
+
+"Laud says he paid you no money."
+
+"He paid me three hundred and fifty dollars for the Juno--these four
+bills and the three I paid Mr. Leach."
+
+"He persists that he don't own the Juno, and says that Captain
+Shivernock lets him have the use of her for taking care of her,"
+continued the nabob.
+
+Donald's face, which had thus far been clouded with anxiety, suddenly
+lighted up with a cheerful smile, as he produced the cover of an old
+tuck-diary, which contained the papers of Ramsay & Son. He opened it,
+and took therefrom the bill of sale of the Juno, in the well-known
+writing of Captain Shivernock.
+
+"Does that prove anything?" he asked, as he tossed the paper on the
+desk, within reach of the inquisitor.
+
+"It proves that Captain Shivernock sold the Juno to you, and
+consequently he has not owned her since the date of this bill," replied
+the nabob, as he read the paper.
+
+"Is it likely, then, that Captain Shivernock lets Laud have the use of
+her for taking care of her?" demanded Donald, warmly.
+
+"Certainly not."
+
+"Is it any more likely that, if I own the Juno, I should let Laud use
+her for nothing, for he says he never paid me a dollar?"
+
+"I don't think it is."
+
+"Then you can believe as much as you please of the rest of Laud's story,
+which Mr. Beardsley related to me as we walked up," added Donald.
+
+"He says he saw you have the tin box, Don John."
+
+"And I saw him digging clams in the loam on Turtle Head."
+
+"What do you mean by that?"
+
+"I think he buried the tin box there. I saw where he had been digging,
+but I didn't know any tin box had been stolen then, and thought nothing
+of it," answered Donald.
+
+At this moment there was a tremendous ring at the door bell, a ring
+that evidently "meant business." Captain Patterdale opened the door
+himself, and Captain Shivernock stalked into the room as haughtily as
+though he owned the elegant mansion. He had been to Newport and Cape May
+to keep cool, and had arrived a couple of hours before from Portland.
+Mrs. Sykes had told him all the news she could in this time, and among
+other things informed him that Captain Patterdale and the deputy sheriff
+had called to inquire whether Laud had the use of the boat for taking
+care of her. By this he knew that the tin trunk matter was under
+investigation. He was interested, and possibly he was alarmed; at any
+rate, he went to his safe, put the roll of fifty-dollar bills in his
+pocket, and hastened over to Captain Patterdale's house.
+
+"When people come to my house, and I'm not at home, I don't like to have
+them talk to my servants about my affairs," blustered the strange man.
+
+"I don't think we meddled with your affairs any further than to ask if
+Laud Cavendish had the use of the Juno for taking care of her,"
+explained Captain Patterdale.
+
+"It don't concern you. Laud Cavendish does have the use of the Juno for
+taking care of her."
+
+"Indeed!" exclaimed the good nabob, glancing at Donald.
+
+"Indeed!" sneered the wicked nabob. "You needn't _indeed_ anything I
+say. I can speak the truth better than you psalm-singers."
+
+"I am very glad you can, Captain Shivernock, for that is what we are in
+need of just now," laughed the good nabob. "And since we have meddled
+with your affairs in your absence, it is no more than right that we
+should explain the reason for doing so. A tin box, containing nearly
+fourteen hundred dollars in bills, and many valuable papers, was stolen
+from this room. Three persons, Jacob Hasbrook, Laud Cavendish, and Don
+John here, passed through the library when they left the house."
+
+"Hasbrook stole it; he is the biggest scoundrel of the three," added the
+wicked nabob.
+
+"Perhaps not," continued the good nabob. "A bill which I can identify
+came back to me the other day. Don John paid it to Mr. Leach, and he to
+me. Don John says Laud Cavendish paid him the bill."
+
+"And so he did," protested Donald, as the captain glanced at him.
+
+"And I gave it to Laud Cavendish," added Captain Shivernock; thus
+carrying out the programme which had been agreed upon the night before
+he went on his journey.
+
+Possibly, if Mr. Laud Cavendish had known that the wicked nabob had
+returned, he would have hastened to see him, and inform him of the
+change he had made in the programme. If he had done so, their stories
+might have agreed better. Captain Patterdale, Mr. Beardsley, and Donald
+were astonished at this admission.
+
+"For what did you pay it to him?" asked the good nabob.
+
+"None of your business what I paid it to him for. That's my affair,"
+bluffed the wicked nabob.
+
+"But this bill was in the box."
+
+"But how do you know it was? I suppose you will say next that I stole
+the box."
+
+"I hope you will assist me in tracing out this matter," said the good
+nabob, as he produced the mended bill. "This is the one; I call it the
+white cross of Denmark."
+
+Captain Shivernock picked up the bill, and took from his pocket his own
+roll of fifties.
+
+"You must admit that the bill is peculiar enough to be easily
+identified," added Captain Patter dale.
+
+"I don't admit it," said the strange man, as he threw the four mended
+bills together on the desk.
+
+"Now, which is it?"
+
+The wicked nabob laughed and roared in his delight when he saw the
+confusion of the good nabob.
+
+"They are very like," said the good.
+
+"But three of them are mine, and haven't been out of my hands since the
+'white cross of Denmark' was put upon them," added the wicked, still
+shaking his sides with mirth.
+
+"Still I can identify the one that was in the box. That is it;" and
+Captain Patterdale held up the right one. "This has been folded, while
+yours have simply been rolled, and have not a crease in them. Hasbrook
+paid me the money that was stolen."
+
+"The villain swindled it out of me," growled the wicked.
+
+"But he folded his money, however he got it," continued the good.
+
+"I can bring you a dozen bills with the white cross on them," blustered
+the wicked, "and all of them folded like that one."
+
+"Can you tell where you got it, captain?"
+
+"From the bank," replied he, promptly; and then more to have his hit at
+the missionaries than to explain the white cross, he told how the bills
+were torn. "That's all I have to say," he added; and he stalked out of
+the house, in spite of the host's request for him to remain, without
+giving a word or even a look to Donald.
+
+"I am astonished," said Captain Patterdale. "Can it be possible that he
+paid that bill to Laud?"
+
+Perhaps this was the joke of the strange man--simply to confuse and
+confound a "psalm-singer."
+
+"It looks as though we had lost the clew," said the deputy sheriff. "At
+any rate, Don John's story is confirmed."
+
+"Why should the captain give Laud so much money?" mused the nabob.
+
+"I know," said Donald. "I told you, in the first place, that I knew
+where Laud got the money to pay for the Juno; but it was a great secret
+affecting another person, and he wished me not to tell."
+
+"I remember that, Don John," added the captain.
+
+"He told me that Captain Shivernock gave him the money; but he would not
+tell me why he gave it to him; but I knew without any telling, for the
+captain gave me sixty dollars, besides the Juno, for holding my tongue."
+
+"About what?" asked the nabob, deeply interested in the narrative.
+
+"I don't understand the matter myself; but I will state all the facts,
+though Captain Shivernock threatened to kill me if I did so. On the
+morning after the Hasbrook outrage, while I was waiting on Turtle Head
+for the Yacht Club to arrive, the captain came to the Head, saying he
+had walked over from Seal Harbor, where he had got aground in his boat.
+I sailed him down, and on the way he gave me the money. Then he said I
+was not to mention the fact that I had seen him on Long Island, or
+anywhere else. I didn't make any promises, and told him I wouldn't lie
+about it. Then he gave me the Juno, and took my boat, which he returned
+that night. After I went up in the Juno, I met Laud, and offered to sell
+him the boat. When we parted, he stood over towards the Northport shore,
+where Captain Shivernock had gone, and I thought they would meet; but I
+lost sight of them."
+
+"Then you think the captain paid Laud the money when they met."
+
+"That was what I supposed when Laud paid me for the boat. I believed it
+was all right. I had a talk with Laud afterwards about it, and I told
+him how he got the money. He did not deny what I said."
+
+"This was the morning after the Hasbrook outrage--was it?" asked Mr.
+Beardsley.
+
+"Yes, it was; but I knew nothing about that till night."
+
+"We can easily understand why the captain did not want to be seen near
+Lincolnville," added the sheriff. "It was he who pounded Hasbrook for
+swindling him."
+
+"No, sir; I think not," interposed Donald. "I inquired into that matter
+myself. Mr. Sykes and his wife both told me, before the captain got
+home, that he left his house at four o'clock in the morning."
+
+"I am afraid they were instructed to say that," said the nabob.
+
+"They shall have a chance to say it in court under oath," added the
+officer; "for I will arrest the captain to-morrow for the outrage. I
+traced the steps of a man over to Saturday Cove, in Northport, and that
+is where he landed."
+
+"Was it the print of the captain's boot?" asked the nabob.
+
+"No; but I have a theory which I shall work up to-morrow. Don John's
+evidence is the first I have obtained, that amounts to anything."
+
+"If he pounded Hasbrook, why should he run over to Seal Harbor, when he
+had a fair wind to come up?" asked Donald.
+
+"To deceive you, as it seems he has," laughed Mr. Beardsley. "Probably
+getting aground deranged his plans."
+
+"But he ran over to Northport after we parted."
+
+"Because it was a better place to conceal himself during the day. Sykes
+says he went down to Vinal Haven that day. I know he did not. Now, Don
+John, we must go to Turtle Head to-night, and see about that box."
+
+"I am ready, sir."
+
+"I will go with you," added Captain Patterdale; "and we will take the
+Sea Foam."
+
+Donald was permitted to go home and comfort his mother with the
+assurance that he was entirely innocent of the crime with which he was
+charged; and great was the joy of his mother and sister. The mainsail of
+the Sea Foam was hoisted when he went on board. The wind was rather
+light, and it was midnight before the yacht anchored off Turtle Head.
