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diff --git a/23773-h/23773-h.htm b/23773-h/23773-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c90118a --- /dev/null +++ b/23773-h/23773-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,8240 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Coming Wave, by Oliver Optic. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- + p { margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; + } + hr { width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; + } + + table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;} + + body{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + + .pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; + } /* page numbers */ + + .blockquot{margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 10%;} + .sidenote {width: 20%; padding-bottom: .5em; padding-top: .5em; + padding-left: .5em; padding-right: .5em; margin-left: 1em; + float: right; clear: right; margin-top: 1em; + font-size: smaller; color: black; background: #eeeeee; border: dashed 1px;} + + + .center {text-align: center;} + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + + .caption {font-weight: bold;} + + .figcenter {margin: auto; text-align: center;} + + .figleft {float: left; clear: left; margin-left: 0; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: + 1em; margin-right: 1em; padding: 0; text-align: center;} + + .figright {float: right; clear: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; + margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 0; padding: 0; text-align: center;} + + .footnotes {border: dashed 1px;} + .footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} + .footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right;} + .fnanchor {vertical-align: super; font-size: .8em; text-decoration: none;} + + .poem {margin-left:10%; margin-right:10%; text-align: left;} + .poem br {display: none;} + .poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + .poem span.i0 {display: block; margin-left: 0em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i2 {display: block; margin-left: 1em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i4 {display: block; margin-left: 2em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + // --> + /* XML end ]]>*/ + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Coming Wave, 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 Coming Wave + The Hidden Treasure of High Rock + +Author: Oliver Optic + +Release Date: December 8, 2007 [EBook #23773] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE COMING WAVE *** + + + + +Produced by David Garcia, Josephine Paolucci and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net. (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Kentuckiana Digital Library.) + + + + + + +</pre> + + + + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 595px;"> +<img src="images/ill-001.jpg" width="595" height="450" alt="Leopold on the Lookout. Page 213." title="" /> +<span class="caption">Leopold on the Lookout. Page <a href="#Page_213">213</a>.</span> +</div> + + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 346px;"> +<img src="images/ill-003.jpg" width="346" height="550" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + + +<h3>THE YACHT CLUB SERIES.</h3> + +<h1>THE COMING WAVE;</h1> + +<h4>OR, THE</h4> + +<h2>HIDDEN TREASURE OF HIGH ROCK</h2> + + +<h3>BY</h3> + +<h2>OLIVER OPTIC,</h2> + + +<p>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.</p> + +<h3><i>WITH THIRTEEN ILLUSTRATIONS.</i></h3> + +<p class="center"> +BOSTON:<br /> +LEE AND SHEPARD, PUBLISHERS.<br /> +NEW YORK:<br /> +LEE, SHEPARD AND DILLINGHAM.<br /> +</p> + +<p> +Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1874,<br /> +<br /> +By WILLIAM T. ADAMS,<br /> +<br /> +In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.<br /> +</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">TO</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">MY YOUNG FRIEND</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;"><i>ELMER ELLSWORTH HOLBROOK</i>,</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">OF MEDWAY, MASS.,</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;"><i>This Book</i></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED.</span><br /> +</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span></p> +<h2><i>The Yacht Club Series.</i></h2> + + +<p> +1. LITTLE BOBTAIL; <span class="smcap">or, The Wreck of the Penobscot.</span><br /> +<br /> +2. THE YACHT CLUB; <span class="smcap">or, The Young Boat Builder.</span><br /> +<br /> +3. MONEY MAKER; <span class="smcap">or, The Victory of the Basilisk.</span><br /> +<br /> +4. THE COMING WAVE; <span class="smcap">or, The Hidden Treasure of High Rock.</span><br /> +<br /> +5. THE DORCAS CLUB; <span class="smcap">or, Our Girls Afloat.</span><br /> +<br /> +6. OCEAN BORN; <span class="smcap">or, The Cruise of the Clubs.</span><br /> +</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span></p> +<h2>PREFACE.</h2> + + +<p>"<span class="smcap">The Coming Wave</span>" is the fourth volume of the Yacht Club Series, and is +an entirely independent story. Though the incidents are located on +Penobscot Bay and relate largely to boats and yachting, the characters +have not before been presented; but some of them will again be +introduced in the subsequent volumes of the series. There is some breezy +sailing in the story, and Penobscot Bay would not be properly described +without the dense fog, upon which the turn of events depends in one of +the chapters; nor is such a hurricane as that with which the story +begins an unknown occurrence in these waters. Whatever interest the +volume may possess, however, does not wholly depend upon the experience +in fog and gale of the hero and his friends, for the plot is as much of +the land as of the sea.</p> + +<p>Leopold Bennington and Stumpy are the chief characters. They are both +working boys, who earn their own living, and do nothing more surprising +than other young men have done before them. They are fastidiously +honest, and strictly upright, though they make mistakes like other human +beings. They try to do their whole duty, sometimes under very difficult +circumstances, and if other boys may not do exactly as they did in +certain cases, they may imitate Leopold and Stumpy in having<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span> a high +aim, and in striving to reach it. If young people only mean well, they +can hardly fail to lead good and true lives, in spite of their errors of +judgment, or even their occasional failures to do right.</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;"><span class="smcap">Towerhouse, Boston</span>,</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">July 10, 1874.</span><br /> +</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span></p> +<h2>CONTENTS.</h2> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='right'>PAGE.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>CHAPTER I.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>The Tempest in the Bay,</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_11">11</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>CHAPTER II.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>The Last of the Waldo,</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_30">30</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>CHAPTER III.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Harvey Barth's Diary,</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_48">48</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>CHAPTER IV.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Stumpy and Others,</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_67">67</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>CHAPTER V.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Herr Schlager,</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_86">86</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>CHAPTER VI.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Miss Sarah Liverage,</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_105">105</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>CHAPTER VII.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Something About the Hidden Treasure,</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_123">123</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>CHAPTER VIII.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>An Important Discovery,</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_142">142</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>CHAPTER IX.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Coffin Rock,</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_160">160</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>CHAPTER X.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Doubts and Debts,</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_178">178</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>CHAPTER XI.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>In the Fog,</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_197">197</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>CHAPTER XII.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>An Extensive Arrival,</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_216">216</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>CHAPTER XIII.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>The Excursion to High Rock,</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_235">235</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>CHAPTER XIV.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>The Fair Thing,</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_254">254</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>CHAPTER XV.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>The Waldo's Passenger,</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_273">273</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>CHAPTER XVI.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Gold and Bills,</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_293">293</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>CHAPTER XVII.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>The First of July,</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_313">313</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>CHAPTER XVIII.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>The Coming Wave,</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_332">332</a></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span></p> +<h2>THE COMING WAVE;</h2> + +<h4>OR,</h4> + +<h3>THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF HIGH ROCK.</h3> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER I.</h2> + +<h3>THE TEMPEST IN THE BAY.</h3> + + +<p>"Well, parsenger, we're likely to get in to port before long, if we only +have a breeze of wind," said Harvey Barth, the cook and steward of the +brig Waldo, in a peculiar, drawling tone, by which any one who knew the +speaker might have recognized him without the use of his eyes.</p> + +<p>The steward was a tall, lank, lantern-jawed man, whose cheek-bones were +almost as prominent as his long nose. His face was pale, in spite of the +bronze which a West India sun had imparted to it, and his hair was long +and straight. He had a very thin beard of jet<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> black, which contrasted +strongly with the pallor of his face. His voice was hollow, and sounded +doubly so from the drawl with which he uttered his sentences, and every +remark he made was preceded by a single long-drawn hacking cough, which +might have been caused by the force of habit or the incipient workings +of disease. He was seated in the galley, abaft the foremast of the brig, +and when the passenger showed himself at the door of the galley, he had +been engaged in writing in a square record-book, which he closed the +instant the visitor darkened the aperture of his den.</p> + +<p>The passenger—the only one on board of the Waldo—was a short, +thick-set man of about forty, whose name was entered on the brig's +papers as Jacob Wallbridge, and his trunk bore the initials +corresponding to this name. In his hand he had a pipe, filled full of +tobacco, and it was evident that he had called at the galley only to +light it, though the steward proceeded to infold his book in an ample +piece of oil-cloth which lay upon the seat at his side. It was clear +that he did not wish the passenger to know what he was doing, or, at +least, what he had written,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> for he was really quite nervous, as he +securely tied the book, and then locked it up in a box under the seat. +Though Harvey Barth did not confess it then, it was, nevertheless, a +fact that he had been writing in his book about the passenger who +darkened his door, though what he wrote was not seen by any human eye +until many months after the pen had done its office.</p> + +<p>"I thought this morning we should get in to-night," replied the +passenger, as he stepped inside of the caboose. "May I borrow a coal of +fire from the stove, doctor?"</p> + +<p>"Certain, if you can get one; but the fire is about out. You will find +some matches in the tin box on your right," added the steward.</p> + +<p>"I like to light my pipe in the old-fashioned way when I can. I don't +mean to begin to suck in brimstone just yet," continued Wallbridge, as +he succeeded in finding a coal, and soon had his pipe in working order. +"What were you doing with that book, doctor? Do you keep a log of the +voyage?"</p> + +<p>"Well, ya-as," drawled the steward. "I keep a log of this voyage, and a +log of the voyage of life. I've kept a diary ever since I taught<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span> +school; and that's seven years ago, come winter."</p> + +<p>"It must be worth reading. I should like to look it over, if we have to +stay out here another day. I suppose you have seen a good deal of the +world, if you have been to sea many years."</p> + +<p>"No; I haven't seen much of the world. I never went but one voyage +before this, and that was in a coaster, from New York to Bangor. The +diary is only for my own reading, and I wouldn't let anybody look at it +for all the world," answered Harvey Barth, with an even more painful +cough than usual.</p> + +<p>"Then you are not a great traveller," added Wallbridge, puffing away at +his pipe, as he watched the sun sinking to his rest beyond the western +waves.</p> + +<p>"Bless you! no. I was brought up on a farm in York State. I used to keep +school winters till the folks in our town began to think they must have +a more dandified chap than I am."</p> + +<p>"Where did you learn to cook, if you were a schoolmaster?"</p> + +<p>"Well you see I was an only son, and my mother died when I was but +sixteen. Father<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span> and I kept house together till he died, and I used to +do about all the cooking. I had an idea then that I could do it pretty +well, too," replied Harvey, with a sickly smile. "The old man got to +drinking rather too much, and lost all he had and all I had, too. My +health wasn't very good; I had a bad cough and night sweats. I was an +orphan at twenty-four, and I thought I'd go to New York city, and take a +little voyage on the salt water. I had about a hundred dollars I earned +after the old man died; but a fellow in the city got it all away from +me;" and Harvey hung his head, as though this was not a pleasant +experience to remember.</p> + +<p>"Ah! how was that?" asked Wallbridge.</p> + +<p>"The fellow offered to show me round town, and, as I was kind of +lonesome, I went with him. We called at a place to pay a bill he owed. +He had a check for three hundred dollars; but the man he owed couldn't +give him the change, so I lent him my hundred dollars, and took the +check till he paid me. Then my kind friend went into another room; and +that's the last I ever saw of him. I couldn't find him, but I did find +that the check was good for nothing. I hadn't a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> dollar left. At one of +the piers I came across a schooner that wanted a cook, and I shipped +right off. Then the cap'n's nephew wanted to cook for him, after we got +to Bangor, and I was out of a job. I worked in an eating-house for a +while, cooking; but my health was so bad I wanted to go to a warm +climate; so I shipped in this brig for the West Indies. It was warm +enough there, but I didn't get any better. I don't think I'm as stout as +I was when I left Bangor. I shall not hold out much longer."