+The party went ashore in the tender, the sheriff carrying a lantern and
+a shovel. Donald readily found the place where the earth had been
+disturbed by Laud's clam-digger. Mr. Beardsley dug till he came to a
+rock, and it was plain that no tin box was there.
+
+"But I am sure that Laud had been digging here, for I saw the print of
+his clam-digger," said Donald.
+
+"This hole had been dug before," added the sheriff.
+
+"Even Laud Cavendish would not be fool enough to bury the box in such an
+exposed place as this," suggested Captain Patterdale.
+
+"I know he came down here on the day the box was stolen," said Donald,
+"and that he was here with his clam-digger on the day I met Captain
+Shivernock. He must have put those papers in the shop."
+
+"If the box was ever buried here, it has been removed," added the
+captain.
+
+"Just look at the dirt which came out of the hole," continued Mr.
+Beardsley, pointing to the heap, and holding the lantern over it. "What
+I threw out last is beach gravel. That was put in to fill up the hole
+after he had taken out the box. When he first buried it, he had to carry
+off some of the yellow loam. In my opinion, the box has been here."
+
+"It is not here now, and we may as well return," replied Captain
+Patterdale. "I am really more desirous of finding the papers in the box
+than the money."
+
+"He has only chosen a new hiding-place for it," said the sheriff. "If we
+say nothing, and keep an eye on him for a few days, we may find it."
+
+As this was all that could be done, the party returned to the city; and
+early in the morning Donald went to bed, to obtain the rest he needed
+before the great day. Possibly Mr. Beardsley slept some that night,
+though it is certain he was at Saturday Cove, in Northport, the next
+forenoon. He had a "theory;" and when a man has a theory, he will
+sometimes go without his sleep in order to prove its truth or its
+falsity. Jacob Hasbrook was with him, and quite as much interested in
+the theory as the officer, who desired to vindicate his reputation as a
+detective. He had driven to the house of the victim of the outrage, and
+looked the matter over again in the light of the evidence obtained from
+the boat-builder.
+
+[Illustration: MORE EVIDENCE. Page 299.]
+
+"I have been trying to see Donald Ramsay," said Hasbrook. "I have been
+to his shop four times, but he's always off on some boat scrape. You say
+he saw Captain Shivernock the next morning."
+
+"Yes; and the captain didn't want to be seen, which is the best part of
+the testimony. If it was he, it seems to me you would have known him
+when he hammered you."
+
+"How could I, when he was rigged up so different, with his head all
+covered up?" replied Hasbrook, impatiently. "The man was about the
+captain's height, but stouter."
+
+"He was dressed for the occasion," added the sheriff, as he walked to
+the shore, where the skiff lay.
+
+They dragged it down to the water,--for it was low tide,--and got into
+it. Beardsley had traced to the cove the print of the heavy boot, which
+first appeared in some loam under the window where the ruffian had
+entered Hasbrook's house. He found it in the sand on the shore; and he
+was satisfied that the perpetrator of the outrage had arrived and
+departed in a boat. He had obtained from the captain's boot-maker a
+description of his boots, but none corresponded with those which had
+made the prints in Northport and Lincolnville.
+
+At the cove all clew to the ruffian had been lost; but now it was
+regained.
+
+The sheriff paddled the skiff out from the shore in the direction of
+Seal Island. The water was clear, and they could see the bottom, which
+they examined very carefully as they proceeded.
+
+"I see it," suddenly exclaimed Hasbrook, as he grasped the boat-hook.
+
+"Lay hold of it," added the sheriff. "I knew I was right."
+
+"I have it."
+
+Hasbrook hauled up what appeared to be a bundle of old clothes, and
+deposited it in the bottom of the skiff. Mr. Beardsley had worked up his
+case very thoroughly, though it was a little singular that he had not
+thought to ask Donald any questions; but these investigations had been
+made when the boat-builder was at home all the time, and the detective
+did not like to talk about the case any more than was necessary. He had
+ascertained that Captain Shivernock wore his usual gray suit when Donald
+saw him after the outrage, and he came to the conclusion that the
+ruffian had been disguised, for Hasbrook would certainly have known him,
+even in the dark, in his usual dress. They returned to the shore; and
+the bundle was lifted, to convey it to the beach.
+
+"It is very heavy," said Hasbrook. "I suppose there is a rock in it to
+sink it."
+
+"Open it, and throw out the rock," added the sheriff.
+
+Instead of a rock, the weight was half a pig of lead, which had
+evidently been chopped into two pieces with an axe.
+
+"That's good evidence, for the ballast of the Juno is pig lead," said
+Beardsley, as he stepped on the beach with the clothes in his hand.
+
+They were spread on the sand, and consisted of a large blue woolen
+frock, such as farmers sometimes wear, a pair of old trousers of very
+large size, and a pair of heavy cow-hide boots.
+
+"Now I think of it, the man had a frock on," exclaimed Hasbrook.
+
+"That's what made him look stouter than the captain," added Beardsley,
+as he proceeded to measure one of the boots, and compare it with the
+notes he had made of the size of the footprints. "It's a plain case;
+these boots made those tracks."
+
+"And here's the club he pounded me with," said Hasbrook, taking up a
+heavy stick that had been in the bundle.
+
+"But where in the world did Captain Shivernock get these old duds?"
+mused the sheriff.
+
+"Of course he procured them to do this job with," replied Hasbrook.
+
+"That's clear enough; but where did they come from? He has covered his
+tracks so well, that he wouldn't pick these things up near home."
+
+"There comes a boat," said the victim of the outrage, as a sail rounded
+the point.
+
+"Get out of the way as quick as you can," added the sheriff, in excited
+tones, as he led the way into the woods near the cove, carrying the wet
+clothes and boots with him.
+
+"What's the matter now?" demanded Hasbrook.
+
+"That boat is the Juno; Laud Cavendish is in her, and I want to know
+what he is about. Don't speak a word, or make a particle of noise. If
+you do, he will sheer off; and I want to see the ballast in that boat."
+
+Laud ran his craft up to the rocks on one side of the cove, where he
+could land from her; but as it is eleven o'clock, the hour appointed for
+the regatta, we must return to the city.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+THE GREAT RACE.
+
+
+It was nine o'clock when Donald turned out on the day of the great
+regatta. He had returned at three in the morning, nearly exhausted by
+fatigue and anxiety. It was horrible to be suspected of a crime; and
+bravely as he had carried himself, he was sorely worried. He talked the
+matter over with his mother and sister while he was eating his
+breakfast.
+
+"Why should Laud Cavendish charge you with such a wicked deed?" asked
+his mother.
+
+"To save himself, I suppose," replied Donald. "But he won't make
+anything by it. He hid those papers in the shop within a day or two, I
+am sure, for I had my hand in the place where he put them, feeling for a
+brad-awl I dropped day before yesterday, and I know they were not there
+then. But he is used up, anyhow, whether we find the box or not, for he
+tells one story and Captain Shivernock another; and I think Captain
+Patterdale believes what I say now. But the race comes off to-day, and
+if I lose it, I am used up too."
+
+The boat-builder left the house, and went on board of the Maud, which
+lay off the shop. Samuel Rodman was on deck, and they hoisted the
+mainsail. The wind had hauled round to the north-west early in the
+morning, and blew a smashing breeze, just such as Donald wanted for the
+great occasion. In fact, it blew almost a gale, and the wind came in
+heavy gusts, which are very trying to the nerves of an inexperienced
+boatman. The Penobscot, gayly dressed with flags, was moored in her
+position for the use of the judges.
+
+"We shall not want any kites to-day," said Donald, as he made fast the
+throat halyard.
+
+"No; and you may have to reef this mainsail," added Rodman.
+
+"Not at all."
+
+"But it is flawy."
+
+"So much the better."
+
+"Why so?"
+
+"Because a fellow that understands himself and keeps his eyes wide open
+has a chance to gain something on the heavy flaws that almost knock a
+boat over. It makes a sharper game of it."
+
+"But Commodore Montague is up to all those dodges."
+
+"I know he is; but in the other race, he lost half his time by luffing
+up in a squall."
+
+"But don't you expect a fellow to luff up in a squall?" demanded Rodman.
+
+"If necessary, yes; but the point is, to know when it must be done. If
+you let off the main-sheet or spill the sail every time a puff comes,
+you lose time," replied Donald. "I believe in keeping on the safe side;
+but a fellow may lose the race by dodging every capful of wind that
+comes. There goes the first gun."
+
+"Let us get into line," added Rodman, as he cast off the moorings and
+hoisted the jib. "Let her drive."
+
+Donald took the helm, and the Maud shot away like an arrow in the fresh
+breeze.
+
+"Her sails set beautifully," said the skipper for the occasion; though
+Rodman was nominally the captain of the yacht, and was so recorded in
+the books of the club.
+
+"Nothing could be better."
+
+"We shall soon ascertain how stiff she is," added Donald, as a heavy
+flaw heeled the yacht over, till she buried her rail in the water. "I
+don't think we shall get anything stronger than that. She goes down just
+so far, and then the wind seems to slide off. I don't believe you can
+get her over any farther."
+
+"That's far enough," replied Rodman, holding on, to keep his seat in the
+standing-room.
+
+The Maud passed under the stern of the judges' yacht, and anchored in
+the line indicated by the captain of the fleet. The Skylark soon
+arrived, and took her place next to the Penobscot. In these two yachts
+all the interest of the occasion centred. The Phantom and the Sea Foam
+soon came into line; and then it was found that the Christabel had
+withdrawn, for it blew too hard for her. Mr. Norwood and his son came on
+board, with Dick Adams, who was to be mate of the Maud, and Kennedy, who
+was well skilled in sailing a boat. Donald had just the crew he wanted,
+and he stationed them for the exciting race. Mr. Norwood was to tend the
+jib-sheets in the standing-room, Kennedy the main sheet, while Dick
+Adams, Frank Norwood, and Sam Rodman were to cast off the cable and
+hoist the jib forward.