</p> + +<p>"O, yes, you will. You may live to be a hundred years old yet," added +Wallbridge, rather lightly.</p> + +<p>"No; my end isn't a great way off," added the steward, with a sigh, as +the passenger, evidently not pleased with the turn the conversation had +taken, walked away from the galley.</p> + +<p>Any one who looked at Harvey Barth would have found no difficulty in +accepting his gloomy prediction; and yet he was, as events occurred, +farther from his end than his companions in the brig. The steward sat +before his stove, gazing at the planks of the deck under his feet. He +was deeply impressed by the words he had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> uttered if the passenger was +not. He had improved the opportunity, while the weather was calm to +write up his diary, and perhaps the thoughts he had expressed on its +pages had started a train of gloomy reflections. The future seemed to +have nothing inviting to him, and his attention was fixed upon an open +grave at no great distance before him in the pathway of his life. Beyond +that he had hardly taught himself to look; if he had he would, +doubtless, have been less sad and gloomy.</p> + +<p>His work for the day had all been done; supper in the cabin had been +served, and the beef and hard bread had been given to the crew two hours +before. It was a day in August, and the sun had lingered long above the +horizon. Harvey had finished writing in his diary when the passenger +interrupted him; but, apparently to change the current of his thoughts, +he took the book from the box, and began to read what he had written.</p> + +<p>"I don't know what his name is, but I don't believe it's Wallbridge," +said he, to himself, as the last page recalled the reflections which had +caused him to make some of the entries in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> book. "That wasn't the +name I found on the paper in his state-room, though the initials were +the same. I don't see what he changed his name for; but that's none of +my business. I only hope he hasn't been doing anything wrong."</p> + +<p>"My pipe's gone out," said Wallbridge, presenting himself at the door of +the galley again. "I want another coal of fire."</p> + +<p>The steward carefully secured his book again, and returned it to the +box, while the passenger was lighting his pipe.</p> + +<p>"Rather a still time just now," said the steward, alluding to the +weather, as Wallbridge puffed away at his pipe.</p> + +<p>"Dead calm," replied the passenger.</p> + +<p>"We shall not get in to-morrow at this rate."</p> + +<p>"Captain 'Siah says we shall have more wind than we want before +morning," added the smoker. "He wishes the brig was twenty miles farther +out to sea, for his barometer has gone down as though the bottom had +dropped out of it."</p> + +<p>"It looks like one of those West India showers," added the steward, as +he glanced out at one of the doors of the galley.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span></p> + +<p>The calm and silence which had pervaded the deck of the Waldo seemed to +be broken. Captain 'Siah had given his orders to the mate, who was now +shouting lustily to the crew, though there was not a breath of air +stirring, and the brig lay motionless upon the still waters. The vessel +was a considerable distance within the range of islands which separate +Penobscot Bay from the broad ocean. The water was nearly as smooth as a +mill-pond, and Harvey had found no more difficulty in writing in his +diary than if the Waldo had been anchored in the harbor of Rockland, +whither she was bound, though she had made the land some distance to the +eastward of Owl's Head.</p> + +<p>Harvey Bath walked out upon the deck, after putting on an overcoat to +protect him from the chill air of the evening, for he felt that his life +depended upon his precaution. In the south-west the clouds were dense +and black, indicating the approach of a heavy shower. In the east, just +as dense and black, was another mass of clouds; and the two showers +seemed to be working up towards the zenith.</p> + +<p>"Cast off the fore tack!" shouted the mate. "Let go the fore sheet!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span></p> + +<p>When this last order was given, it was the duty of the cook to execute +it; and, ordinarily, this is about the only seaman's duty which the +"doctor" is called upon to perform. Harvey promptly cast off the sheet, +and the hands at the clew-garnets hauled up the foresail. The flying-gib +and top-gallant sails had already been furled, and the canvas on the +brig was soon reduced to the fore-topsail, fore-topmast staysail, and +spanker; and these sails hung like wet rags, the vessel drifting with +the tide, which now set up the bay.</p> + +<p>The dense black clouds slowly approached the zenith, and it was dark +before there appeared to be any commotion of the elements. As the gloom +of the evening increased, the lightning became more vivid, the zigzag +chains of electric fluid darting angrily from the inky masses of cloud +which obscured the sky. The heavy thunder sounded nearer and more +overhead, indicating the nearer approach of the two showers. Scarcely +did the flashing lightning—almost instantly followed by the cannon-like +crash of the thunder—blaze and peal on one side of the brig, before the +flaming bolt and the startling<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> roar were taken up on the other side, as +though the two tempests on either hand were vying with each other for +the mastery of the air.</p> + +<p>Captain Josiah Barnwood, familiarly called, even by the crew, who were +his friends and neighbors, Captain 'Siah, nervously walked his +quarter-deck, after he had taken every precaution which a careful sailor +could take; for, even if his practised eye had not taught him that there +was wind in the clouds in the south-west, the barometer had earnestly +admonished him of violent disturbances in the atmosphere. He had done +everything he could for the safety of the brig, but he blamed +himself—though without reason, for the change of weather had been +sudden and unexpected—for coming into the bay when it was so near +night. The brig was surrounded on nearly every side by rocky islands and +numerous reefs, with the chances that thick weather would hide the +friendly lights from his view. But it was a summer day, and, until late +in the afternoon, when there was no wind to help him, no change could +have been anticipated.</p> + +<p>Captain 'Siah was nervous, though he was as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> familiar with the bay as he +was with the apartments in his own house. He knew every island and head +land, every rock and shoal, and the situation of every light-house; but +the barometer had warned him of nothing less than a hurricane. The Waldo +was an old vessel, and barely sea-worthy, even for a summer voyage, to +the region of hurricanes. He had, therefore, many misgivings, as he +paced the quarter-deck, watching the angry bolts of lightning, and +listening to the deafening roar of the thunder. Occasionally he halted +at the taffrail, and gazed into the thick darkness of the south-west, +from which his experience taught him the tempest would come. Then, at +the foot of the mainmast he halted again, to listen for any sound that +might come over the waters from the eastward; but his glances in this +direction were brief and hurried, for he expected the storm from the +opposite quarter.</p> + +<p>Again he paused at the taffrail, by the side of the man who stood idle +at the wheel, for the brig had not motion enough to give her +steerage-way. This time Captain 'Siah listened longer than usual. From +far away to seaward, between<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> the peals of thunder, came a confused, +roaring sound. At the same time a slight puff of air swelled the sails +of the brig, and the helmsman threw over the wheel to meet her, as the +vessel began to move through the still waters.</p> + +<p>"Haul down the fore-topmast staysail!" shouted Captain 'Siah, at the top +of his lungs, a sudden energy seeming to take possession of his nervous +frame.</p> + +<p>"Ay, ay, sir," returned the mate; and almost at the same instant the +captain heard the hanks rattling down the stay.</p> + +<p>"It's coming down upon us like a tornado," said Captain 'Siah to the +passenger who was smoking his pipe on the quarter-deck.</p> + +<p>"Can I do anything, Captain 'Siah?" asked Wallbridge, who had been +aroused from his lethargy by the energy of the captain.</p> + +<p>"Yes; let go the peak-halyards of the spanker!" answered the captain, +sharply, as he sprang to the throat-halyards himself.</p> + +<p>The sail came down, and the passenger, who had evidently been to sea +before, proceeded to gather up and secure the fluttering canvas, for the +breeze was rapidly freshening.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Furl the fore-topsail," cried the captain, with a kind of desperation, +which indicated his sense of the peril of the brig.</p> + +<p>"Ay, ay, sir," shouted the ready mate, who, in anticipation of the +order, had manned the halyards, and stationed hands at the sheets and +clewlines. "Let go the sheets! clew up—lively! Settle away the +halyards! Ready at the bunt-lines—sharp work, boys! Aloft, and furl the +topsail!"</p> + +<p>"Set the main-staysail!" shouted the captain.</p> + +<p>Captain 'Siah was an old-fashioned shipmaster, and the Waldo was an +old-fashioned vessel. Everything on board was done promptly and +skillfully in the old-fashioned way. The captain knew just where he was +as long as he could see any of the objects around him, whether lights or +the dark outlines of the rocky islands. His principal fear was, if the +brig withstood the shock of the tempest, that she would drift upon some +dangerous rocks, which were hidden by the waves after half-tide. They +were situated off a large island, whose high, precipitous shores he +could just discern, when the lightning illuminated the scene around him. +This island and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span> these perilous rocks were dead to leeward of the Waldo, +and hardly a mile distant. With the aid of the staysail Captain 'Siah +hoped—and only hoped—that he should be able to work his vessel out of +the range of these dangers. But before the staysail could be set, and +before the fore-topsail could be furled, a violent squall struck the +brig. The fore-topsail was blown out of the hands of the four seamen who +had gone aloft to secure it. So great was the fury of the tempest that +in an instant the well-worn sail was torn into ribbons, and great pieces +of it were blown away, like little white clouds played upon by the +lightning. Worse than this, two of the men on the topsail-yard were +wrenched from their hold on the spar, and hurled into the darkness +beneath them, one falling into foaming waters, and the other striking +senseless upon the deck.</p> + +<p>Vainly, for a time, the mate, with four men to help him, struggled to +set the staysail, upon which depended the safety of the brig from the +savage rocks to leeward of her. At last they succeeded stimulated by the +hoarse shouts of Captain 'Siah on the quarter-deck, though not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span> till one +of the four men had been struck insensible on the deck by the fierce +blows of the sheet-block. The sail was hauled out finally by the +exertions of the mate. The helmsman met her at the wheel, and the Waldo +heeled over till the water poured in over her lee bulwarks. At this +moment, the staysail, too flimsy from age to stand the strain upon it, +was blown out of the bolt-ropes, with an explosion like a cannon, and +went off like a misty cloud into the darkness. The hour of doom seemed +to have overtaken the Waldo; but in spite of the misfortunes that +overwhelmed her, Captain 'Siah did not abandon hope, or relax his +exertions to save the vessel.</p> + +<p>"Set the fore-topmast staysail!" hoarsely yelled the captain. "Send four +hands aft to set the spanker!"</p> + +<p>Captain 'Siah did not know, when he gave this order, that three of his +nine hands had been disabled, and the mate sent only three men aft, one +of whom told the captain of the accident. But the passenger was as +zealous and willing as even the mate. In order to save his canvas, the +captain ordered the spanker to be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span> balance-reefed. The stops were taken +off, and the master assisted in the work with his own hands.</p> + +<p>"Jam your helm hard down!" he cried to the man at the wheel. "If we can +get her head up to the wind, we may be able to set these sails."</p> + +<p>All hands worked with desperate energy, and it required all their +strength to prevent the canvas from being blown out of their hands. The +savage wind upon her bare hull and spars had given the brig +steerage-way, and when the man at the helm threw the wheel over, the +head of the vessel began to come up to the wind. Captain 'Siah was +hopeful, and he encouraged the men at the spanker to renewed exertions. +He saw that the mate had partially succeeded in setting the head sail, +and the chances were certainly much better than they had been a moment +before. Perhaps, if no greater calamity than that which came on the +wings of the stormy wind had befallen the brig and her crew, she might +possibly have been saved.</p> + +<p>The shower from the south-west and that from the east, had apparently +come together<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span> above the devoted vessel. The lightning was more frequent +and vivid, the thunder followed each flash almost instantaneously; and +Captain 'Siah realized that the clouds were but a short distance above +the brig. But he heeded not the booming thunder or the glaring +lightning, only as the latter enabled him to see the work upon which the +mate and himself were engaged. The captain, aided by the passenger, was +lashing the throat of the gaff down to its place, when a heavy bolt of +lightning, accompanied at the same instant by a terrific peel of +thunder, struck the main-royal mast-head, and leaped down the mast in a +lurid current of fire. At the throat of the main-boom it was divided, +part of it following the mast down into the cabin and hold, and the rest +darting off on the spar, where the captain, the passenger, and three men +were at work on the spanker. Every one of them was struck down, and lay +senseless on the deck. Even the man at the wheel shared their fate, +though no one could know who were killed and who were simply stunned by +the shock. The lightning capriciously leaped from the boom to the metal +work of the wheel,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span> shattering the whole into a thousand pieces, and +splintering the rudder-head as though it had been so much glass.</p> + +<p>The rudder was disabled, the fore-topmast staysail was rent into +ribbons, and the brig fell off into the trough of the sea, where she +rolled helplessly at the mercy of the tempest.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER II.</h2> + +<h3>THE LAST OF THE WALDO.</h3> + + +<p>The storm which swept over the waters of the lower bay, lashing them +into a wild fury, and piling up the angry waves upon them, was not +merely a squall; it was a hurricane, which raged for half an hour with +uninterrupted violence. From the time the tempest struck the Waldo, she +had been drifting towards the dangerous rocks; and when the wheel and +rudder-head were shattered, the vessel became unmanageable. Six men, +including the captain and the passenger, lay paralyzed on the +quarter-deck. There were only three left—the mate, the steward, and one +seaman. When the steering apparatus was disabled, the brig fell off, and +rushed madly before the hurricane, towards the dangerous reefs. The rain +had been pouring down in torrents for a few moments, but little cared +the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> seamen for that which could not harm the vessel.</p> + +<p>Harvey Barth was not, and did not pretend to be, a sailor. When the +storm burst upon the vessel, he retired to the galley. When the moments +of peril came, he was alarmed at first; but then he felt that he had +only a few months, or a year or two at most, of life left to him, and he +tried to be as brave as the sailors who were doing there utmost to save +the brig from destruction. Perhaps it would have been a pleasure to him +in the last days of his life to do some noble deed; but there was only +the drudgery of the common sailor to be done. He saw the man from the +topsail yard strike heavily upon the deck. He dragged him into the +galley, but he seemed to be dead. The steward had tender feelings, and +he tried to do something to restore the unconscious sailor. While he was +thus engaged, the mate summoned him to assist in setting the +fore-topmast staysail. He obeyed the call, though it was the first time +he was ever called upon to do any duty, except to make fast, or cast off +the fore-sheet. He was not a strong man, but he did the best he could at +the halyard, and the mate was satisfied with him.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span></p> + +<p>The bolt of lightning which came down the mainmast seemed to shake and +shatter the brig, and the hands forward were terribly startled by the +shock. Then the sail they were setting was torn in pieces. The mate who +had worked vigorously and courageously, saw that all they had done was +useless. The vessel fell off, and rushed to the ruin that was in store +for her.</p> + +<p>"It is all up with us," said Mr. Carboy, the mate, as he dropped the +halyard. "Nothing can save the brig now."</p> + +<p>"What shall we do?" asked Harvey Barth, startled by the words of the +officer. "Must we drown here?"</p> + +<p>"We shall do what we can to save ourselves," replied Mr. Carboy, as he +made his way with no little difficulty to the quarter-deck, in order to +ascertain the condition of things, for he was not aware of the havoc +which the lightning had made among his shipmates.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 606px;"> +<img src="images/ill-036.jpg" width="606" height="450" alt="The Wreck of the Waldo. Page 28." title="" /> +<span class="caption">The Wreck of the Waldo. Page <a href="#Page_28">28</a>.</span> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span></p> +<p>A flash of the electric fluid streamed along the mass of black clouds at +this instant, and disclosed to him the situation of his companions. He +was shocked by the sight, and even his strong frame was shaken by the +fearful scene which for an instant only was visible to him. He +recognized the captain, but he seemed to be dead. Next to him was the +passenger, who was getting upon his feet again, apparently not much +injured by the bolt. Not another of the six men who lay on the +quarter-deck moved, or exhibited any signs of life. The mate,—in whose +mind the situation of each of his unfortunate shipmates was fixed in +such a way that he could not have forgotten the scene if he had lived to +be a hundred years old,—went to each man, but could discover no +indications of vitality in them. He was thinking of saving his own life, +but it was awful, and terribly repulsive to his sense of humanity to +consider the idea of abandoning the vessel while these men, who might be +only stunned by the shock lay on her deck.</p> + +<p>"What's to be done, Mr. Carboy?" asked the passenger, when another flash +revealed to him the presence of the mate; "we shall be on the rock in +another moment."</p> + +<p>"We have two boats, but we can't get them into the water in this +weather. It blows harder and harder," replied the mate.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span></p> + +<p>The passenger said no more, but, guided by the vivid lightning, he +rushed down the companion-way into the cabin of the brig; but in another +moment he returned with a small, but heavy package in his hand. When the +mate went aft, Harvey Barth visited the galley, and took from the box +his diary, still carefully envelloped in the oil-cloth. This book was +the repository of the few valuables he possessed, but whether it was for +the diary, or the treasures it contained, that he was so anxious to save +it at that trying moment, we may not know. He stuffed the book inside of +his guernsey shirt, which he buttoned tightly over it. Then he crawled +to the quarter-deck by holding on at the bulwarks; and here all the +survivors of the tempest and the lightning met, as the passenger came up +from the cabin.</p> + +<p>The brig rose and fell on the savage waves, and still dashed madly on +towards the rocks. She lay broadside to the hurricane, so that her +progress was slower than it would otherwise have been. His companions +looked to the mate, whose skill and courage had inspired their +confidence, to point out the means of safety, if<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> there were any means +of safety in such a tempest. The brig had evidently shifted her cargo in +the hold, for she had heeled over until the water was a foot deep in the +lee scuppers.</p> + +<p>"It will be all over with the Waldo in two minutes more," said +Wallbridge, in a loud voice, which was necessary in order to make +himself heard above the roar of the tempest.</p> + +<p>"I don't know this part of the bay very well," replied Mr. Carboy in the +same loud tone.</p> + +<p>"We shall strike on a ledge in a minute or two."</p> + +<p>"Then we will be ready for it," added the mate, taking from within the +fife-rail at the foot of the mainmast a couple of sharp axes, which were +kept for just such emergencies as the present.</p> + +<p>"We haven't time to cut away the masts," protested Wallbridge, as a +flash of lightning revealed the axes in the hands of the mate.</p> + +<p>"I am not going to cut away the masts. The jolly-boat wouldn't live a +moment in this sea, and we must get the whale-boat overboard," answered +the mate, as he went down into the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span> waist, where the boat was locked up. +"Here, Burns, cut away the lee bulward," he shouted to the only +remaining seaman of the brig.</p> + +<p>"Give me the other axe," said Wallbridge. "I know how to use it."</p> + +<p>"Good! Make quick work of it," added Mr. Carboy. "Here, steward, bear a +hand at this boat."</p> + +<p>The passenger carefully deposited in the fore-sheets of the whale-boat +the heavy bundle he had brought up from the cabin, and seizing the axe, +he applied himself vigorously to the labor of cutting away the bulwark.</p> + +<p>The mate and steward cleared away the boat, and swung it around so that +the stern was headed towards the opening. But while the passenger and +the seaman were delivering their blows with the axes as well as the +uneasy motion of the vessel would permit, the brig rose on the sea, and +came down with a most tremendous crash. Over went the mainmast, +shattered at the heel by the bolt of lightning. The planks and timbers +of the Waldo snapped and were ground into splinters as the hull pounded +upon the sharp rocks. The sea began to break over the deck, as the +vessel settled.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Give me that axe, Burns," yelled the mate, as he sprang to the seaman, +and snatched the implement from his hands. "Clear away the wreck," he +added to the passenger.</p> + +<p>Aided by the frequent flashes of lightning, the mate and Wallbridge cut +away the braces and other rigging which encumbered the waist, and +impeded the launching of the whale-boat. In a few moments it was all +clear. Harvey Barth, aware of his own weakness, had already seated +himself in the boat, which was ready, and almost floated on the deck +when the heavy seas rolled over it.</p> + +<p>"Into the boat!" called the mate, as he stood at the bow of it. "Take an +oar, Mr. Wallbridge."</p> + +<p>The passenger obeyed the order. Enough of the bulwarks had been cut away +to allow the passage of the boat. Mr. Carboy waited till a heavy billow +swept over the deck of the brig, and then pushed her off into the +boiling waves, leaping over the bow, as it cleared the vessel.</p> + +<p>"Give way!" he shouted, as the whale-boat was swept away from the brig. +"Keep her right before it."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span></p> + +<p>But the mate was not satisfied with the efforts of Burns, the seaman, +and took the oar from his hand.</p> + +<p>Half buried in the whelming tide, the whale-boat dashed through the +waves towards the high cliffs of the rocky island. She had scarcely left +the brig before it broke in two in the middle; the foremast toppled over +into the water, and the after portion disappeared in the waves, as they +were lighted up by the repeated flashes from the dark clouds.</p> + +<p>"We shall be dashed in pieces on the rocks!" exclaimed the mate, as he +turned his gaze from the remaining portion of the Waldo to the lofty +cliffs on the island.</p> + +<p>"No; there is a beach under the rocks," replied Wallbridge. "I know the +place very well. Let her go ahead, and we must take our chances in the +surf."</p> + +<p>"If there is a beach we shall do very well," replied the mate, pulling +vigorously at his oar to keep the boat before the wind; for he knew +that, if she fell off into the trough of the sea, she would be instantly +swamped.</p> + +<p>But the distance was short between the ledge<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> and the shore, and in a +moment more the boat struck heavily upon the gravelly beach, which was, +at this time of tide, not more than ten feet wide, and the waves already +rolled over it against the perpendicular rocks. With one consent, the +four men leaped from the boat into the surf. The mate carried the +painter on shore with him, and endeavored to swing around the boat, +which had come stern foremost to the beach. Burns imprudently moved out +into the surf to assist him, when the undertow from a heavy wave swept +him far out into the angry sea. In the mean time, Wallbridge and Harvey +Barth retreated towards the cliff. The tide was still rising, and the +beach afforded but partial shelter from the fury of the billows.</p> + +<p>"This is no place for us," said Wallbridge, gloomily.</p> + +<p>"I don't think it is," drawled Harvey. "We can't stand it here a great +while."</p> + +<p>"But I will make sure of one thing," added the late passenger of the +Waldo. "I have twelve hundred dollars in gold in my hand, and it may be +the means of drowning me."</p> + +<p>"Gold isn't of much use to us just now,"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> sighed Harvey, indifferently, +as he glanced around him to ascertain if there were any means of escape +to the high rocks above; but no man could climb the steep cliff beside +him.</p> + +<p>"I worked two years in Cuba for this money, and I don't like to lose +it," said Wallbridge. "But I don't mean to be drowned on account of it."</p> + +<p>As he spoke he kneeled down on the beach, and scooped out of the sand +and gravel a hole about a foot deep, into which he dropped the bag of +gold.</p> + +<p>"Under that overhanging rock," said he, fixing in his mind the locality +of his "hidden treasure;" "I shall be able to find it again when I want +it."</p> + +<p>"I hope you will," answered Harvey Barth, looking up at the mark +indicated by his companion.</p> + +<p>It was little he cared for gold then, and leaving the owner of the +treasure to consider more particularly the place where he had buried it, +he walked along under the cliff in search of some shelter from the +billows, which every moment drenched him in their spray. He moved<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span> on +some distance, till an angle in the cliff carried it out into the deep +water. He had come to the end of the beach, and he halted there in +despair. He felt that there was no alternative but to lie down and die +in the angry waves, for it was better to be drowned than to be dashed to +pieces on the jagged rocks. A bright flash of lightning, followed by a +fearful crash of thunder, as though the bolt had struck upon the land +near him, illuminated the scene for an instant. That flash, which might +have carried death and destruction in its path on the land, kindled a +new hope in the bosom of Harvey Barth, for it revealed to him an opening +in the angle of the rock. The cliff seemed to have been rent asunder, +and a torrent of fresh water was pouring down through it from the high +land above.</p> + +<p>Harvey entered the opening, walking with difficulty over the large, +loose stones, rounded by the flow of the stream. The ascent was steep, +and the torrent of water that poured down through the ravine increased +the trials of its passage. But the wrecked wanderer felt that he was +safe from the fury of the savage waves.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> When he came to a flat rock, +only a few feet above the beach, upon which he could step out of the +little torrent, he paused to rest and recover his breath. Then he +thought of his companions in misery, exposed to the peril of the +sweeping billows and the more terrible rocks. He was not a selfish man, +and the thought caused him to retrace his steps to the entrance of the +ravine. Here he halted, and shouted with all his might to his shipmates; +but his voice was weak at the best, and no response came to his cries. +The dashing of the sea and the roaring of the tempest drowned the sound.</p> + +<p>After finding a place of safety, he could not leave his companions to +perish. The tide was still rising, increased and hastened by the furious +hurricane which drove the waters in this direction. The beach was more +dangerous than when he had crossed it before, but the steward, in spite +of his weakness, reached the spot where the passenger had buried his +gold. Neither the mate nor Wallbridge was there; and the whale-boat had +also disappeared. With the greatest difficulty, Harvey succeeded in +regaining the opening in the rock. Several times he was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span> knocked down by +the billows, and once he was thrown with considerable force against the +cliff. Bruised and exhausted, he seated himself on the flat rock again, +to recover his breath and the little strength he had left.</p> + +<p>Wallbridge and the mate were appalled at the fate of Burns, though they +did not know that a broken spar from the wreck had struck him on the +head, and deprived him of the use of his powers. The whale-boat was +hauled around, head to the beach, but the waves swept it far up towards +the rocks, which threatened its destruction in a few moments more. Then +they missed Harvey, and both of them shouted his name with all the vigor +of their strong lungs; but the steward did not hear them.</p> + +<p>"The sea has swept him away," said the mate, sadly.</p> + +<p>"Or dashed him against the rocks," added Wallbridge. "It will be the +same with us in a short time. I didn't think the tide was up so far, or +I should have known better than to land here."</p> + +<p>"I would rather take my chance on the wreck," continued Mr. Carboy, who +still held<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> the painter of the boat. "I think it is moderating a +little."</p> + +<p>"Not much; but do you think we can get off in the whale-boat?" asked +Wallbridge.</p> + +<p>"We may but it is death to stay here ten minutes longer."</p> + +<p>"That's true; for common tides rise to the foot of the rocks. We can't +stand up much longer."</p> + +<p>"Now's our time!" exclaimed the mate. "The wind lulls a little. It can't +be any worse on the wreck than it is here."</p> + +<p>The hurricane had certainly subsided a little, and with a vigorous +effort the two stout men shoved the whale-boat down the steep declivity +into the deep water. Keeping her head to the sea, with the oars in their +hands they leaped into the boat as a receding billow carried her far out +from the beach.</p> + +<p>"Now, give way!" cried the mate; and with lusty strokes they pulled +against the advancing sea.</p> + +<p>The boat was light, and the two rowers were powerful men, thoroughly +experienced in the handling of boats under the most trying +circumstances.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> They succeeded in getting clear of the beach, however, +only by the favoring lull of the tempest. They pulled dead to windward, +for Mr. Carboy dared not risk the boat in the trough of the sea, even +for a moment. This direction brought them, after a desperate pull, to +the wreck of the Waldo, only the forward part of which remained. This +portion appeared to the mate to be wedged in between a couple of rocks, +now hidden by the waves, for it did not rise and fall with the billows. +He stated his belief to Wallbridge, and they agreed that the wreck would +be the safest place for them. The passenger spoke of a good harbor but a +short distance to the northward, but Mr. Carboy declared that the +whale-boat would be swamped in the attempt to reach it.