+
+"Are you all ready, there?" called Donald, raising his voice above the
+noise made by the banging of the mainsail in the fresh breeze.
+
+"All ready," replied Dick Adams, who was holding the rode with a turn
+around the bitts.
+
+"Don't let her go till I give the word," added Donald. "I want to fill
+on the port tack."
+
+"Ay, ay!" shouted Dick; "on the port tack."
+
+This was a very important matter, for the course from the judges'
+station to Turtle Head would give the yachts the wind on the port
+quarter; and if any of them came about the wrong way, they would be
+compelled to gybe, which was not a pleasant operation in so stiff a
+breeze. Donald kept hold of the main-sheet, and by managing the sail a
+little, contrived to have the tendency of the Maud in the right
+direction, so that her sail would fill on the port tack. He saw that
+Dick Adams had the tender on the port bow, so that the yacht would not
+run it down when she went off.
+
+"There goes the gun!" shouted Rodman, very much excited as the decisive
+moment came.
+
+But Dick Adams held on, as he had been instructed to do, and pulled with
+all his might, in order to throw the head of the Maud in the right
+direction.
+
+"Hoist the jib!" shouted Donald, when he saw that the yacht was sure to
+cast on her port tack.
+
+Rodman and Norwood worked lively; and in an instant the jib was up, and
+Mr. Norwood had gathered up the lee sheet.
+
+"Let go!" added Donald, when he felt that the Maud was in condition to
+go off lively.
+
+She did go off with a bound and a spring. Donald crowded the helm hard
+up, so that the Maud wore short around.
+
+"Let off the sheet, lively, Kennedy!" said the skipper. "Ease off the
+jib-sheet, Mr. Norwood!"
+
+"We shall be afoul of the Phantom!" cried Dick Adams, as he began to run
+out on the foot-ropes by the bowsprit.
+
+"Lay in, Dick!" shouted Donald. "Don't go out there!"
+
+Dick retraced his steps, and came on deck. The Phantom had not cast in
+the right direction, and was coming around on the starboard tack, which
+had very nearly produced a collision with the Maud, the two bowsprits
+coming within a few inches of each other.
+
+"I was going out to fend off," said Dick, as he came aft, in obedience
+to orders.
+
+"I was afraid you would be knocked off the bowsprit, which is a bad
+place to be, when two vessels put their noses together. It was a close
+shave, but we are all right now," replied the skipper.
+
+"The Sea Foam takes the lead," added Mr. Norwood.
+
+"She had the head end of the line. The Skylark made a good start."
+
+"First rate," said Kennedy. "She couldn't be handled any better than she
+is."
+
+"We lead her a little," continued Mr. Norwood.
+
+"We had the advantage of her about half a length; as the Sea Foam has a
+length the best of us."
+
+The yachts were to form the line head to the wind, and this line was
+diagonal with the course to Turtle Head, so that the Sea Foam, which was
+farthest from the Penobscot, had really two length's less distance to go
+in getting to Stubb's Point Ledge than the Skylark; but this difference
+was not worth considering in such a breeze, though, if the commodore was
+beaten by only half a length by the Maud, he intended to claim the race
+on account of this disparity. The two yachts in which all the interest
+centred, both obtained a fair start, the Maud a little ahead of her
+great rival. The Phantom had to come about, and get on the right tack,
+for Guilford was too careful to gybe in that wind. The Sea Foam got off
+very well; and Vice Commodore Patterdale was doing his best to make a
+good show for his yacht, but she held her position only for a moment.
+The tremendous gusts were too much for Edward's nerves, and he luffed
+up, in order to escape one. The Maud went tearing by her, with the
+Skylark over lapping her half a length.
+
+"Haul up the centre-board a little more, Dick," said Donald, who did not
+bestow a single glance upon his dreaded rival, for all his attention was
+given to the sailing of the Maud. "A small pull on the jib-sheet, Mr.
+Norwood, if you please."
+
+"You gained an inch then," said Kennedy, striving to encourage the
+struggling skipper.
+
+But Donald would not look at the Skylark. He knew that the shortest
+distance between two points was by a straight line; and having taken a
+tree on the main land near Castine as his objective point, he kept it in
+range with the tompion in the stove-pipe, and did not permit the Maud to
+wabble about. Occasionally the heavy gusts buried the rail in the brine;
+but Donald did not permit her to dodge it, or to deviate from his
+inflexible straight line. She went down just so far, and would go no
+farther; and at these times it was rather difficult to keep on the seat
+at the weather side of the standing-room. Dick Adams, Norwood, and
+Rodman were placed on deck above the trunk, and had a comfortable
+position. The skipper kept his feet braced against the cleats on the
+floor, holding on with both hands at the tiller; for in such a blow, it
+was no child's play to steer such a yacht.
+
+"You are gaining on her, Don John," said Mr. Norwood.
+
+"Do you think so, sir?"
+
+"I know it."
+
+"The end of her bowsprit is about even with the tip of our main boom,"
+added Kennedy.
+
+"How much fin have we down, Dick?" asked the skipper.
+
+The mate of the Maud rushed to the cabin, where the line attached to the
+centre-board was made fast, and reported on its condition.
+
+"Haul up a little more," continued Donald. "Steady! Not the whole of it,
+but nearly all."
+
+"It is down about six inches now."
+
+"That will do."
+
+For a few moments all hands were still, watching with intense interest
+the progress of the race. The commodore, in the Skylark, was evidently
+doing his level best, for he was running away from the Sea Foam and the
+Phantom.
+
+"Bravo, Don John!" exclaimed the excited Mr. Norwood. "You are a full
+length ahead! I am willing to sign the contract with Ramsay & Son to
+build the yacht for me."
+
+"Don't be too fast, sir. We are not out of the woods yet, and shall not
+be for some time."
+
+"I am satisfied we are going to beat the Skylark."
+
+"Beat her all to pieces!" added Frank Norwood. "She is doing it as
+easily as though she were used to it."
+
+"I give you the order to build the yacht," said Mr. Norwood.
+
+"Thank you, sir; but I would rather wait till this race is finished
+before I take the job. We may be beaten yet--badly beaten, too. There
+are a dozen things that may use us up. The tide is not up, so that I
+can't play off the dodge I did in the Sea Foam; and if I could, Bob
+Montague is up to it."
+
+"There is no need of any dodge of any sort," replied Mr. Norwood. "We
+are beating the Skylark without manoeuvring; and that is the fairest way
+in the world to do it."
+
+"This is plain sailing, sir; and the Skylark's best point is on the
+wind. For aught I know, the Maud may do the best with a free wind," said
+Donald; and he had well nigh shuddered when he thought of the difference
+in yachts in this respect.
+
+"It may be so; but we are at least two lengths ahead of her now."
+
+"Over three," said Kennedy.
+
+"So much the better," laughed Mr. Norwood. "The more we gain with the
+wind free, the less we shall have to make on the wind."
+
+"But really, sir, this running down here almost before the wind is
+nothing," protested Donald, who felt that his passenger was indulging in
+strong expectations, which might not be realized. "The tug of war will
+come when we go about. We have to beat almost dead to windward; and it
+may be the Maud has given us her best point off the wind."
+
+"You don't expect her to fail on the wind--do you, Don John."
+
+"No, sir; I don't expect her to fail, for she did first rate yesterday,
+when we tried her. She looked the breeze almost square in the face: but
+I can't tell how she will do in comparison with the Skylark. Of course I
+don't expect the Maud to be beaten; but I don't want you to get your
+hopes up so high, that you can't bear a disappointment."
+
+"We will try to bear it; but Frank don't want a yacht that is sure to be
+beaten," added Mr. Norwood.
+
+"Then perhaps it is fortunate I didn't take the job, when you offered to
+give it to me."
+
+"But I think the Maud will win the race," persisted the confident
+gentleman.
+
+"So do I; but it is always best to have an anchor out to windward."
+
+"Bully for you, Don John!" shouted Kennedy, after the yacht had crossed
+the channel where the sea was very rough and choppy. "You made a good
+bit in the last quarter of an hour, and we are a dozen lengths ahead of
+her."
+
+"Surely she can never gain that distance upon us!" exclaimed Mr.
+Norwood.
+
+"It is quite possible, sir. I have known a boat to get a full mile ahead
+of another before the wind, and then be beaten by losing it all, and
+more too, going to windward. I expect better things than that of the
+Maud; but she may disappoint me. She is only making her reputation now."
+
+Donald watched his "sight" ahead all the time, and had not seen the
+Skylark for half an hour. The party was silent again for a while, but
+the Maud dashed furiously on her course, now and then burying her rail,
+while the water shot up through the lee scupper-holes into the
+standing-room. But Dick Adams, who was a natural mechanic, was making a
+pair of plugs to abate this nuisance.
+
+"Turtle Head!" exclaimed Rodman, who, though he had said but little,
+watched the movements of the yacht with the most intense delight and
+excitement.
+
+"We are a square quarter of a mile ahead of the Skylark," said Kennedy.
+"Business will be good with us, Don John, after this."
+
+"Give her a little more main-sheet, Kennedy," was the skipper's reply,
+as the yacht passed the Head, and he kept her away a little.
+
+"Eleven thirty," mused Mr. Norwood, who had taken out his gold watch,
+and noted the moment when the Maud passed the headland.
+
+"Now, mind your eye, all hands!" shouted Donald, as the Maud approached
+the north-east point of Long Island, where he had to change her course
+from south-east to south, which involved the necessity, with the wind
+north-west, of gybing, or coming about head to the wind.