</p> + +<p>Under the lee of the wreck, the sea was comparatively mild, and the mate +fastened the painter of the boat to the bobstay of the brig. Without +much difficulty, the two men climbed to the forecastle of the vessel, +which was still above the water. Doubtless Mr. Carboy was right in +regard to the position of the wreck on the rocks, but the sea dashed +furiously against<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span> the broken end of the hulk. The hurricane renewed its +violence, and as the tide rose, the waves swept over the two men. But +the rising sea did worse than this for them. It loosened the cargo, +consisting in part of hogsheads of molasses; and they rolled down into +the deep water. Relieved of this weight, the tide lifted the wreck from +between the rocks; the hulk rolled over and disappeared beneath the +white-crowned waves, dragging the whale-boat down with it. The movement +was so sudden that the mate and the passenger had no time to save +themselves, if there had been any means of doing so, and they went down +with the wreck. After a hard struggle for life, they perished.</p> + +<p>Harvey Barth alone was spared, and he rested on the flat rock in the +ravine till his wasted breath and meagre strength were regained. Then he +continued his weary ascent till he reached the summit of the cliffs, +where he saw the boat made fast to the wreck, and the mate and passenger +clinging to the forestay. In the next glare of the lightning, with a +thrill of horror, he saw the hulk topple over and disappear in the mad +waves.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span></p> + +<p>Harvey Barth, the sick man, was the only one of the dozen persons on +board of the Waldo who was left alive in half an hour after the +hurricane burst upon her; and she was not the only vessel that foundered +or was dashed upon the rocks in that terrific storm, nor the only one +from whose crew only a single life was spared. The tempest and the +lightning had done their work; and when it was done, the dark clouds +rolled away, the lightning glared no more, the winds subsided, and the +sea was calm again. Later in the night, the wind came cold and fresh +from the north-west, and swept away from the narrow beach the wounded +body of Burns, and nearly every vestige of the wreck. The rising sun of +the next morning revealed hardly a trace of the terrible disaster.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER III.</h2> + +<h3>"HARVEY BARTH, HIS DIARY."</h3> + + +<p>Harvey Barth stood on the high cliff and wept; not in a poetical sense, +but cried like a little child, and the hot tears burned on his cold, +thin pale cheeks. Captain 'Siah had always used him well; the rough mate +had been kind to him; and the seamen, most of whom, like himself, were +farmers' sons, had been friendly during the three months they were +together. Even the passenger often seated himself in the galley to talk +with him, as he smoked his pipe. Now they were all gone. So far as +Harvey knew, every one of them, from the captain to the humblest seaman, +had perished, either by the bolt from the clouds or in the mad waters. +It was barely possible that the mate or passenger had escaped from the +wreck on which they had taken refuge, as they had the whale-boat with +them.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span></p> + +<p>Harvey Barth, who had often told his shipmates that he had not much +longer to live, was the only one saved from the whole ship's company. It +seemed to him very strange that he should be spared while so many +stronger men had been suddenly swept away. He dared not believe that any +one else had been saved, and he could not but regard himself as a +monument of the mercy, as well as of the mysterious ways of Providence. +He thanked God from the depths of his heart that he was saved, and he +was almost willing to believe that he might yet escape the fate to which +his malady had doomed him.</p> + +<p>The hurricane subsided almost as suddenly as it had commenced; the sea +abated its violence, and the booming thunder was heard only in the +distance. The black clouds rolled away from the westward, and the stars +sparkled in the blue sky. The steward was wet to the skin, and he +shivered with cold. Where he was he had not the least idea. On the +distant shore he could see the light-houses, but what points of land +they marked he did not know. He was on the solid land, and that was the +sum total of his information. He was well nigh worn out by the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> +exertions and the excitement of the evening, but, turning his back to +the treacherous ocean which had swallowed up all his friends, he walked +as rapidly as his strength would admit, in order to warm himself by the +exercise. From the cliffs the land sloped upward, but he soon reached +the top of the hill, on which he paused to take an observation. From the +point where he stood there was a much sharper descent before him than on +the side by which he had come up. At the foot of the hill he saw two +lights, then a sheet of water, and beyond a multitude of lights +indicating a considerable village.</p> + +<p>The nearest light appeared not to be over half a mile distant, and the +pale moon came out from behind the piles of black clouds to guide his +steps. The cold north-west wind had begun to blow, and it chilled the +wanderer to his very bones. He quickened his steps down the declivity, +and soon reached a rude, one-story dwelling, at the door of which he +knocked. He saw the light in the house, but no one answered his summons, +and he repeated it more vigorously than before. Then a window was +cautiously thrown open a few inches.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Who's there?" asked a woman.</p> + +<p>"A stranger," replied Harvey, shivering with cold, so that he could +hardly utter the words.</p> + +<p>"My husband's over to the village, and I can't let no strangers in at +this time of night," added the woman.</p> + +<p>"I've been cast away on the coast, and I'm really suffering," drawled +the steward, in broken sentences.</p> + +<p>"Cast away!" exclaimed the wife of the man who was over at the village, +as she dropped the sash.</p> + +<p>The terrible storm which had spent its fury upon sea and land was enough +to convince her that men might have been shipwrecked; and this was not +the first time that those treacherous ledges off High Rock, as the cliff +was called, had shattered a good vessel. The woman hastened to the door, +and threw it wide open. The pale, shivering form of Harvey Barth, the +overcoat he wore still dripping with water, was enough to satisfy her +that the visitor had no evil intentions.</p> + +<p>"Come in," said she; and when the steward saw the comfortable room in +the house, he required<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> no second invitation. "Why, you are shivering +with cold!"</p> + +<p>"Yes marm; I'm not very well, and getting wet don't agree with me," +replied Harvey, his teeth still chattering.</p> + +<p>The room to which he was shown was the parlor, sitting-room, and kitchen +of the cottage. On the hearth was a large cooking-stove, in which the +woman immediately lighted a fire. She piled on the dry wood till the +stove was full, and in a few moments the room was as hot as the oven of +the stove.</p> + +<p>"It's no use," said the housekeeper, who had seated herself to rock the +cradle; "you are wet through to your skin; and you can't get warm till +you put on dry clothes."</p> + +<p>She went to a closet and took out her husband's Sunday clothes a woolen +undershirt, and a pair of thick socks. Harvey thought of Paradise when +he saw them, for he was so chilled that to be warm again seemed to him +the climax of earthly joy. The woman laid them on the bed in an +adjoining chamber, and then begged him to put them on. He needed no +urging, and soon his trembling limbs were encased in the warm,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span> dry +clothes. The coat and pants were much too short for him, but otherwise +they fitted very well. When he came out of the chamber, with his wet +clothes in his hands, he found a cup of hot tea on the table waiting for +him.</p> + +<p>"Now drink this," said his kind host. "It will help to warm you up; and +I will put your things where they will dry."</p> + +<p>Harvey drank the tea, and the effect was excellent. A short time before +the stove restored the warmth to his body, and he began to feel quite +comfortable.</p> + +<p>"I feel good now," said he, with a sickly smile. "I'm really a new man."</p> + +<p>"Now I wish you would tell me about the wreck," added the woman, as she +rocked the cradle till it was a heavy sea for the baby, which threatened +it with shipwreck.</p> + +<p>"Certainly; I'll tell you all about it," replied Harvey.</p> + +<p>He started his story at the West India Islands; but, with his drawl and +his hacking cough, he made slow progress. He had not reached the coast +of Maine when the woman's husband arrived. Of course he was astonished +to find a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> stranger so comfortably installed in his house; but when his +wife explained who the steward was, he became as hospitable and friendly +as his wife had been.</p> + +<p>"This is my husband, John Carter," said the woman, as the man of the +house seated himself at the stove.</p> + +<p>"My name is Harvey Barth," added the shipwrecked. "I was cook and +steward of the brig Waldo; but she is gone to pieces now."</p> + +<p>"Sho! you don't say so!" exclaimed John Carter. "Why, I made a voyage to +Savannah myself in the Waldo, before I was married!"</p> + +<p>"You will never make another in her. She broke into two pieces, which +rolled over and went to the bottom," added Harvey.</p> + +<p>"You don't say so! Was Captain Barnwood in her?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, he was. Cap'n 'Siah, as we all called him—"</p> + +<p>"So did we," interposed John Carter, with a smile.</p> + +<p>"Cap'n 'Siah was as nice a man as ever trod a quarter-deck."</p> + +<p>"So he was."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span></p> + +<p>"He's gone now," sighed Harvey.</p> + +<p>"Was he lost?"</p> + +<p>"Yes sir; he was knocked stiff by the lightning, with half a dozen +others."</p> + +<p>"Sho! Was the brig struck by lightning?"</p> + +<p>"She was. It came down the mainmast and knocked the wheel into a +thousand pieces. When the steering-gear gave out, we couldn't do +anything more. I'm the only one of twelve men and a passenger that was +saved."</p> + +<p>Harvey Barth commenced his story anew, when the astonishment of John +Carter had abated a little, and gave all the particulars of the voyage +and the wreck and all the details of his personal history since he kept +school in "York State." It was midnight when he had finished, and the +details were discussed for an hour afterwards. Mrs. Carter had brought +on more hot tea, with pie and cheese, and other eatables, which the +steward had consumed in large quantities, for one of the features of his +malady was a ravenous appetite. John Carter, who had been detained at +the village by the violence of the storm, was as hospitable as any one +could be, and Harvey slept that night in the best bed in the house.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span></p> + +<p>After breakfast the next morning he brought out the oil-cloth which +contained his diary. He had carefully concealed it when he changed his +clothes, and he was now anxious to know whether it had escaped serious +injury in the storm. He unfolded the oil-cloth before John Carter and +his wife. To his great satisfaction, he found it unharmed by the floods +of water which had drenched him. The water-proof covering had secured it +even from any dampness.</p> + +<p>Harvey opened the book at a certain place, and exhibited between the +leaves a thin pile of bank notes—the whole of his worldly wealth, for, +as the Waldo was a total loss, the wages that were due him on account of +the voyage were gone forever. But there was fifty-two dollars between +the leaves of the diary. He had come from home with a good stock of +clothing, and had saved nearly all he had earned, including his advance +for the West India voyage. At Havana Mr. Carboy had the misfortune to +lose his watch overboard, and, as he needed one, Harvey had sold him +his—a very good silver one—for twenty-five dollars.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Now Mr. Carter, I want to pay you for what I've had," drawled Harvey, +as he opened the diary, and exposed his worldly wealth.</p> + +<p>"Pay me!" exclaimed John Carter, with something like horror in his tones +and expression; "take any money from a brother sailor who has been +wrecked! I don't know where you got such a bad opinion of me, but I +would starve to death, and then be hung and froze to death, before I'd +take a cent from you!"</p> + +<p>"I am willing to pay for what I've had, and I shall be very much obliged +to you besides," added Harvey.</p> + +<p>"Not a red. Put up your money. I don't feel right to have you offer it, +even," said the host, turning away his head.</p> + +<p>"I've always paid my way so far; but I don't know how much longer I +shall be able to do so. I'm very thankful to you and Mrs. Carter for +what you've done, and I shall write it all down in my diary as soon as I +get a chance."</p> + +<p>"You are welcome to all we've done; and we only wish it had been more," +replied Mrs. Carter.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I don't think I shall go to sea any more," added Harvey, gloomily. "I +have friends in York State, and I have money enough to get back there. +That's all I want now. If you will tell me how I can get to New York, +I'll be moving on now. I haven't got long to stay in this world, and I +mean to spend the rest of my days where I was born and brought up."</p> + +<p>"A steamer comes over to the village about three times a week, and she +will be over to-day or to-morrow. I will row you over if you say so; but +I shall be glad to take care of you as long as you will stay here."</p> + +<p>"I'm much obliged to you; but I think I had better go over this +forenoon."</p> + +<p>Half an hour later the steward shook hands with Mrs. Carter and bade her +adieu. John pulled him across the river, as it was called,—though it +was more properly a narrow bay, into which a small stream flowed from +the high lands farther inland. The village was called Rockhaven, and was +a place of considerable importance. It had two thousand tons of fishing +vessels; but the granite quarries in the vicinity were the principal +sources of wealth to the place<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span> Latterly Rockhaven, which was +beautifully situated on high land overlooking the waters of the lower +bay, had begun to be a place of resort for summer visitors.</p> + +<p>The western extremity of the village extended nearly to the high cliffs +on the sea-shore, and the situation was very romantic and picturesque. +The fishing was the best in the bay, and the rocks were very attractive +to people from the city. The harbor had deep water at any time of tide. +For a summer residence, the only disadvantage was the want of suitable +hotels or boarding-houses. Of the former there were two, of the most +homely and primitive character, and not many of the inhabitants who had +houses suitable for city people were willing to take boarders.</p> + +<p>John Carter pulled his passenger across the harbor, and walked with him +to the Cliff House, near the headlong steeps which bounded the village +on the west. He introduced him to Peter Bennington, the landlord, and +told his story for him.</p> + +<p>"I am sorry for you," said Mr. Bennington.</p> + +<p>"O, I've got money enough to pay my bill,"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span> interposed Harvey Barth, who +had a sufficiency of honest pride, and asked nothing for charity's sake.</p> + +<p>The landlord showed him to a room, after he had shaken hands with and +bidden adieu to John Carter, it was not the best room in the house, but +it was neat and comfortable. Harvey inquired about the steamer to +Rockland, and was told that she would probably come the next day, and +return in the afternoon. The steward made himself comfortable, and ate a +hearty dinner when it was ready. In the afternoon he borrowed a pen and +ink, and began to write out a full account of the wreck of the Waldo. He +wrote a large, round hand, which was enough to convince any one who saw +it that he was or had been a schoolmaster. He worked his pen slowly and +carefully, but he entered so minutely into the details of the disaster +that he had not half finished the narrative when the supper bell rang.</p> + +<p>Harvey did not resume the task again that day; he was too weary to do +so. That night he was ill and feverish, and in the morning had an attack +of bleeding at the lungs. The landlord<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span> sent for the doctor, but the +patient was not able to leave in the steamer, which went in the +afternoon. The landlord's wife nursed him carefully and kindly, and in a +week he began to improve. He had no further attack of bleeding, and he +began to hope that he should live to get home. As soon as he was able to +sit up in the bed, he resumed the writing up of the diary.</p> + +<p>But we must leave him in his chamber thus occupied, to introduce the +most important character of our story.</p> + +<p>He was a rather tall and quite stout young fellow of sixteen. He was +dressed in homely attire, what there was of it, for he wore no coat, and +his shirt sleeves were rolled up above his elbows, in order, apparently, +to give his arms more freedom. He was as tawny as the sailors of the +Waldo had been, tanned by the hot suns of the West Indies. He had just +come down the river from the principal wharf, at the head of which was +the fish market—a very important institution, where the product of the +sea formed a considerable portion of the food of the people. The boat in +which he sailed was an old, black, dingy affair, which needed to be +baled<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> out more than once a day to keep her afloat. The sail was almost +as black as the hull, and had been patched and darned in a hundred +places. The skipper and crew of this unsightly old craft was Leopold +Bennington, the only son of the landlord of the Cliff House, though he +had three daughters.</p> + +<p>Leopold carried the anchor of his boat far up on the rocks above the +beach, and thrust one of the arms down into a crevice, where it would +hold the boat. Taking from the dingy boat a basket which was heavy +enough to give a considerable curve to his spine as he carried it, he +climbed up the rocks to the street which extended along the shore of the +river for half a mile. On the opposite side of it was the Cliff House. +His father stood on the piazza of the house as the young man crossed the +street.</p> + +<p>"Well, Leopold, what luck had you to-day?" asked Mr. Bennington, as his +son approached.</p> + +<p>"First rate, father," replied the young man, as his bronzed face lighted +up with enthusiasm.</p> + +<p>"What did you get?" asked the landlord.</p> + +<p>"Mackerel."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Mackerel!" exclaimed mine host, his face in turn lighting up with +pleasure.</p> + +<p>"Lots of them, father."</p> + +<p>"We have hardly seen a mackerel this year yet. I never knew them to be +so scarce since I have been on this coast."</p> + +<p>"There hasn't been any caught before these for a month, and then only a +few tinkers," added Leopold, as he removed the wet rock-weed with which +he had covered the fish to protect them from the sun. "They are handsome +ones, too."</p> + +<p>"So they are—number ones every one of them, and some extra," said the +landlord, as he raised the fish with his hand so that he could see them.</p> + +<p>"They were the handsomest lot of mackerel I ever saw," continued the +young fisherman, his face glowing with satisfaction. "I brought up three +dozen for you, and sold the rest. I made a good haul to-day."</p> + +<p>"Three dozen will be all we can use in the house, as big as those are. +Two dozen would have been enough; we don't have many people here now. +But where did you get them?"</p> + +<p>"Just off High Rock, where the Waldo was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span> wrecked. I fished within a +cable's length of the Ledges. I don't know but the sugar and molasses +from the brig drew the mackerel around her," laughed Leopold, as he took +an old black wallet from his pocket.</p> + +<p>"Were there any other boats near you?" asked the prudent landlord.</p> + +<p>"Not another one; folks are tired of trying for mackerel, and have given +it up. I didn't expect to find any, but I happened to have my jigs in +the boat; and for an hour I worked three of them as lively as any fellow +ever did, I can tell you."</p> + +<p>"Did they ask you at the fish market where you got them?"</p> + +<p>"They did; but I didn't tell them," laughed the young man. "The mackerel +fetched a good price. I counted off three hundred and twenty-four at ten +cents apiece, and wouldn't take any less. They are scarce, and I saw +them selling the fish at twenty cents apiece; so they will make as much +as I do. Here is the money—thirty-two dollars and forty cents."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 612px;"> +<img src="images/ill-070.jpg" width="612" height="450" alt="Harvey Barth, his Diary. Page 65." title="" /> +<span class="caption">Harvey Barth, his Diary. Page <a href="#Page_65">65</a>.</span> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span></p> +<p>"Keep it yourself, my boy. You shall have all you make, as long as you +don't spend it for candy and nonsense. Now go up and see the sick man. +He may want something, and all the folks have been busy this afternoon."</p> + +<p>The landlord took the basket of fish and put them on the ice, while +Leopold went up to Harvey Barth's chamber. The sick man did not want +anything. He was sitting up in the bed, with his diary and a pen in his +hands, while the inkstand stood on the little table with the medicine +bottles.</p> + +<p>"There," said Harvey to Leopold, who had been a frequent attendant +during his sickness, "I have just finished writing up this date; and it +contains the whole story of the wreck of the Waldo, and all that +happened on board of her during the voyage."</p> + +<p>"What is it? what are you writing, Mr. Barth?" asked the young man.</p> + +<p>Harvey opened the book at the blank leaf in the beginning, and turned it +towards his visitor.</p> + +<p>"Harvey Barth. His diary," Leopold read. "I see; you keep a diary."</p> + +<p>"I do. I wouldn't take a hundred dollars for that book, poor as I am," +added Harvey, as he closed the volume and laid the pen on the table.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Shall I put it away for you?" asked Leopold.</p> + +<p>"No; thank you; I'll take care of it myself," he replied as he proceeded +to fold the book in its oil-cloth cover.</p> + +<p>When Leopold had left the room, Harvey Barth enclosed the book in an old +newspaper, and, getting out of bed, thrust the package up the flue of +the little fireplace in the room, placing it on some projecting shelf or +jamb which he had discovered there. He was very careful of the book, and +seemed to be afraid some one might open it while he was asleep. +Doubtless the diary contained secrets he was not willing others should +discover; and certainly no one would think of looking in the flue of the +fireplace for it.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER IV.</h2> + +<h3>STUMPY AND OTHERS.</h3> + + +<p>Harvey Barth seemed to be exceedingly well satisfied with himself after +he had finished the writing of his diary up to date. Possibly the fact +that he had not completed his account of the wreck of the Waldo had +troubled him, as any work left unfinished troubles a progressive or +conscientious man. But whether or not he had been disturbed about his +diary, he was happier than usual after he had completed the task. His +physical condition had been greatly improved under the careful nursing +of Mrs. Bennington. In the course of the afternoon not less than half a +dozen persons called to see him, and remained from five minutes to half +an hour, one of whom was connected with a newspaper in a city on the +bay, who was anxious to obtain a full and correct account of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> the loss +of the brig, which Harvey had not yet been able to furnish, even +verbally; but he promised to write out a full narrative for the +applicant, in preference to giving it by word of mouth.</p> + +<p>Others who called upon him were friends of those lost in the Waldo, and +desired to obtain further particulars in regard to the catastrophe. But +the majority of those who visited the steward came only from mere +curiosity, or at best from motives of sympathy.</p> + +<p>Harvey Barth, as the only survivor of that terrible disaster, was quite +a hero in Rockhaven. He had been mentioned in all the newspapers on the +coast, in connection with the wreck, and many people had a curiosity to +see him, especially the visitors at Rockhaven, who had nothing to do but +to amuse themselves.</p> + +<p>The wreck had been talked about for over a week, and for several days +after the disaster High Rock and its vicinity had been visited by a +great number of boats. Not a single body of those who perished in the +wreck was washed ashore, though diligent search had been made on all the +islands in the neighborhood.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span></p> + +<p>The visit of the newspaper man had given Harvey Barth a new sensation, +for the steward was particularly pleased with the idea of writing an +account of the wreck of the Waldo for publication; and he thought over, +during the rest of the day, the satisfaction it would give him to carry +fifty or a hundred copies of the paper containing it to his native town +in "York State," and distribute them among his relatives and friends. +Indeed, the idea was so exciting, that, when night came, he could not +sleep till a late hour for thinking of it. And when he did go to sleep +he dreamed of it; and it seemed to him that a "printer's devil" came to +him in his chamber to ask for "more copy" of the important narrative. +The imp disturbed him, and he awoke to find a man in his room; but it +was only a half-tipsy "drummer" from the city, who had got into the +wrong chamber when he went to bed.</p> + +<p>It took Harvey some time to convince the interloper that he had made a +mistake; and the stranger had some difficulty in finding his way out. +The invalid heard him groping about the chamber for a long time before +the door closed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> behind him. The steward quieted his excited nerves as +well as he was able, and in thinking over the great composition upon +which he intended to commence the next morning, he went to sleep again.</p> + +<p>Leopold Bennington had slept at least five hours before the sick man was +finally "wrapt in slumber," as he intended to express himself in the +great composition; and in two hours more he had slept all he could +afford to sleep when number one mackerel were waiting to be caught. At +three o'clock in the morning he awoke and dressed himself, the latter +operation occupying not more than twenty seconds, for his toilet +consisted only in putting on his trousers, shoes and hat. He went down +stairs, and, as boys of his age are always hungry, his first objective +point was the pantry, between the dining-room and kitchen, where he +found and ate an abundance of cold roast beef, biscuits, and apple pie. +Being a provident youth, he transferred a considerable quantity of these +eatables to the large basket in which he had brought home his fish the +day before, so that he could "have a bite" himself, even if the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> +mackerel failed to favor him in this direction.</p> + +<p>Though he stopped to fill himself with cold roast beef, biscuit, and +apple pie, and even to fill his basket after he had filled himself, +Leopold was very much excited in regard to the mackerel catch of that +day. He hoped to find the number ones where he had fallen in with them +the day before; and he could hardly expect to catch more than one more +fare before the fact that the mackerel were in the bay became generally +known. The mackerel fleet itself, consisting of between two and three +hundred sail, might be in the vicinity before the sun set again. He +realized the necessity of making hay while the sun shines. But mackerel +are very uncertain, so far as their location and inclination to bite are +concerned; so that there was not more than an even chance for him to +catch a single fish. The result was doubtful enough to make the game +exciting; and Leopold felt very much as an unprofessional gambler does +when he goes to the table to risk his money. It seemed to be altogether +a question of luck.</p> + +<p>But Leopold was hopeful, and felt that the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> chances were rather in his +favor. He had been saving all the money he could earn for months for a +particular purpose; and he was not excited by the simple prospect of +obtaining the lucre for the purpose of hoarding it, so that he could +feel that he possessed a certain sum. He had been a little afraid that, +when his gains amounted to so large a sum as thirty-two dollars and +forty cents, his father would take possession of his receipts; but the +landlord of the Cliff House adhered to his policy of allowing his son to +retain the proceeds of his own labor. With a pea-jacket on his arm and +the basket in his hand, he left the hotel while the stars were still +shining in the few patches of blue sky that were not hidden by the +clouds. But he did not proceed immediately to the boat. He crossed the +street, and, concealing his basket in the bushes by the side of the path +which led down to the river, he hastened up the next street beyond the +hotel till he came to a small cottage, at the gate of which he halted, +and gave three prolonged whistles.</p> + +<p>"Hallo, Le!" shouted a voice from the open window in the gable end of +the cottage.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span></p> + +<p>Of course no sane boy of sixteen would think of pronouncing the three +syllables of the name of one of his cronies; and Leopold, in his +undignified intercourse with his companions, was known only by the +abbreviated name of "Le."</p> + +<p>"Come, Stumpy, tumble out," replied Leopold. "Bear a hand, lively, and +don't wait for your breakfast. I have grub enough to keep us for a +week."</p> + +<p>"I'm all ready," replied Stumpy; "I was up when you whistled."</p> + +<p>Early as it was in the morning, Stumpy seemed to be very cheerful, +perhaps made so by the remark about "grub" which Leopold had used, for +the boy of the cottage knew by experience that the provender which came +from the hotel was superior to that of the larder of his own dwelling.</p> + +<p>The two "early birds" walked rapidly towards the river, not because they +were in a hurry, but because they were excited. The excursion upon which +they had now embarked had been duly talked over the night before, and +Stumpy, though his interest in the venture was small compared with that +of his companion, was hardly less hopeful.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span></p> + +<p>They descended the steep path on the bank of the river, and in a few +moments more the dingy old boat with the patched and ragged sail was +standing out towards the open bay. The wind in the river was very light, +and the old craft was a heavy sailor, so that her progress was very +slow; but the tongues of the two boys moved fast enough to make up for +the deficiencies of the boat. Their conversation was about the prospect +of catching a fare of mackerel, though Harvey Barth and his diary came +in for some comments.</p> + +<p>Stumpy was Leopold's dearest friend and most intimate companion. The +friendship had commenced in school, which both of them continued to +attend in the winter. It had its origin in no especial event, for +neither had conferred any particular favor on the other. Like many +another intimacy, it grew out of the fancy of the friends. Both of them +were "good fellows," and they liked each other. This is all the +explanation which their friendship requires. Stumpy was the oldest son +of a widow, who managed with his assistance, to support her family of +three children. Socially there was no difference in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span> their standing. If +the landlord of the Cliff House was a person of some consequence, on the +one hand, Stumpy's grandfather, on the other, was one of the wealthiest +and most distinguished citizens of Rockhaven, and the boy would probably +inherit a portion of his property when he died. But it ought to be added +that Stumpy did not hold his head any higher because of his family +connections. In fact, he hardly ever alluded to his relationship to the +wealthy and distinguished man. To use his own words, he, "did not take +much stock in his grandfather;" and in his confidential conversations +with Leopold he did not scruple to say that the old gentleman was the +meanest man in Rockhaven.