+
+It would take a small fraction of a minute to execute the latter
+manoeuvre; and as the sails were now partially sheltered under the lee
+of the land, the bold skipper determined to gybe. Kennedy had early
+notice of his intention, and had laid the spare sheet where it would not
+foul anybody's legs. He hauled in all he could with the help of the mate
+and others.
+
+"Now, over with it," said Donald, as he put the helm down.
+
+The huge mainsail fluttered and thrashed for an instant, and then flew
+over. Kennedy, who had been careful to catch a turn in the rope, held
+fast when the sail "fetched up" on the other tack, and then the yacht
+rolled her rail under on the port side.
+
+"Let off the sheet, lively!" cried Donald.
+
+"That's what I'm doing," replied the stout ship carpenter, paying off
+the sheet very rapidly, so as to break the shock.
+
+"Steady! belay! Now draw jib there."
+
+As Dick Adams cast off the weather sheet in the new position, Mr.
+Norwood hauled in the lee. For a short distance the Maud had the wind on
+her starboard quarter; then the sheets were hauled in, and she took it
+on the beam, till she was up with the buoy on Stubbs Point Ledge, which
+she was to round, leaving it on the port. The ledge was not far from the
+land, on which was a considerable bluff, so that the wind had not more
+than half its force. In rounding the buoy, it was necessary to gybe
+again; and it was done without shaking up the yacht half so much as at
+the north-east point.
+
+"Now comes the pull," said Donald, as the Maud rounded the buoy. "Stand
+by your sheets! Now brace her up! Give her the whole of the board,
+Dick."
+
+Donald put the helm down; the jib and mainsail were trimmed as flat as
+it was judicious to have them; and the Maud was close-hauled, standing
+up to the northward. The skipper was careful not to cramp her by laying
+too close to the wind. He was an experienced boatman, and he governed
+himself more by the feeling of the craft under him than by his sight. He
+could shut his eyes, and tell by the pressure of the tiller in his hand
+whether she was cramped, or was going along through the water.
+
+"Did you get the time when the Skylark passed the Head, Mr. Norwood?"
+asked Donald.
+
+"No; you made things so lively, I hadn't time to look," replied the
+gentleman. "I should like to know just how many minutes we are ahead of
+her."
+
+"I think I can tell you, sir," added the skipper, with a smile.
+
+"How many?"
+
+"How many do you think, sir?"
+
+"Five or six."
+
+"Not more than one and a half, Mr. Norwood. Neither yacht has to give
+the other time, and what we gain belongs to us."
+
+"I should have thought we were at least five minutes ahead of her."
+
+"No, sir. Now we have a chance to manoeuvre a little," added Donald. "I
+know just what the commodore will do; he will stand on this tack, when
+he gets round the buoy, till he is almost up with Brigadier Island; then
+he will make a long stretch. I shall not do so."
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"Because, if the wind lessens, he will get under the lee of the land. I
+shall go just one mile on this tack," replied Donald. "Have you any
+rubber coats on board, Sam?"
+
+"I have only two."
+
+"You will want them, for we are beginning to toss the spray about, as
+though it didn't cost anything."
+
+It was decidedly damp on the deck of the Maud, for the water thrown up
+by the waves, dashing against the weather bow, was carried by the gusty
+wind to the standing-room, drenching those who sat there. Donald and his
+companions had no fear of salt water, and were just as happy wet to the
+skin, as they were when entirely dry, for the excitement was quite
+enough to keep them warm, even in a chill, north-west wind. Half way
+across to Brigadier Island, Donald gave the order, "Ready about," and
+tacked. As he had predicted, Commodore Montague continued on his course,
+almost over to the island, and then came about. The Maud rushed
+furiously on her long stretch, dashing the spray recklessly over her
+deck, till she was almost up with the Northport shore, when she tacked
+again, and laid her course to windward of the judges' yacht, as the
+regulations required. As she rounded the Penobscot, a gun announced the
+arrival of the first yacht. The Maud let off her sheets, and passed
+under the stern of the judges' craft.
+
+"The Maud!" shouted Donald, enraptured with his victory.
+
+Four minutes and thirty-four seconds later, the gun announced the
+arrival of the Skylark. It was all of twenty minutes later when the Sea
+Foam arrived, and half an hour before the Phantom put in an appearance.
+There was not a shadow of a doubt that the Maud had won the great race.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+THE HASBROOK OUTRAGE AND OTHER MATTERS.
+
+
+The Maud went round to the line, and after picking up her tender and
+moorings, anchored near the Penobscot.
+
+"There is no doubt now which boat has won the race," said Mr. Norwood.
+
+"None whatever, sir," replied Donald. "The day is ours by as fair a race
+as ever was sailed. The Maud proved what she could do before we got to
+Turtle Head; and all the conditions were exactly equal up to that time.
+If I made anything by manoeuvring, it was only when we tacked a mile
+north of the Head. We have beaten her squarely in a heavy wind; but how
+she would do compared with the Skylark in a light breeze, is yet to be
+proved."
+
+"I am satisfied, Don John; and I give you the job to build the Alice,
+for that is to be the name of Frank's yacht."
+
+"Thank you, sir. I suppose you don't expect to get her out this season."
+
+"No; if he has her by the first of June of next year, it will be soon
+enough.--I hope you are satisfied with the Maud, Sam," added Mr.
+Norwood, turning to the owner of the winning craft.
+
+"I ought to be, and I am," replied Rodman.
+
+"You have the fastest yacht in the fleet."
+
+"She won't be when I sail her. The commodore will clean me out every
+time, if Don John is not at the helm."
+
+"Then there is a capital opportunity for you to improve in the art of
+sailing a yacht."
+
+"Plenty of room for that," laughed Rodman.
+
+Dick Adams brought the tender alongside, and pulled Mr. Norwood, Rodman,
+and Donald to the Penobscot.
+
+"I congratulate you, Don John," said Mr. Montague, extending his hand to
+the boat-builder. "You have won the race handsomely."
+
+"Thank you, sir."
+
+"It is a double triumph to you, since you both built your yacht, and
+sailed her," added Mr. Montague.
+
+"It is worth a good deal to me in a business point of view; for I get a
+job to build another yacht by it. The firm of Ramsay & Son can't afford
+to have their boats beaten," laughed Donald. "Here comes Robert."
+
+"I suppose he will not be satisfied with the Skylark, now that she has
+been so thoroughly whipped," added the commodore's father.
+
+"Perfectly satisfied with her, father. She is as good a boat as she ever
+was," answered Robert, as he gave his hand to Donald. "You have won the
+race fairly and handsomely, Don John; and I congratulate you upon your
+success."
+
+"I thank you, Bob; but I would rather have beaten any other fellow than
+you," replied Donald.
+
+"I can stand it as well as anybody."
+
+The ladies and gentlemen on board of the Penobscot congratulated the
+hero of the occasion, and condoled with the commodore, till the last of
+the fleet arrived. The judges filled out the schedule with the corrected
+time.
+
+"Captain Rodman, of the Maud," said the chairman; and the owner of the
+winning yacht stepped forward. "It appears from the schedule that you
+have made the shortest time, and I have the pleasure of presenting to
+you the first prize."
+
+"Thank you, sir," replied Rodman, accepting the envelope, which
+contained the prize of one hundred dollars; "but as it appears that
+Donald Ramsay sailed the Maud, as well as built her, I shall have the
+pleasure of presenting it to him."
+
+A round of hearty applause followed this little speech, which ended in
+three cheers for the captain of the Maud, and three more for her
+builder.
+
+"I can't take that," said Donald, declining to receive the envelope.
+
+"But you must take it. I will hand you over to Mr. Deputy Sheriff
+Beardsley, who, I see, is coming up the bay in the Juno."
+
+"It don't belong to me. I am not the owner of the Maud," protested
+Donald.
+
+"Take it! take it!" shouted one and another of the interested
+spectators, until nearly all of them had expressed their opinion in this
+way.
+
+Thus overborne, the boat-builder took the envelope, though his pride
+revolted.
+
+"Commodore Montague, it appears that the Skylark made the next best
+time, and I have the pleasure of presenting to you the second prize."
+
+"Which I devote to the club for the building fund."
+
+The members heartily applauded this disposal of the money.
+
+"I will give the other prize to the club for the same purpose," added
+Donald.
+
+"Impossible!" exclaimed Commodore Montague. "The fund is completed, and
+the donation cannot be accepted."
+
+"No! No!" shouted the members.
+
+"The fifty dollars I added to the fund just makes up the sum necessary
+to pay for the club-house on Turtle Head, which is to be only a shanty;
+so you can't play that game on us, Don John."
+
+Donald was compelled to submit; and he transferred the hundred dollars
+to his pocket-book.
+
+"I am so glad you won the race, Don John!" said Nellie Patterdale.
+"Everybody said you sailed the Maud splendidly."
+
+"Thank you, Nellie; your praise is worth more to me than that of all the
+others," replied Donald, blushing deeply; but I must do him the justice
+to say that, if he had not been laboring under intense excitement, he
+would not have made so palpable a speech to her.
+
+Nellie blushed too; but she was not angry, though her father might have
+been, if he had heard the remark.
+
+"Is Captain Patterdale on board?" shouted Mr. Beardsley, as the Juno ran
+under the stern of the Penobscot.
+
+"Here," replied the captain.
+
+"I want to see you and Don John," added the officer.
+
+The business of the race was finished, and the Maud conveyed Captain
+Patterdale, his daughter, and Donald to the shore. Laud Cavendish was in
+the Juno, and so was Hasbrook; but none of the party knew what had
+transpired at Saturday Cove during the forenoon.