</p> + +<p>This grandfather was Moses Wormbury, Esq.; he was a Justice of the +peace, and had been a member of the legislature. It was said that he had +a mortgage on every other house in Rockhaven; but this was doubtless an +exaggeration, though he loaned out a great deal of money on good +security. Squire Wormbury had had two sons and several daughters, all +the latter being married and settled in Rockhaven or elsewhere.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> The +elder son, Joel, was the father of Stumpy. The younger son, Ethan, kept +the Island Hotel, a small establishment of not half the size even of the +Cliff House, which had less than twenty rooms. In some respects the two +hotels were rivals, though the Cliff House had all the better business. +Ethan Wormbury did his best to fill up his small house, and was not +always careful to be fair and honorable in his competition; but Mr. +Bennington was good-natured, and only laughed when bad stories about his +house came from the Island Hotel.</p> + +<p>Connected with Joel Wormbury, the father of Stumpy, there was a sad leaf +of family history. At the age of twenty-three he had married a poor +girl, who became a most excellent woman. Before this event he had been +to sea, and had made several fishing trips to the Banks. After his +marriage, he worked at "coopering" when he could obtain this employment, +and went a fishing when he could not. When his first boy was born, he +named him after the master of a bark with whom he had made a voyage up +the Mediterranean, and who had been very kind to him during a severe +illness at Palermo. Joel's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> father, uncles, and brother had all received +Scripture names; and perhaps it would have been better if Joel himself +had been equally scriptural in choosing names for his offspring, for the +master of the bark was Captain Stumpfield, and the boy, Stumpfield +Wormbury, was doomed to be called <i>Stumpy</i> from the day he first went to +school till he lost it in the dignity of manhood, though, even then, the +unfortunate cognomen was applied to him by his old cronies.</p> + +<p>Joel Wormbury was an industrious and prudent man, but his usual earnings +were no more than sufficient to enable him to support his family; for, +prudent as he was, it was impossible for him to be as mean as his +father, who always insisted that Joel was extravagant.</p> + +<p>Seven years before we introduce his son to the reader, the father made a +trip to George's Bank. The vessel was lucky, and the "high liner's" +share—eight hundred and fifty odd dollars—came to Joel. But he had +been out of work for some time, and was in debt; yet he honestly paid +off every dollar he owed, and had over six hundred dollars left. With +this he felt<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> rich, and his wife thought their home ought to be more +comfortably furnished. It was a hired house; and when two hundred +dollars had been expended in furniture, Squire Moses declared that Joel +had "lost his senses." But the tenement was made very comfortable and +pleasant; and still Joel had four hundred dollars in cash. While he was +thinking what he should do with this money, his father reproached him +for his extravagance, and told him he ought to have built a house, +instead of fooling away his money on "fancy tables and chairs," as he +insisted upon calling the plain articles which his son had purchased.</p> + +<p>The idea made a strong impression upon Joel, and he immediately paid a +hundred dollars for half an acre of land in what was then an outskirt of +the village. He wanted to build at once, and his father was finally +induced to lend him seven hundred dollars, taking a mortgage on the land +and buildings for security. The house was built, and the new furniture +appeared to advantage in it. Joel was happy now, and did his best to +earn money to pay off the mortgage. He made two more trips to the +Georges,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> with only moderate success. All he could do for the next two +years was to pay his interest and support his family.</p> + +<p>Unfortunately, about this time, Joel "took to drinking;" not in a +beastly way, though he was often "excited by liquor." He was not +regarded as a drunkard, for he attended to his work and took good care +of his family. There were, unhappily, several rum-shops in Rockhaven; +and in one of these, one night, after Joel had been imbibing rather more +freely than usual, he got into a dispute with Mike Manahan, an Irish +quarryman, who was also warmed up with whiskey. Mike was full of +Donnybrook pluck, and insisted upon settling the dispute with a fight, +and struck his opponent a heavy blow in the face. Joel was a peaceable +man, and perhaps, if he had been entirely sober, he would have been +killed by his belligerent foe. As it was, he defended himself with a +bottle from the counter of the saloon, which he smashed on the head of +his furious assailant.</p> + +<p>The blow with the bottle, which was a long and heavy one, felled Mike to +the floor. He dropped senseless with the blood oozing from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> his head +upon the sanded boards. Joel was appalled at what he had done; but he +was sobered as well, and when some of the wounded man's friends attacked +him in revenge, he fled from the saloon. But he went for the doctor, and +sent him to Mike's aid. He was terribly alarmed as he considered the +probable consequences of his rash deed. He dared not go home, lest the +constable should be there to arrest him. Later in the evening he crept +cautiously to the doctor's office, to ascertain the condition of his +victim. The physician had caused Mike to be conveyed to his +boarding-place, and had done all he could for him. In reply to Joel's +anxious inquiries, he shook his head, and feared the patient would die. +He could not speak with confidence till the next day, but the worst was +to be anticipated. Joel was stunned by this intelligence. A charge for +murder or manslaughter would be preferred against him, and the penalty +for either was fearful to contemplate. He dared not go home to comfort +his wife—if there could be any comfort under such circumstances.</p> + +<p>Stealing down to the river in the gloom of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span> the night, he embarked in a +dory he owned, and before morning pulled twelve miles to a city on the +other side of the bay, from which he made his way to Gloucester, where +he obtained a lay in a fishing-vessel bound to the Georges. When he was +ready to sail, he wrote a long letter to his wife, explaining his +situation. She had money enough to supply the needs of the family for a +time for the purse had always been in her keeping. He asked her to write +him in regard to the fate of Mike Manahan, and to inform him of what +people said about the quarrel, so that he could get her letters on his +return from the Georges, if there should be no opportunity of forwarding +them to him.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Wormbury was very much distressed at this unfortunate event; but it +appeared in a few days that Mike was not fatally injured; and in a week +he returned to his work. Mike was a good-hearted fellow, and as soon as +he was able he called upon the wife of his late opponent, declaring that +it was a fair fight, and that no harm should come to her husband when he +returned.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span></p> + +<p>Squire Moses declared that people who were extravagant often "took to +drinking," and that he was not much surprised at what had happened. +Joel's wife was happy at the turn the affair had taken; and her +husband's absence was no more than she had been called upon to endure +before. She wrote several letters to him, with "all the news," and +confidently expected her husband's return in a few weeks.</p> + +<p>Instead of his return came a letter from the captain of the vessel in +which he had sailed—a sad letter which shut out all hope for the +future. Joel had gone off in a dory to attend to the trawls; a sudden +fog had come up, so that he could not find the vessel, and his +companions, after a day's search, had been unable to discover him. A +storm had followed, and they had given him up for lost. The loss of a +man in this way on the Banks was not a very uncommon occurrence.</p> + +<p>Months and years passed away, but nothing more was heard of Joel +Wormbury. His wife and children believed that he was buried in the +depths of the sea.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Wormbury knew better than to apply to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span> her hard father-in-law when +her money was exhausted; indeed, she used the very last dollar of it to +pay him the interest on the mortgage note. She went to work, taking in +washing for the rich people of the place and for the summer visitors. +Stumpy was old enough by this time to plant and take care of the garden, +and to earn a little in other ways. Though the times were always hard at +the cottage, the family had enough to eat and to wear, and the widow +contrived to save enough to pay the interest on the place, which she +dared to hope might one day belong to her children. Squire Moses never +did anything for her, declaring that, if she wanted any money, she could +sell her "fancy tables and chairs," for the house was better furnished +than his own; which was true.</p> + +<p>The squire's wealth continued to increase, for he was so mean that he +spent only a small fraction of his interest money. He was hard and +unfeeling, and not only refused to help his son's fatherless family, but +had been heard to say that Joel by his drunken brawl, had disgraced his +name and his relations. Ethan, the keeper of the Island Hotel, seemed to +be his favorite;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span> and people who knew him declared that he was as mean +as his father. Somebody pretended to know that the old man had made a +will, giving nearly all his property to Ethan. However this may have +been, it was certain that Squire Moses had several times threatened to +take possession of the cottage occupied by Joel's family, for the +principal of the mortgage note was now due. He had said this to Joel's +widow, causing the poor woman the deepest distress, and rousing in +Stumpy the strongest indignation. This was why Stumpy "took no stock" in +his grandfather.</p> + +<p>But while we have been telling all this long story about Leopold's +companion, the old boat had reached the vicinity of the wreck. Stumpy +had eaten his fill of cold roast beef, biscuit, and apple pie, and was +entirely satisfied with himself, and especially with his friend. Leopold +threw overboard the ground bait, and soon, with a shout of exultation, +he announced the presence of a school of mackerel. The lines were +immediately in the water, and the fish bit very sharply. Leopold and +Stumpy had nothing to do but pull them in and "slat" them off as fast<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span> +as they could. The boat was filling up very rapidly; but suddenly, the +school, as though called in after recess, sank down and disappeared. Not +another bite could be obtained, and the old boat was headed for the +river. On the way up, Stumpy counted the mackerel.</p> + +<p>"Four hundred and sixty!" exclaimed he, when the task was finished.</p> + +<p>"That isn't bad," added Leopold.</p> + +<p>"I threw out all the small ones—about twenty of them."</p> + +<p>"We will keep those to eat."</p> + +<p>In half an hour more there was a tremendous excitement in and around the +fish market, caused by the arrival of the fare of mackerel.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER V.</h2> + +<h3>HERR SCHLAGER.</h3> + + +<p>Four hundred and sixty mackerel, besides about twenty "tinkers," was a +big fare for that season; but when this fish bite they make a business +of it and an expert in the art may catch from forty to sixty in a +minute. It was exciting work, and the blood of Leopold and Stumpy had +been up to fever heat. But this violent agitation had passed away, +though it was succeeded by a sensation hardly less exhilarating. Though +the fish were caught and in the boat, the game was not played out—to +return to the comparison with the gambler. The excitement still +continues and would continue until the fish were sold. The great +question now was, What would the mackerel bring in the market? Even a +difference of a cent in the price of a single fish made four dollars and +sixty cents on the whole fare. Leopold had received a large<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span> price the +day before, and he could only hope he should do as well on the present +occasion. He was almost as deeply moved in regard to the price as he had +been in regard to catching the fish.</p> + +<p>"I have made a big day's work for me, Le, whatever price they bring," +said Stumpy, shortly after he had finished counting the fish. "If you +sell them at five cents apiece, I shall have five dollars and three +quarters; and that is more than I can generally earn in a week."</p> + +<p>"I won't sell them for five cents apiece, Stumpy," replied Leopold, very +decidedly.</p> + +<p>"If they won't bring any more than that, what are you going to do about +it?" laughed Stumpy.</p> + +<p>"Mackerel are very scarce this season, and I don't believe they have had +any over at Rockland. If the folks in the fish market don't give me ten +cents apiece for the lot, I shall sail over there. I am almost sure I +can get ten cents for mackerel as handsome as these are. Besides, about +all I brought in yesterday were sold before sundown."</p> + +<p>"Then I shall be eleven dollars and a half in," added Stumpy. "My mother +wants about<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span> so much to make out her interest money. If she don't pay it +we shall be turned out doors before the sun goes down on the day it is +due."</p> + +<p>"Do you think so?" asked Leopold, with a deep expression of sympathy.</p> + +<p>"O, I know it. My grandad is an amiable man. He don't put off till +to-morrow what can be done to-day, when anybody owes him any money."</p> + +<p>"It seems to me I would rather go to jail than owe him a dollar."</p> + +<p>"So would I; and I only wish my mother could pay off the mortgage! +Things have gone up in Rockhaven, and the place that cost my father +eleven hundred dollars seven years ago, is worth eighteen hundred or two +thousand now. My affectionate grandpa knows this just as well as my +mother; and if he can get the place for the seven hundred we owe him, he +will do it. He says it is too expensive a place for poor folks who +haven't got anything."</p> + +<p>"But if the place is worth two thousand dollars, your mother will get +all over the seven hundred, when it is sold," suggested Leopold, who had +considerable knowledge of business.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 603px;"> +<img src="images/ill-096.jpg" width="603" height="450" alt="The big Catch of Mackerel. Page 85." title="" /> +<span class="caption">The big Catch of Mackerel. Page <a href="#Page_85">85</a>.</span> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span></p> + +<p>"The house and land are worth just what I say; or, at least, they were a +year ago, though the war has knocked things higher than a kite just now. +Nobody except my loving grandpa has got the ready cash to pay down; and +mother thinks the place wouldn't fetch much, if anything, over the +mortgage. But in time it will be worth two thousand dollars."</p> + +<p>The arrival of the old boat at the wharf, and the commencement of the +excitement in and around the fish market, terminated the conversation on +Stumpy's worldly affairs. As the dingy craft approached the pier, a +crowd gathered at the head of the landing-steps, for it had been noised +about the town that Leopold had brought in a fare of mackerel the day +before; and people were anxious to know whether he had repeated his good +luck.</p> + +<p>A great many boats had gone out that morning after mackerel, but none of +them had yet returned. Foremost in the crowd on the wharf was Bangs, the +senior member of the firm that kept the fish market. He was excited and +anxious, though he struggled to be calm and indifferent when Leopold +fastened the painter of his boat to the steps.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span></p> + +<p>"What luck to-day, Le?" shouted Bangs, who could not see the fish, for +the careful Leopold had covered them in order to keep them from injury +from the sun, and so that the extent of his good fortune might not at +once be seen by the idlers on the wharf.</p> + +<p>"Pretty fair," replied Leopold, striving to be as calm and indifferent +as the dealer in fish on the pier.</p> + +<p>"What have you got?" inquired Bangs.</p> + +<p>"Mackerel," answered Leopold, as he seated himself in the stern-sheets +of the boat, with affected carelessness.</p> + +<p>"Tinkers?"</p> + +<p>"No; the same sort that I sold you yesterday."</p> + +<p>"What do you ask for them?" inquired Bangs, looking up at the sky as +though nothing on the earth below concerned him.</p> + +<p>"Ten cents," replied Leopold, looking up at the sky in turn, as though +nothing sublunary concerned him, either.</p> + +<p>"All right," said the dealer, shaking his head, with a kind of smile, +which seemed to indicate that he thought the young fisherman was beside<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span> +himself to ask such a price, after apparently glutting the market the +day before. "That will do for once, Le; but they won't bring ten cents +at retail, after all I sold yesterday. I should have to salt them down."</p> + +<p>"Very well," added Leopold; "that's my price; and I don't know of any +law that compels you to give it, if you don't want to, Mr. Bangs."</p> + +<p>The dealer began to edge his way through the crowd towards the fish +market, and the idlers hastened to the conclusion that there would be no +trade.</p> + +<p>"What do you ask apiece for two or three of them?" asked some one on the +wharf.</p> + +<p>"Twenty cents," answered Leopold. "But I don't care to sell them at +retail."</p> + +<p>"I will take three, if you will let me have them," added the inquirer.</p> + +<p>This conversation startled the head of the fish firm, and he returned +once more to the cap-sill of the wharf. He saw that if the young man +attempted to sell out his fare at retail, the business of the market +would be ruined for that day.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I will give you eight cents apiece for all you have," said Bangs.</p> + +<p>"You can't buy them at that price. If you don't want them at ten cents +apiece, I shall take them over to Rockland," replied Leopold, who did +not wish to offend the members of the fish firm, for they had often +bought out his fare, and he wished to keep on the right side of them for +operations in the future.</p> + +<p>Mr. Bangs considered, parleyed, and then offered nine cents; but +finally, when Leopold was found to be inflexible, he yielded the point, +and agreed to pay the ten cents. The mackerel were unloaded and conveyed +to the market, when the sale of them at retail commenced immediately. +The fish were so large and handsome that twenty cents did not appear to +be a very extravagant price for them, considering the scarcity of the +article in the market. In the settlement, Leopold received forty-six +dollars; Stumpy's share, according to a standing agreement, was one +quarter of the proceeds of the sale; and the eleven dollars and a half +which he put into his wallet was quite as satisfactory to him as the +thirty-four dollars and a half was to Leopold.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span> Both of them felt that +they had been favored by fortune to an extraordinary degree, and they +were very happy. The old boat was sailed back to her usual moorings. The +tinkers were equally divided between the young fishermen, and they went +home.</p> + +<p>By eleven o'clock Stumpy had poured into the lap of his astonished +mother the proceeds of his morning's work, and Leopold had informed his +father of the second big haul he had made that season. As before, Mr. +Bennington—but with some additional cautions—told his son to keep the +money he had made.</p> + +<p>"The sick man is in a peck of trouble this morning," added the landlord +of the Cliff House, when the exciting business of the occasion had been +disposed of.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter of him?" asked Leopold.</p> + +<p>"He has lost his book, his record, or whatever it is," added Mr. +Bennington. "He has sent for everybody belonging in the house, including +many of the boarders. He wants to see you."</p> + +<p>"I'm sure I don't know anything about it,"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span> replied Leopold, who, +judging by what the invalid had said about the book, realized that the +loss of it must distress him very much.</p> + +<p>"No one seems to know anything about it; and the sick man will have it +that some one has stolen the book. I laughed at him, and told him no one +would steal such a thing, for it was worth nothing to anybody but +himself. But go up and see him, Leopold."</p> + +<p>The young man hastened to the room of the sick man. Harvey Barth was +certainly very miserable on account of the loss of his diary. He spoke +of it as he would have done if it had been some dear friend who had been +taken away from him by death; but then he was sick and rather childish, +and the people about the hotel pitied and sympathized with him.</p> + +<p>"Where did you put it?" asked Leopold, when he had heard all the +particulars the steward could give in relation to his loss.</p> + +<p>"There isn't any cupboard in this room, and I hadn't any good place to +keep it; so I just tucked it into the flue of that fireplace," drawled +Harvey, with the frequent hacking which impeded his utterance.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span></p> + +<p>"That was a queer place to put it," added Leopold.</p> + +<p>"I know it was; but I hadn't any better one. I thought it would be safer +there than in any other place."</p> + +<p>"Are you sure that you put it there?"</p> + +<p>"Am I sure that I am a living man at this moment?" demanded Harvey. +"That diary is worth more to me than all the rest I have in the world, +and I shouldn't forget what I did with it."</p> + +<p>But Leopold searched the room in every nook and corner, in spite of the +protest of the sick man that it was useless to do so, for he had looked +everywhere a dozen times himself. The young man was no more successful +than others had been who had looked for the diary.</p> + +<p>"Though you value it very highly I suppose the diary is not really worth +very much," suggested Leopold.</p> + +<p>"There are secrets written out in that book which might be worth a great +deal of money to a bad man," replied Harvey, in a confidential tone.</p> + +<p>"Well, what do you suppose has become of it?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I'll tell you. I think some one stole it," added the sick man +impressively.</p> + +<p>"Did any one know about the secrets written down in it?"</p> + +<p>"Not that I know of. Some one may have taken it in order to get my +account of the wreck of the Waldo. It may affect the insurance on the +vessel, or something of that sort, for all I know. I think I know just +who stole it too;" and Harvey related all the particulars of the tipsy +man's visit to the chamber the night before. "He pretended to be drunk, +but I think he knew what he was about all the time, just as well as I +did. In my opinion he took that book."</p> + +<p>"Why should he take it?" asked Leopold, who thought it was necessary to +prove the motive before the deed was charged upon him.</p> + +<p>"I don't know but I think he sat at the window of the room over there," +continued Harvey, pointing to one in the L of the house, which opened at +right angles with his own. "I believe he saw me put the diary in the +flue, and then came into my room in the night and took it, while he was +blundering about over the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> chairs and tables. I am sure that none of the +folks who came in to see me in the afternoon could have taken it without +my seeing them—not even the newspaper man. You may depend upon it, the +tipsy man—if he was tipsy—took it. What he did it for is more than I +can tell; but he may have thought it was money, or something else that +was valuable. I saw him at that window after I had hid the diary in the +flue."</p> + +<p>Harvey Bath was entirely satisfied in regard to the guilt of the tipsy +man, and had already ascertained that the fellow was a "drummer"—in +Europe more politely called a "commercial traveller." He had also +obtained the name of the man, and the address of the firm in New York +city for which he travelled. With this information he hoped to obtain +his treasure again, by shrewd management, when he went to New York. But, +in spite of his grief over his loss, Harvey wrote the account of the +wreck of the Waldo for the newspaper, in the course of the next day, and +sent it off by mail.</p> + +<p>After Leopold had done all he could to comfort the invalid,—though he +failed, as others<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> had, to lessen the burden which weighed him down,—he +left the room, and walked down to the principal street of the village, +on which the Cliff House was located. A few rods from the hotel he came +to the smallest store in the place, in the window of which were +displayed a few silver watches and a rather meagre assortment of cheap +jewelry. On the shelves inside of the shop was a considerable variety of +wooden clocks, and, in a glass case on the counter, a quantity of +spoons, forks and dishes, some few of which were silver, while the +greater part were plated, or of block tin. Over the door was the sign +"<span class="smcap">Leopold Schlager, Watch-maker</span>." The proprietor of this establishment +was Leopold's uncle, his mother's only brother, which explains the +circumstance of our hero's having a foreign name.</p> + +<p>Of course, if Leopold Schlager was a German, Mrs. Bennington was of the +same nationality, though any one meeting her about the hotel would +hardly have suspected that she was not a full-blooded American. Over +thirty years before, she had emigrated with her younger brother, when +the times were hard in Germany. Her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span> father was dead, and her elder +brother, Leopold, was not yet out of his time, learning the trade of a +watch-maker. The younger brother went to the west, taking her with him, +and established himself on a farm. He was not very successful, and his +sister, at the age of twelve, went to live with an American family in +Chicago, the lady of which had taken a fancy to her. She was brought up +to work, though her education was not neglected. Before she was +twenty-one her brother in the west died. But by this time she was +abundantly able to take care of herself.</p> + +<p>When the family in which she was so kindly cared for was broken up by +the death of the father, she went to work in the kitchen of a large +hotel, where she enlarged her knowledge and experience in the art of +cooking, till she was competent to take a situation as the cook of a +small public house. In this place she increased the reputation of the +establishment by her skill, till the proprietor was willing to pay her +any wages she demanded.</p> + +<p>Peter Bennington, a native of Maine, was employed in the hotel; and he +was so well pleased with the looks of the German cook that he proposed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span> +to her, and was accepted. Katharina Schlager spoke English then as well +as a native; and she was not only neat and skillful, but she was a +pretty and wholesome-looking woman. Peter married her, and, after a +while, bought out the hotel. But he was not successful in the venture; +and, with only a few hundred dollars in his pocket, he returned to +Rockhaven, his native place, where he soon opened the Cliff House.</p> + +<p>Leopold was born in Chicago, and his mother had insisted upon naming him +after her brother in Germany.</p> + +<p>Mr. Bennington had done very well in the hotel; but he was ambitious to +do business on a larger scale, and was revolving in his mind a plan to +make the Cliff House into a large establishment, which would attract +summer visitors in great numbers. He had bought the present hotel, and +paid for it from his profits; and he hoped soon to be able to rebuild it +on a larger scale.</p> + +<p>His wife was faithful and devoted to him and the children. She had +always done the cooking for the Cliff House, which had given it an +excellent<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span> reputation. She was not only a good and true woman, but she +was an exceedingly useful one to a hotel-keeper. For years she had +tenderly thought of her absent brother in Germany. She often wrote to +him, and learned that he was doing a good business in a small city. +After years of persuasion, she induced him to join her in America. He +was met on the wharf in New York, when he landed, by Mr. Bennington and +his wife, and conducted to Rockhaven without delay. He could not speak a +word of English then; but for six months he devoted himself to the study +of it under the tuition of his sister and her children, till he was +competent to carry on his business in the town. He was a very skillful +workman, and all the watches in Rockhaven and on the island came to him +to be cleaned and repaired. Even the rich men of the place found that he +could be safely trusted with their valuable gold time-keepers, and he +became quite celebrated in his line. He sold a watch occasionally, and +had a small trade in clocks and other wares, so that he really made more +money than in his native land. He had brought with him a considerable<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span> +capital, and was enabled to stock his store without any aid from his +sister.</p> + +<p>If Herr Schlager missed his "sauer kraut" and "bier," he enjoyed the +company of his sister and her children. Leopold was his favorite, +perhaps because he bore the watch-maker's name. They were fast friends; +and in the undertaking which Leopold was laboring to accomplish, he had +made his uncle his confidant.</p> + +<p>When the young man entered the store, he bestowed his first glance upon +a small iron safe behind the counter, in which the watch-maker kept his +watches, silver ware, and other valuables at night. Leopold was +interested in that strong box, for the reason that it contained his own +savings. For six months he had been hoarding up every penny he earned +for a purpose, and he had placed his money in the hands of his uncle for +safe keeping. Perhaps Herr Schlager's iron safe was as much the occasion +of his confidence in his uncle as the fact of their relationship. +Leopold's present visit was made in order to dispose of the proceeds of +his morning's work, before he lost it or was tempted to spend any +portion of it.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Ah, mine poy! you have come mit more money. I see him in your head," +said Herr Schlager, as, with a cheerful smile, he left his work-table.</p> + +<p>"Yes uncle, I have more money," replied Leopold; and his success had +covered his face with smiles. "<i>Ich habe viel geld diesen morgen.</i>"</p> + +<p>"<i>Sehr gut!</i>" laughed the watch-maker, who was delighted to hear his +nephew use the little German he had taught him. "<i>Wie viel geld haben +sie?"</i></p> + +<p>"<i>Mehr als vier-und-dreisig thaler</i>," replied Leopold, who had been +preparing himself, during his walk from the hotel to the store, to speak +what German he had thus far uttered.</p> + +<p>"<i>Viel geld!</i>" cried the watch-maker.</p> + +<p>"How much have I now?" asked Leopold, in plain English, forgetting for +the time all the rest of the German he knew.</p> + +<p>"<i>Sprechen Deutsch!</i>" exclaimed the watch-maker.</p> + +<p>"I don't remember any more German," laughed the young man. "How much +money have I now?"</p> + +<p>Herr Schlager opened the iron safe and placed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span> in one of its draws the +sum just given him by his nephew, and took therefrom a slip of paper. +Leopold added the sums he had deposited, and made the amount +eighty-seven dollars and some cents.</p> + +<p>"Das is nicht enough, Leopold—eh?" asked the uncle.</p> + +<p>"No, not yet."</p> + +<p>"How many more you want of dollars?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know exactly. They ask two hundred; but, as it is rather late +in the season, I think they will take one hundred and fifty," replied +Leopold, thoughtfully.</p> + +<p>"You shall buy him now."