+
+"I will be at your house in half an hour, Captain Patterdale," said
+Donald, as they landed. "I am wet to the skin, and I want to put on dry
+clothes."
+
+Mr. Beardsley had proposed the place of meeting; and the boat-builder
+hastened home. In a few minutes he had put himself inside a dry suit of
+clothes. Then he went to the shop, and wrote a brief note to Captain
+Shivernock, in which he enclosed sixty dollars, explaining that as he
+had been unable to "keep still with his tongue," he could not keep the
+money. He also added, that he should send him the amount received for
+the Juno when he obtained the bills from Captain Patterdale, who had a
+part of them. Sealing this note in an envelope, he called at the house
+of the strange man, on his way to the place of meeting. Mrs. Sykes said
+that Captain Shivernock was in his library.
+
+"Please to give him this; and if he wishes to see me, I shall be at
+Captain Patterdale's house for an hour or two," continued Donald; and
+without giving the housekeeper time to reply, he hastened off, confident
+there would be a storm as soon as the eccentric opened the note.
+
+In the library of the elegant mansion, he found the party who had been
+in the Juno, with Captain Patterdale and Nellie. On the desk was the tin
+box, the paint on the outside stained with yellow loam. Laud Cavendish
+looked as though life was a burden to him, and Donald readily
+comprehended the situation.
+
+"We have found the tin box," said Mr. Beardsley, with a smile, as the
+boat-builder was admitted.
+
+"Where did you find it?"
+
+"Laud had it in his hand down at Saturday Cove. While I was looking up
+the Hasbrook affair, our friend here landed from the Juno, and was
+walking towards the woods, when he walked into me. He owns up to
+everything."
+
+"Then I hope you are satisfied that I had nothing to do with the box."
+
+"Of course we are," interposed Captain Patterdale. "It certainly looked
+bad for you at one time, Don John."
+
+"I know it did, sir," added Donald.
+
+"But I could not really believe that you would do such a thing," said
+the captain.
+
+"I knew he wouldn't," exclaimed Nellie.
+
+"Laud says he buried the box on Turtle Head, just where you said, and
+only removed it yesterday, when he put the notes under the sill in your
+shop," continued Mr. Beardsley.
+
+"What did you do that for, Laud?" asked Donald, turning to the culprit.
+
+"You promised not to tell where I got the money to pay for the Juno. You
+went back on me," pleaded Laud.
+
+"I told you I wouldn't tell if everything was all right. When it
+appeared that the mended bill was not all right, I mentioned your name,
+but not till then."
+
+"That is so," added the nabob. "Now, Laud, did Captain Shivernock pay
+you any money?"
+
+"No, sir," replied Laud, who had concluded to tell the whole truth,
+hoping it would go easier with him if he did so.
+
+"Where did you get the mended bill you paid Don John?"
+
+"From the tin trunk."
+
+"Why did you say that Captain Shivernock gave you the money you paid for
+the Juno?"
+
+"I couldn't account for it in any other way. I knew the captain threw
+his money around very loosely, and I didn't think any one would ask him
+if he gave me the money. If any one did, he wouldn't answer."
+
+"But he did answer, and said he gave you the money."
+
+"He told me he would say so, when I went to see him a fortnight ago."
+
+"Why did you go to see him?"
+
+Laud glanced at Donald with a faint smile on his haggard face.
+
+"Don John told me Captain Shivernock had a secret he wanted to keep."
+
+"I told you so!" exclaimed Donald.
+
+"You did; but you thought I knew the secret," answered Laud. "You told
+me the captain had given me the money not to tell that I had seen him
+near Saturday Cove on the morning after the Hasbrook affair."
+
+"I remember now," said Donald. "Captain Shivernock gave me sixty
+dollars, and then gave me the Juno, for which I understood that I was
+not to say I had seen him that day. I refused to sell the boat to Laud
+till he told me where he got the money. When he told me the captain had
+given it to him, and would not say what for, I concluded his case was
+just the same as my own. After I left the captain, he stood over to the
+Northport shore, and Laud went over there soon after. I was sure that
+they met."
+
+"We didn't meet; and I did not see Captain Shivernock that day," Laud
+explained.
+
+"I supposed he had; I spoke to Laud just as though he had, and he didn't
+deny that he had seen him."
+
+"Of course I didn't. Don John made my story good, and I was willing to
+stick to it."
+
+"But you did not stick to it," added the nabob. "You said you had paid
+no money to Don John."
+
+"I will tell you how that was. When I got the secret out of Don John, I
+went to the captain with it. He asked me if I wanted to black-mail him.
+I told him no. Then I spoke to him about the tin trunk you had lost, and
+said one of the bills had been traced to me. I made up a story to show
+where I got the bill; but the man that gave it to me had gone, and I
+didn't even know his name. He had some bills just like that mended one;
+and when I told him what my trouble was, he promised to say that he had
+given me the bill; and then he laughed as I never saw a man laugh
+before."
+
+"What was he laughing at?" asked the sheriff.
+
+"He went off early the next morning, and I suppose he was laughing to
+think what a joke he was playing upon me, for he was not to be in town
+when wanted to get me out of trouble."
+
+"He did say he let you have the use of the Juno for taking care of her,
+and that he gave you the money, though he wouldn't indicate what it was
+for," added the officer.
+
+"I thought he was fooling me, and I didn't depend on him."
+
+"That's Captain Shivernock," said the good nabob, as the party in the
+library were startled by a violent ring at the door.
+
+It was the strange man. He was admitted by Nellie. He stalked up to
+Donald, his face red with wrath, and dashed the letter and bills into
+his face, crumpled up into a ball.
+
+"You canting little monkey! What have you been doing?" roared he.
+
+"Since I could not do what you wished me to do, I have returned your
+money," replied Donald, rising from his chair, for he feared the captain
+intended to assault him.
+
+"Have you disobeyed my orders, you whelp?"
+
+"I have; for I told you I should tell no lies."
+
+"I'll break every bone in your body for this!" howled Captain
+Shivernock.
+
+"Not yet, captain," interposed Mr. Beardsley. "You may have something
+else to break before you do that job."
+
+"Who are you?" demanded the wicked nabob, with what was intended as a
+withering sneer; but no one wilted under it.
+
+"A deputy sheriff of Waldo County, at your service; and I have a warrant
+for your arrest."
+
+"For my arrest!" gasped Captain Shivernock, dismounting from his high
+horse, for he had a wholesome fear of the penalties of violated law.
+
+"Here is the document," added the sheriff, producing a paper.
+
+"For what?"
+
+"For breaking and entering in the night time, in the first place, and
+for an aggravated assault on Jacob Hasbrook in the second."
+
+"What assault? You can't prove it."
+
+"Yes, we can; we went a-fishing down in Saturday Cove this morning, and
+we caught a bundle, containing a pair of boots, a blue frock, and other
+articles, including the stick the assault was committed with. They were
+sunk with half a pig of lead, the other half of which I found in the
+Juno. I hope you are satisfied."
+
+"No, I'm not. I didn't leave my house till four o'clock that morning;
+and I can prove it."
+
+"You will have an opportunity to do so in court."
+
+The wicked nabob was silent.
+
+"I was bound to follow this thing up to the bitter end," said Hasbrook,
+rejoiced at the detection of the wretch.
+
+"You got what you deserved, you miserable, canting villain!" roared the
+captain. "You cheated me out of a thousand dollars, by giving me an
+indorser you knew wasn't worth a dollar."
+
+"But I meant to pay you. I pay my debts. I appeal to Captain Patterdale
+to say whether I do or not."
+
+"I think you do when it is for your interest to do so, or when you can't
+help it," added the good nabob, candidly. "I suppose you know Mr. Laud
+Cavendish, captain?"
+
+"I do," growled the rich culprit. "He is the fellow that saved a man's
+life down at Haddock Ledge; a man he hadn't been introduced to, who gave
+him a pile of money for the job, but didn't give him his name."
+
+"But, Captain Shivernock, you said you gave him some money, and you
+didn't tell us what you gave it to him for," added Beardsley.
+
+"That was my joke."
+
+"We do not see the point of it."
+
+"I only wanted the privilege of proving to Captain Patterdale that he
+was mistaken about the bill, by showing him three more just like it."
+
+"How do you fold your money, Captain Shivernock?" asked the nabob.
+
+"None of your business, you canting psalm-singer."
+
+"I shall be obliged to commit you," said the sheriff, sharply.
+
+"Commit me!" howled the wicked nabob. "I should like to see you do it."
+
+"You shall have that satisfaction. If you give me any trouble about it,
+I shall have to put these things on," added the sheriff, taking from his
+pocket a pair of handcuffs.
+
+The culprit withered at the sight of the irons. He and Laud both walked
+to the county jail, where they were locked up. Of course the
+imprisonment of such a man as the wicked nabob caused a sensation; but
+there was no one to object. He was willing to pay any sum of money to
+get out of the scrape; but the majesty of the law must be vindicated,
+and there was a contest between money and justice. He obtained bail by
+depositing the large amount required in the hands of two men, whom his
+well-fed lawyer procured. Between two days he left the city; but
+Beardsley kept the run of him, and when he was wanted for trial, he was
+brought back from a western state.
+
+On the trial a desperate attempt was made to break down the witnesses;
+but it failed. The first for the defence was Mrs. Sykes; but her
+evidence was not what had been expected of her. She had told, and
+repeated the lie, that the captain left his house at four o'clock on the
+morning after the outrage; but in court, and under oath, she would not
+perjure herself. She declared that the defendant had left home about
+eleven o'clock in the evening, dressed in her husband's blue frock,
+boots, and hat. Mr. Sykes, after his wife had told the whole truth, was
+afraid to testify as he had said he should do. A conviction followed;
+and the prisoner was sentenced to the state prison for ten years. He was
+overwhelmed by this result. He swore like a pirate, and then he wept
+like a child; but he was sent to Thomaston, and put to hard work.
+
+Laud pleaded guilty, and was sent to the same institution for a year.
+There was hope of him; for if he could get rid of his silly vanity, and
+go to work, he might be saved from a lifetime of crime.
+
+Donald came out of the fire without the stain of smoke upon him. After
+the great race, as Mr. Norwood was in no hurry for the Alice, he went on
+the long cruise with the fleet, in the Sea Foam. They coasted along the
+shore as far as Portland, visiting the principal places on the seaboard.
+On the cruise down Donald "coached" his friend, Ned Patterdale, in the
+art of sailing; and on the return he rendered the same service to
+Rodman. Both of them proved to be apt scholars; and after long practice,
+they were able to bring out the speed of their yachts, and stood a fair
+chance in a regatta.
+
+On the cruise, the yachts were racing all the time when under way, but
+the results were by no means uniform. When Donald sailed the Maud, she
+beat the Skylark; but when Rodman skippered her himself, the commodore
+outsailed him. The Maud beat the Sea Foam, as a general rule; but one
+day Robert Montague sailed the latter, and the former was beaten.
+
+"Don John, I don't know yet which is the fastest craft in the fleet,"
+said Commodore Montague, as they were seated on Manhegan Island, looking
+down upon the fleet anchored below them.
+
+"I thought you did, Bob," laughed Donald.
+
+"No, I don't. I have come to the conclusion that you can sail a yacht
+better than I can, and that is the reason that you beat me in the Maud,
+as you did in the Sea Foam."
+
+"No, no!" replied Donald. "I am sure I can't sail a boat any better than
+you can."
+
+"I can outsail any boat in the fleet when you are ashore."
+
+"We can easily settle the matter, Bob."
+
+"How?"
+
+"You shall sail the Maud, and I will sail the Skylark. If the difference
+is in the skippers, we shall come in about even. If the Maud is the
+better sailer, you will beat me."
+
+"Good! I'll do it."
+
+"You will do your best in the Maud--won't you?"
+
+"Certainly; and you will do the same in the Skylark."
+
+"To be sure. We will sail around Matinicus Rock and back."
+
+The terms of the race were agreed upon, and the interest of the whole
+club was excited. The party went on board the fleet, and the two yachts
+were moored in line. At the firing of the gun on board the Sea Foam,
+they ran up their jibs and got a good start. The wind was west, a lively
+breeze, but not heavy. Each yacht carried her large gaff-topsail and the
+balloon-jib. The course was about forty miles, the return from the rock
+being a beat dead to windward. Robert and Donald each did his best, and
+the Maud came in twelve minutes ahead of the Skylark.
+
+"I am satisfied now," said Robert, when they met after the race.
+
+"I was satisfied before," laughed Donald. "I was confident the Maud was
+faster than the Skylark or the Sea Foam."
+
+"I agree with you now; and I have more respect for myself than I had
+before, for I thought it was you, and not the Maud, which had beaten
+me," added Robert. "I have also a very high respect for the firm of
+Ramsay & Son."
+
+[Illustration: THE MAUD WINNING THE RACE. Page 338.]
+
+The members of the club enjoyed the excursion exceedingly; and on their
+return it was decided to repeat it the next year, if not before. The
+club-house on Turtle Head was finished when the fleet arrived at
+Belfast; and during the rest of the vacation, the yachts remained in the
+bay. They had chowders and fries at the Head, to which the ladies
+were invited; and Donald made himself as agreeable as possible to Miss
+Nellie on these occasions. Possibly her father and mother had some
+objections to this continued and increasing intimacy; if they had, they
+did not mention them. They were compelled to acknowledge, when they
+talked the matter over between themselves, that Donald Ramsay was an
+honest, intelligent, noble young man, with high aims and pure
+principles, and that these qualifications were infinitely preferable to
+wealth without them; and they tacitly permitted the affair to take its
+natural course, as I have no doubt it will. Certainly the young people
+were very devoted to each other; and though they are too young to think
+of anything but friendship, it will end in a wedding.
+
+In the autumn, after the frame of the Alice was all set up, Barbara
+obtained a situation as a teacher in one of the public schools, and
+added her salary to the income of the boat-builder. The family lived
+well, and were happy in each other. After the boating season closed, the
+yacht club hired apartments, in which a library and reading-room were
+fitted up; and the members not only enjoyed the meetings every week,
+but they profited by their reading and their study. Donald is still an
+honored and useful member, and people say that, by and by, when the
+country regains her mercantile marine, he will be a ship-builder, and
+not, as now, THE YOUNG BOAT-BUILDER.
+
+
+
+
+LEE & SHEPARD'S
+
+LIST OF
+
+JUVENILE PUBLICATIONS.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+OLIVER OPTIC'S BOOKS.
+
+        Each Set in a neat Box with Illuminated Titles.
+
+
+        =Army and Navy Stories.= A Library for Young and
+        Old, in 6 volumes. 16mo. Illustrated. Per vol            $1.50
+
+        The Soldier Boy.
+        The Sailor Boy.
+        The Young Lieutenant.
+        The Yankee Middy.
+        Fighting Joe.
+        Brave Old Salt.
+
+
+        =Famous "Boat-Club" Series.= A Library for Young
+        People. Handsomely Illustrated. Six volumes, in neat
+        box. Per vol                                              1.25
+
+        The Boat Club; or, The Bunkers of Rippleton.
+        All Aboard; or, Life on the Lake.
+        Now or Never; or, The Adventures of Bobby Bright.
+        Try Again; or, The Trials and Triumphs of Harry West.
+        Poor and Proud; or, The Fortunes of Katy Redburn.
+        Little by Little; or, The Cruise of the Flyaway.
+
+
+        =Lake Shore Series, The.= Six volumes. Illustrated.
+        In neat box. Per vol                                      1.25
+
+        Through by Daylight; or, The Young Engineer of the
+        Lake Shore Railroad.
+        Lightning Express; or, The Rival Academies.
+        On Time; or, The Young Captain of the Ucayga Steamer.
+        Switch Off; or, The War of the Students.
+        Break Up; or, The Young Peacemakers.
+        Bear and Forbear; or, The Young Skipper of Lake
+        Ucayga.
+
+
+        =Soldier Boy Series, The.= Three volumes, in neat
+        box. Illustrated. Per vol                                 1.50
+
+        The Soldier Boy; or, Tom Somers in the Army.
+        The Young Lieutenant; or, The Adventures of an Army
+        Officer.
+        Fighting Joe; or, The Fortunes of a Staff Officer.
+
+
+        =Sailor Boy Series, The.= Three volumes in neat box.
+        Illustrated. Per vol                                      1.50
+
+        The Sailor Boy; or, Jack Somers in the Navy.
+        The Yankee Middy; or, Adventures of a Naval Officer.
+        Brave Old Salt; or, Life on the Quarter-Deck.
+
+
+        =Starry Flag Series, The.= Six volumes. Illustrated.
+        Per vol                                                   1.25
+
+        The Starry Flag; or, The Young Fisherman of Cape Ann.
+        Breaking Away; or, The Fortunes of a Student.
+        Seek and Find; or, The Adventures of a Smart Boy.
+        Freaks of Fortune; or, Half Round the World.
+        Make or Break; or, The Rich Man's Daughter.
+        Down the River; or, Buck Bradford and the Tyrants.
+
+
+        =The Household Library.= 3 volumes. Illustrated.
+        Per volume                                                1.50
+
+        Living too Fast.
+        In Doors and Out.
+        The Way of the World.
+
+
+        =Way of the World, The.= By William T. Adams (Oliver
+        Optic)                                               12mo 1.50
+
+
+        =Woodville Stories.= Uniform with Library for Young
+        People. Six volumes. Illustrated. Per vol.           16mo 1.25
+
+        Rich and Humble; or, The Mission of Bertha Grant.
+        In School and Out; or, The Conquest of Richard Grant.
+        Watch and Wait; or, The Young Fugitives.
+        Work and Win; or, Noddy Newman on a Cruise.
+        Hope and Have; or, Fanny Grant among the Indians.
+        Haste and Waste; or, The Young Pilot of Lake Champlain.
+
+
+        =Yacht Club Series.= Uniform with the ever popular
+        "Boat Club" Series. Completed in six vols. Illustrated.
+        Per vol.                                             16mo 1.50
+
+
+        Little Bobtail; or, The Wreck of the Penobscot
+        The Yacht Club; or, The Young Boat Builder.
+        Money Maker; or, The Victory of the Basilisk.
+        The Coming Wave; or, The Treasure of High Rock.
+        The Dorcas Club; or, Our Girls Afloat.
+        Ocean Born; or, The Cruise of the Clubs.
+
+
+        =Onward and Upward Series, The.= Complete in six
+        volumes. Illustrated. In neat box. Per vol.               1.25
+
+        Field and Forest; or, The Fortunes of a Farmer.
+        Plane and Plank; or, The Mishaps of a Mechanic.
+        Desk and Debit; or, The Catastrophes of a Clerk.
+        Cringle and Cross-Tree; or, The Sea Swashes of a Sailor.
+        Bivouac and Battle; or, The Struggles of a Soldier.
+        Sea and Shore; or, The Tramps of a Traveller.
+
+
+        =Young America Abroad Series.= A Library of
+        Travel and Adventure in Foreign Lands. Illustrated
+        by Nast, Stevens, Perkins, and others. Per vol. 16mo      1.50
+
+        _First Series._
+
+        Outward Bound; or, Young America Afloat.
+        Shamrock and Thistle; or, Young America in Ireland and Scotland.
+        Red Cross; or, Young America in England and Wales.
+        Dikes and Ditches, or, Young America in Holland and Belgium.
+        Palace and Cottage; or, Young America in France and Switzerland.
+        Down the Rhine; or, Young America in Germany.
+
+        _Second Series._
+
+        Up the Baltic; or, Young America in Norway, Sweden, and Denmark.
+        Northern Lands; or, Young America in Russia and Prussia.
+        Cross and Crescent; or, Young America in Turkey and Greece.
+        Sunny Shores; or, Young America in Italy and Austria.
+        Vine and Olive; or, Young America in Spain and Portugal.
+        Isles of the Sea; or, Young America Homeward Bound.
+
+        =Riverdale Stories.= Twelve volumes. A New Edition.
+        Profusely Illustrated from new designs by Billings. In
+        neat box. Per vol.
+
+        Little Merchant.
+        Young Voyagers.
+        Robinson Crusoe, Jr.
+        Dolly and I.
+        Uncle Ben.
+        Birthday Party.
+        Proud and Lazy.
+        Careless Kate.
+        Christmas Gift.
+        The Picnic Party.
+        The Gold Thimble.
+        The Do-Somethings.
+
+
+        =Riverdale Story Books.= Six volumes, in neat box.
+        Cloth. Per vol.
+
+        Little Merchant.
+        Young Voyagers.
+        Dolly and I.
+        Proud and Lazy.
+        Careless Kate.
+        Robinson Crusoe, Jr.
+
+
+        =Flora Lee Story Books.= Six volumes in neat box.
+        Cloth. Per vol.
+
+        Christmas Gift.
+        Uncle Ben.
+        Birthday Party.
+        The Picnic Party.
+        The Gold Thimble.
+        The Do-Somethings.
+
+        =Great Western Series, The.= Six volumes. Illustrated.
+        Per vol.                                                  1.50
+
+        Going West; or, The Perils of a Poor Boy.
+        Out West; or, Roughing it on the Great Lakes.
+        Lake Breezes.
+
+        =Our Boys' and Girls' Offering.= Containing Oliver
+        Optic's popular Story, Ocean Born; or, The Cruise of the
+        Clubs; Stories of the Seas, Tales of Wonder, Records
+        of Travel, &c. Edited by Oliver Optic. Profusely
+        Illustrated. Covers printed in Colors. 8vo.               1.50
+
+        =Our Boys' and Girls' Souvenir.= Containing Oliver
+        Optic's Popular Story, Going West; or, The Perils of a
+        Poor Boy; Stories of the Sea, Tales of Wonder, Records
+        of Travel, &c. Edited by Oliver Optic. With numerous
+        full-page and letter-press Engravings. Covers
+        printed in Colors. 8vo.                                   1.50
+
+
+
+
+        _NEW PUBLICATIONS OF LEE AND SHEPARD._
+
+
+        ELIJAH KELLOGG'S NEW BOOKS.
+
+
+        =JOHN GODSOE'S LEGACY.= 16mo. Illustrated. $1.25.
+
+
+        =THE FISHER BOYS OF PLEASANT COVE.= 16mo.
+        Illustrated. $1.25. Completing THE PLEASANT COVE SERIES.
+
+
+        =THE PLEASANT COVE SERIES.= Five vols. Illustrated.
+        Per vol., $1.25.
+
+        1. ARTHUR BROWN.
+        2. THE YOUNG DELIVERERS.
+        3. THE CRUISE OF THE CASCO.
+        4. THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN.
+        5. JOHN GODSOE'S LEGACY.
+        6. FISHER BOYS OF PLEASANT COVE.
+
+
+        =THE TURNING OF THE TIDE;= OR, RADCLIFFE
+        RICH AND HIS PATIENTS. 16mo. Illustrated. $1.25.
+
+
+        =A STOUT HEART;= OR, THE STUDENT FROM OVER THE
+        SEA. 16mo. Illustrated. Cloth. $1.25.
+
+
+        =THE WHISPERING PINE SERIES.= 6 vols. Illustrated.
+        Per vol., $1.25.
+
+         1. THE SPARK OF GENIUS.
+         2. THE SOPHOMORES OF RADCLIFFE.
+         3. THE WHISPERING PINE.
+         4. WINNING HIS SPURS.
+         5. THE TURNING OF THE TIDE.
+         6. A STOUT HEART.
+
+        "Mr. Kellogg has made himself a great favorite
+        with young people by the number and variety of
+        adventures which he manages to pack into a
+        book; and to the parents by the excellent
+        precepts which he inculcates."
+
+
+
+
+LEE & SHEPARD'S JUVENILE PUBLICATIONS.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+BY SOPHIE MAY.
+
+        =Little Prudy's Flyaway Series.= By the author of
+        "Dotty Dimple Stories," and "Little Prudy Stories."
+        Complete in six volumes. Illustrated. Per vol.              75
+
+        Little Folks Astray.
+        Prudy Keeping House.
+        Aunt Madge's Story.
+        Little Grandmother.
+        Little Grandfather.
+        Miss Thistledown.
+
+
+        =Little Prudy Stories.= By Sophie May. Complete.
+        Six volumes, handsomely illustrated, in a neat box.
+        Per vol.                                                    75
+
+        Little Prudy.
+        Little Prudy's Sister Susy.
+        Little Prudy's Captain Horace.
+        Little Prudy's Cousin Grace.
+        Little Prudy's Story Book.
+        Little Prudy's Dotty Dimple.
+
+
+        =Dotty Dimple Stories.= By Sophie May, author of Little
+        Prudy. Complete in six volumes. Illustrated. Per
+        vol.                                                        75
+
+        Dotty Dimple at her Grandmother's.
+        Dotty Dimple at Home.
+        Dotty Dimple out West.
+        Dotty Dimple at Play.
+        Dotty Dimple at School.
+        Dotty Dimple's Flyaway.
+
+
+        =The Quinnebassett Girls.= 16mo. Illustrated.       1.50
+
+        The Doctor's Daughter. 16mo. Illustrated.                1.50
+        Our Helen. 16mo. Illustrated.                            1.50
+        The Asbury Twins. 16mo. Illustrated.                     1.50
+
+
+        =Flaxie Frizzle Stories.= To be completed in six volumes.
+        Illustrated. Per vol.                                       75
+
+        Flaxie Frizzle.
+        Flaxie Frizzle and Doctor Papa.
+        Little Pitchers.
+
+
+        =Young Dodge Club, The.= By James De Mille, author
+        of the B. O. W. C. Stories. Complete in three vols.
+        Illustrated. Per volume                                   1.50
+
+        Among the Brigands.
+        The Seven Hills.
+        The Winged Lion.
+
+
+        =Hunter's Library, The.= 5 volumes. Illustrated. Per
+        volume                                                    1.50
+
+        Australian Wanderers. The Adventures of Capt. Spencer
+        and his Horse and Dog in the Wilds of Australia.
+
+        Antonio in the Wilds of Africa.
+
+        Anecdotes of Animals, with their Habits, Instincts, &c., &c.
+
+        Anecdotes of Birds, Fishes, Reptiles, &c., their Habits
+        and Instincts.
+
+        A Thousand Miles' Walk Across South America, over the
+        Pampas and the Andes.
+
+
+        =Little People of God,= and what the Poets have said of
+        them. By Mrs. George L. Austin. 4to. Illustrated.         2.00
+
+
+        =Frontier Series, The.= Five volumes. Illustrated. Per
+        vol.                                                      1.25
+
+        Twelve Nights in the Hunters' Camp.
+        A Thousand Miles' Walk Across South America.
+        The Cabin on the Prairie.
+        Planting the Wilderness.
+        The Young Pioneers of the Northwest.
+
+
+        =Helping Hand Series.= By May Mannering. Complete
+        in six vols. Illustrated. Per volume.                     1.00
+
+        Climbing the Rope.
+        Billy Grimes's Favorite.
+        The Cruise of the Dashaway.
+        The Little Spaniard.
+        Salt-water Dick.
+        Little Maid of Oxbow.
+        An entirely new edition.
+
+
+        =Cast Away in the Cold.= An Old Man's Story of a
+        Young Man's Adventures. By Dr. Isaac I. Hayes. 1
+        volume. Illustrated.                                      1.25
+
+
+        =Vacation Story-Books.= For Boys and Girls. Finely
+        Illustrated from designs by Hoppin and others. Six
+        volumes, square 16mo. In neat box. Per volume               80
+
+        Worth not Wealth.
+        Country Life.
+        The Charm.
+        Karl Keigler.
+        Walter Seyton.
+        Holidays at Chestnut Hill.
+
+
+        =Winwood Cliff Stories.= By the Rev. Daniel Wise,
+        D.D., author of the "Glen Morris Stories." To be
+        completed in six volumes. Per volume                      1.00
+
+        Winwood Cliff; or, Oscar, The Sailor's Son.
+        Ben Blinker; or, Maggie's Golden Motto, and what it did for
+        her Brother.
+        A new volume in Press.
+
+
+        =Young Trail-Hunters' Series, The.= By Samuel Woodworth
+        Cozzens. 12mo. Per vol.                                   1.00
+
+        Young Silver Seekers, The; or, Hal and Ned in Sonora.
+        (In press.)
+
+        Crossing the Quicksands; or, The Veritable Adventures
+        of Hal and Ned upon the Pacific Slope. 16mo. Illustrated.
+        317 pp.                                                   1.00
+
+        The Young Trail-Hunters; or, The Wild Riders of the
+        Plains. 12mo. Illustrated. 205 pp.                        1.00
+
+
+        =Battles at Home.= By Mary G. Darling. Illustrated.
+        12mo.                                                     1.00
+
+
+        =In the World.= By Mary G. Darling. Illustrated.
+        12mo.                                                     1.00
+
+
+        =Golden Hair.= A Story of the Pilgrims. By Sir Lascelles
+        Wraxhall, Bart. 12mo. Illustrated.                        1.00
+
+
+        =Snip and Whip,= and some other Boys. By Elizabeth A.
+        Davis. 16mo. Cloth. Illustrated.                          1.25
+
+
+        =Sunnybank Stories.= Twelve volumes. Compiled by
+        Rev. Asa Bullard, editor of the "Well-Spring." Profusely
+        Illustrated. 32mo. Bound in high colors, and
+        put in a neat box. Per volume                               25
+
+        Uncle Henry's Stories.
+        Dog Stories.
+        Stories for Alice.
+        My Teacher's Gem.
+        The Scholar's Welcome.
+        Going to School.
+        Aunt Lizzie's Stories.
+        Mother's Stories.
+        Grandpa's Stories.
+        The Good Scholar.
+        The Lighthouse.
+        Reward of Merit.
+
+
+        =Sunnybank Stories.= Six volumes. Compiled by Rev.
+        Asa Bullard. Profusely Illustrated. 32mo. Bound in
+        high colors, and put up in a neat box. Per volume           25
+
+        Uncle Henry's Stories.
+        Dog Stories.
+        Stories for Alice.
+        Aunt Lizzie's Stories.
+        Mother's Stories.
+        Grandpa's Stories.
+
+
+        =Shady Dell Stories.= Six volumes. Compiled by Rev. Asa
+        Bullard, editor of the "Well-Spring." Profusely Illustrated.
+        32mo. Bound in high colors, and put up in a
+        neat box (to match the Sunnybank Stories). Per volume       25
+
+        My Teacher's Gem.
+        The Scholar's Welcome.
+        Going to School.
+        The Good Scholar.
+        The Lighthouse.
+        Reward of Merit.
+
+
+        =Tone Masters, The.= A Musical Series for the Young.
+        By the author of "The Soprano," &c. 16mo. Illustrated.
+        Per volume                                                1.25
+
+        Mozart and Mendelssohn.
+        Handel and Haydn.
+        Bach and Beethoven.
+
+
+        =Twilight Stories.= By Mrs. Follen. Twelve volumes.
+        4to. Illustrated. Per volume                                50
+
+        Travellers' Stories.
+        True Stories about Dogs.
+        Made-Up Stories.
+        Peddler of Dust Sticks.
+        When I was a Girl.
+        Who speaks Next?
+        The Talkative Wig.
+        What Animals do and say.
+        Two Festivals.
+        Conscience.
+        Piccolissima.
+        Little Songs.
+
+
+        =Maidenhood Series.= 12mo. Illustrated.
+
+        Seven Daughters. By Miss A. M. Douglas.                   1.50
+        Running to Waste: The Story of a Tomboy. By Geo. M.
+          Baker.                                                  1.50
+        Our Helen. By Sophie May.                                 1.75
+        That Queer Girl. By Virginia F. Townsend.                 1.50
+        The Asbury Twins. By Sophie May.                          1.75
+        Daisy Travers; or, The Girls of Hive Hall. By Adelaide F.
+          Samuels.                                                1.50
+
+
+        =Amateur Drama Series.= By Geo. M. Baker. 6 volumes.
+        Illustrated. Per vol.                                     1.50
+
+        Amateur Dramas.
+        The Mimic Stage.
+        The Social Stage.
+        The Drawing-Room Stage.
+        The Exhibition Drama.
+        Handy Dramas.
+
+
+        =Eminent Statesmen.= The Young American's Library
+        of Eminent Statesmen. Uniform with the Young
+        American's Library of Famous Generals. Six volumes,
+        handsomely illustrated, in neat box. (New edition.)
+        Per volume                                                1.25
+
+        Benjamin Franklin.
+        Daniel Webster.
+        Daring Deeds.
+        William Penn.
+        Henry Clay.
+        Noble Deeds.
+
+
+        =Famous Generals.= The Young American's Library of
+        Famous Generals. A useful and attractive series of
+        books for Boys. Six volumes, handsomely illustrated,
+        in neat box. (New edition.) Per vol.                      1.25
+
+        General Washington.
+        General Taylor.
+        General Jackson.
+        General Lafayette.
+        General Marion.
+        Napoleon Bonaparte.
+
+
+        =Springdale Stories.= By Mrs. S. B. C. Samuels. Six
+        volumes. Illustrated. Per volume                            75
+
+        Obeying the Golden Rule.
+        The Shipwrecked Girl.
+        Nettie's Trial.
+        The Smuggler's Cave.
+        Under the Sea.
+        The Burning Prairie.
+
+
+        =Charley Roberts Series.= By Miss Louise M. Thurston.
+        To be completed in six volumes. Per vol.                  1.00
+
+        How Charlie Roberts became a Man.
+        How Eva Roberts gained her Education.
+        Home in the West.
+        Children of Amity Court.
+
+
+        =Crusoe Library.= An attractive series for Young and
+        Old. Six volumes. Illustrated. In neat box. Per vol.      1.50
+
+        Robinson Crusoe.
+        Arabian Nights.
+        Arctic Crusoe.
+        Young Crusoe.
+        Prairie Crusoe.
+        Willis the Pilot.
+
+
+        =Dick and Daisy Series.= By Miss Adelaide F. Samuels.
+        Four volumes. Illustrated. Per vol.                         50
+
+        Adrift in the World; or, Dick and Daisy's Early Days.
+        Fighting the Battle; or, Dick and Daisy's City Life.
+        Saved from the Street; or, Dick and Daisy's Proteges.
+        Grandfather Milly's Luck; or, Dick and Daisy's Reward.
+
+
+        =Dick Travers Abroad Series.= By Miss Adelaide F.
+        Samuels. Four volumes. Illustrated. Per vol.                50
+
+        Little Cricket; or, Dick Travers in London.
+        Palm Land; or, Dick Travers in the Chagos Islands.
+        The Lost Tar; or, Dick Travers in Africa.
+        On the Wave; or, Dick Travers aboard the Happy Jack.
+        The Turning of the Tide; or, Radcliffe Rich and his Patients.
+        Winning his Spurs; or, Henry Morton's First Trial.
+
+
+        =Girlhood Series, The.= Comprising six volumes, 12mo.
+        Illustrated.                                              1.50
+
+        An American Girl Abroad. By Miss Adeline Trafton.
+        The Doctor's Daughter. By Sophie May.
+        Sallie Williams, The Mountain Girl. By Mrs. E. D. Cheney.
+        Only Girls. By Virginia F. Townsend.
+        Lottie Eames; or, Do Your Best, and Leave the Rest.
+        Rhoda Thornton's Girlhood. By Mrs. Mary E. Pratt.
+
+
+BY J. T. TROWBRIDGE.
+
+        =His Own Master.= 16mo. Cloth. Illustrated.
+          (In press.)                                             1.25
+
+        =Bound in Honor;= or, Boys will be Boys. 16mo. Cloth.
+        Illustrated.                                              1.25
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+MISCELLANEOUS.
+
+        =Alden Series.= By Joseph Alden, D.D. 4 vols. Illustrated.
+        Per vol.                                                    50
+
+        The Cardinal Flower.
+        The Lost Lamb.
+        Henry Ashton.
+        The Light-hearted Girl.
+
+
+        =Baby Ballad Series.= (In press.) Three volumes. Illustrated.
+        4to. Per vol.                                            1.00
+
+        Baby Ballads. By Uno.
+        Little Songs. By Mrs. Follen.
+        New Songs for Little People. By Mrs. Anderson.
+
+
+        =Beckoning Series.= By Paul Cobden. To be completed
+        in six volumes. Illustrated. Per vol.                     1.25
+
+        Who will Win?
+        Going on a Mission.
+        The Turning Wheel.
+        Good Luck.
+        Take a Peep.
+        (Another in preparation.)
+
+
+        =Blue Jacket Series.= Six vols. 12mo. Illustrated. Per
+        vol.                                                      1.50
+
+        Swiss Family Robinson.
+        Willis the Pilot.
+        The Prairie Crusoe.
+        Gulliver's Travels.
+        The Arctic Crusoe.
+        The Young Crusoe.
+
+
+        =Celesta Stories, The.= By Mrs. E. M. Berry. 16mo.
+        Illustrated. Per vol.                                     1.00
+
+        Celesta.
+        The Crook Straightened.
+        Crooked and Straight.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Transcriber's Notes:
+
+Obvious punctuation errors repaired.
+
+Illustration, "Linconville" changed to "Lincolnville" (News from
+Lincolnville) (page 113)
+
+Page 118, "too" changed to "took" (as he took)
+
+Page 129, "arn't" changed to "aren't" (aren't you, Don)
+
+Page 184, "filled" changed to "filed" (rebuff, filed away)
+
+Page 225, (between 224-225) Illustration caption was cropped and page
+number is presumed.
+
+Page 258, "happpened" changed to "happened" (he happened to)
+
+Page 264, "hsmself" changed to "himself" (himself by his)
+
+Page 290, "indentify" changed to "identify" (can identify the one)
+
+Page 334, "well-feed" changed to "well-fed" (his well-fed lawyer)
+
+Page 336, "Manheigan" changed to "Manhegan" (on Manhegan Island)
+
+Page 338, "run" changed to "ran" (they ran up)
+
+Advertising, the prices for: Riverdale Stories, Riverdale Story Books,
+and Flora Lee Story Books were omitted in the original text.
+
+Dick and Daisy Series: "proteges" changed to "Proteges" (Dick and
+Daisy's Proteges)
+
+Yacht Club Series: "Builders" changed to "Builder" (Young Boat Builder)
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Yacht Club, by Oliver Optic
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE YACHT CLUB ***
+
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