</p> + +<p>"Not this year, Uncle Leopold; and next spring they will put the price +up again. I haven't even a hundred and fifty dollars."</p> + +<p>"I shall let you haf de rest of das geld."</p> + +<p>This proposition produced an argument; but the nephew finally consented +to borrow the balance of the sum required, if one hundred and fifty +dollars would answer the purpose. Leopold left the shop with an anxious +heart; but in a couple of hours he returned for his own money and the +loan.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER VI.</h2> + +<h3>MISS SARAH LIVERAGE.</h3> + + +<p>For several months the landlord's son had had his eye on a new +keel-boat, built during the preceding winter, which the owner did not +feel able to keep for his own use. With a sort of desperate +determination, Leopold had been saving every cent he earned about the +hotel, or in his boat, in order to purchase this new craft, or one like +it if she should be sold before his accumulations enabled him to buy +her. The owner asked two hundred dollars for her; but as the season +advanced, Leopold hoped to buy her for less. The matter had looked very +hopeless to him until his first lucky catch of mackerel; and the second +fortunate trip inspired him with confidence. His uncle had been his only +confidant, and they had often discussed the project together. But now +Herr Schlager<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span> had advanced the sum he needed to make the purchase, and +the boat was bought. For two hours the young man had haggled with the +owner about the price; but one hundred and fifty dollars, cash down, was +a temptation which the builder could not resist in the end, when he +thought of his unpaid grocery and provision bills.</p> + +<p>No name had yet been given to the new boat, which was now the property +of Leopold, for when the owner decided to sell her, he thought it was +better to let the purchaser christen her to suit himself. The new craft +was a sloop twenty-two feet long, with quite a spacious cuddy forward. +She was a fast sailer, and her late owner declared that she was the +stiffest sea-boat on the coast. Of course Leopold was as happy as a +lord, and he wanted to hug Herr Schlager for his considerate loan of +sixty-two dollars; but his uncle was quite as happy, and after the +custom of his own country, he did actually hug and kiss his nephew, +though the young man was rather confounded by the demonstration, +especially as the passers-by in the street halted to observe the +spectacle.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span></p> + +<p>As soon as the business of the purchase was finished, Leopold hastened +to the cottage of Mrs. Wormbury, where he found Stumpy digging the early +potatoes in the garden. He informed his friend of the great event of the +day, and invited him to take a sail in the sloop. On their way to the +boat they stopped at the hotel, where Leopold told his father of the +purchase. He did so with some misgivings, and took care to explain the +uses to which he intended to put the boat, before his father had time to +express an opinion. Mr. Bennington, to the great satisfaction of his +son, offered no objection to the purchase; on the contrary, he seemed to +be pleased with the transaction.</p> + +<p>"There are two gentlemen in the house that want to go over to the Isle +of Holt (Isle-au-Haut) this afternoon," added the landlord. "I was just +looking for you to go and see whether Ben Chipman could take them over."</p> + +<p>"I can take them over myself, father," said Leopold.</p> + +<p>"So I was thinking. They want to go right off after dinner."</p> + +<p>"I shall be ready. We will bring the boat<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span> down now.—Will you go with +me, Stumpy?" continued Leopold, turning to his friend.</p> + +<p>"I should like to go, first rate," answered Stumpy.</p> + +<p>They hastened to the wharf where the new boat lay, and in a few minutes +more they were standing down the river in her.</p> + +<p>"She works tip-top," said the skipper, as soon as he began to feel the +boat bearing on the tiller. "She minds her helm as soon as I touch the +stick."</p> + +<p>"She's as handsome as a picture, too. She don't look much like your old +boat," replied Stumpy, with a smile as he realized the contrast.</p> + +<p>"Not much. She seems to go at railroad speed. We haven't been used to +going along at this rate."</p> + +<p>"That's so. What's her name Le?"</p> + +<p>"She hasn't any yet. We will think of something for her."</p> + +<p>The skipper sailed the boat down to the mouth of the river, and came +about off the light-house, located on a projecting cliff which extended +out nearly half a mile from the southern<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span> shore. The trial-trip was +entirely satisfactory; and on her return the sloop was moored near the +old boat, which was now used as a tender for the new one. The young +boatmen went home to get their dinners and made preparations for the +trip to the Isle-au-Haut. Leopold saw the two gentlemen who were to be +his passengers, and agreed to take them over for five dollars. They did +not object to the price, as the island was over ten miles distant, and +there would not be any packet for several days.</p> + +<p>Leopold filled the water-keg in the sloop, and laid in a stock of +provisions for the voyage. At two o'clock the party started; but we do +not intend to follow them in the details of the trip. The breeze was +fresh and the sloop was fast. At four o'clock Leopold had landed his +passengers; but it was eight in the evening when the boat reached +Rockhaven on her return, for the skipper was obliged to beat back. The +five dollars earned in the voyage was promptly handed over to the +watch-maker, reducing by this amount the debt due him. By nine o'clock +Leopold was fast asleep, for he and Stumpy<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span> had arranged to try the +mackerel again the next morning.</p> + +<p>The skipper of the new boat was very tired for the day had been a long, +laborious, and exciting one. It was four o'clock when he awoke the next +morning. When he went out, he found Stumpy waiting on the piazza for +him. He had not stopped to eat his breakfast, but had provision enough +in the basket for both of them.</p> + +<p>"We are late," said Stumpy, as Leopold joined him.</p> + +<p>"I know it; but I was so tired I didn't wake up," replied the skipper.</p> + +<p>"I have seen half a dozen boats go down the river since I stood here, +added Stumpy, ruefully.</p> + +<p>"I don't expect we shall do much to-day. Folks have found out about the +mackerel."</p> + +<p>They went down to the new boat, and were soon under way. At the point, +they saw that all the craft which came out of the river were headed in +the same direction—towards the reef off High Rock.</p> + +<p>"What are you going to call this boat?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span> asked Stumpy, as the skipper +started the sheets, off the light-house. "I don't feel quite at home in +her without being able to call her by name."</p> + +<p>"I haven't thought of any name yet," replied Leopold.</p> + +<p>"We want something to call her by."</p> + +<p>"She has no name."</p> + +<p>"Then we will call her the No-Name, till you fix upon something," +laughed Stumpy.</p> + +<p>"All right."</p> + +<p>The "No-Name" passed half a dozen of the boats bound to the reef; but +when she reached her destination, there were not less than twenty craft, +of all sorts and sizes, on the fishing-ground, huddled into a heap, near +the spot where the luckless Waldo had gone down. The secret was out. A +fisherman going off to the deep water, on the morning before, had seen +Leopold's boat near the reef; and when it was said that the young man +had obtained a large catch of mackerel, he knew where they came from. +But the vicinity of the reefs was the usual place for catching these +fish when they were to be had at all; and as soon as there were mackerel +in the market,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> the fishermen and others knew where to go for them. In a +few moments Leopold had joined the crowd, and the fish bit as smartly as +before. The No-Name was more fortunate than most of her companions, and +got about four hundred mackerel. She might have got twice as many if she +had remained longer on the ground; but Leopold reasoned that fish +without a market were not very valuable. His was the first boat to reach +Rockhaven; and he sold his fare at seven cents apiece. By half past +eight the No-Name was washed down, and ready for a party, if any +offered. Stumpy went home with seven dollars in his pocket, and Leopold +diminished his debt by twenty-one dollars.</p> + +<p>There was no "job" for him at the hotel that day; but in the afternoon +Leopold took his father and mother and Herr Schlager out to sail in the +new boat; and he was quite as happy on this occasion as though he had +made five dollars by the trip. The next morning there were no mackerel +off the ledges, or if there were, they would not bite; and the No-Name +made a profitless trip. When she returned, Leopold found two gentlemen +at the hotel who wished to sail<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span> over to Rockland, as there was no +steamer that day. While the skipper was making his trade with them, +Harvey Barth entered the office. The sick man had finished his narrative +of the loss of the Waldo the day before, and sent it off by the mail in +the steamer. He looked sadder and more gloomy than usual.</p> + +<p>"I should like to go over with you," said Harvey, after Leopold had +named the price for the trip. "I will pay my share of it."</p> + +<p>The gentlemen looked at Harvey and did not seem to like the appearance +of him; and he certainly did not promise to be a very agreeable +companion for an excursion. They took no notice of him, and the steward +was mortified by their coldness.</p> + +<p>"Are you going to leave us, Mr. Barth?" asked the landlord, who was +behind the counter.</p> + +<p>"Yes; I thought I would be on my way to New York as soon as I could, for +I want to find that drummer," drawled Harvey, with his usual hacking +cough. "I feel better this morning, and I think I can stand it to move +towards home. Those men don't seem to want me to go with them, but I +suppose I can wait till<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span> to-morrow. If you will give me my bill, I will +pay it."</p> + +<p>"Never mind that, Mr. Barth."</p> + +<p>"But I can pay what I owe."</p> + +<p>"You can't pay anything here," laughed the landlord. "We don't charge +shipwrecked people anything."</p> + +<p>"But I have been here about ten days."</p> + +<p>"You can stay ten or twenty more at the same rate, if you will," added +Mr. Bennington.</p> + +<p>Harvey Barth remonstrated, but the landlord was firm. The physician who +had attended him also refused to take a cent from him, and so did all +who had done anything for him. He tried to give a dollar apiece to the +employes of the hotel who had been kind to him, but not one of them +would accept the gift. When Harvey left the room, the two passengers for +Rockland asked the landlord who he was; and when informed that he was +the only survivor of the Waldo, they changed their tone, and desired his +company. They sent for him, and politely offered him a passage with +them.</p> + +<p>"I don't want to go where I am not wanted," replied Harvey.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span></p> + +<p>"But we shall be delighted to have you go with us," said one of the +gentlemen, and the other heartily indorsed the remark.</p> + +<p>"I'll pay my share of the expense, if you are really willing to let me +go with you."</p> + +<p>"We are glad to have you go with us; and as to the expense, we will +arrange that when we get to Rockland."</p> + +<p>Shortly after the No-Name departed, manned, by Leopold and Stumpy, with +the three passengers in the standing-room. On the passage, Harvey, at +the request of his new friends, told the whole story of the wreck of the +Waldo, and then dwelt with particular emotion upon the loss of his +diary. One of the gentlemen resided in New York city, and volunteered to +assist him in recovering the cherished volume. When they arrived at +their destination, Harvey was not permitted to pay any portion of the +expense of the trip; and the gentlemen insisted upon his accompanying +them to the best hotel in the city, where from the abundant sympathy of +the proprietor, he was not permitted to diminish his funds by a single +dollar. Having, a few days after, obtained the fifty copies of the +newspaper<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span> which contained his account of the loss of the brig, he +started in the steamer for Boston, with a free ticket in his pocket.</p> + +<p>His first care after he got on board the boat, was to read the narrative +he had written. He was sorely grieved to find that the first half of the +account had been struck out by the remorseless editor; but it must be +added that this portion of the history was wholly irrelevant, being made +up of observations on the outward voyage of the Waldo, and remarks upon +the geography, climate, people and institutions of Cuba. Then, in the +description of the wreck, Harvey was indignant when he found that all +his finest passages had been eliminated from the manuscript. Adjectives +and fine phrases without number had been struck out, and the poor +steward felt that he might as well never have been a schoolmaster. The +truth was, that the editor had only three columns of his paper to spare, +and all he and his readers wanted were the facts in regard to the wreck. +A vivid description of a tempest at sea seemed to be lost upon them. But +Harvey felt that he should not realize half the pleasure he had +anticipated in distributing the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span> fifty copies of the paper among his +friends at home.</p> + +<p>It was late at night when the No-Name arrived at her moorings in the +river at Rockhaven; for on the return trip the wind was contrary and +very light. Leopold, after this "job," had reduced his indebtedness to +Herr Schlager to about thirty-two dollars. Our space does not permit us +to follow him in the process of extinguishing the debt, but it was all +wiped out by the first of October. All the summer visitors had left the +place, and it was a "dry time" at the Cliff House. The landlord counted +up his profits, and felt rich when he realized that he owned the hotel, +did not owe a dollar to any man, and had twenty-five hundred dollars in +the bank, or otherwise available for immediate use. He had a plan drawn +for the enlargement of the hotel which would give him fifty chambers, +besides a large dining-room and parlor. But it would cost eight thousand +dollars to complete the building and furnish the house; and being a +prudent man, he decided not to carry out the project till his funds were +considerably increased.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span></p> + +<p>About the middle of October the steamer brought to Rockhaven a woman, +apparently about forty years of age, who registered her name at the +Cliff House as Miss Sarah Liverage. Though it was certain, from her own +confession, that she had never been there before, she seemed to know all +about the hotel, and all the persons connected with it. She was a +plain-looking woman, well, but not richly, dressed, and her speech +indicated that she was not a cultivated person. There was nothing +remarkable about her, except her knowledge of the hotel, and a certain +excitement in her manner, which indicated that she had come to Rockhaven +for a special purpose, which, however, she was not forward in revealing. +She followed the landlord into the office, though he insisted upon +showing her into the parlor. She wrote her name in the register, and +then astonished Mr. Bennington and Leopold by asking to have the room +which had formerly been occupied by Harvey Barth assigned to her.</p> + +<p>"That is not one of the rooms we usually give to ladies, and we can do +better for you," replied the landlord.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I'd rather have that room, if it don't make any difference to you," +replied Miss Liverage.</p> + +<p>"Certainly you can have it, if you want it, for it is not occupied."</p> + +<p>"I shall be much obliged to you if you will let me have it."</p> + +<p>"You knew Harvey Barth, I suppose," said the landlord, as Leopold, who +often conducted guests to their rooms, picked up the small valise, which +was her only baggage.</p> + +<p>"Well, yes; I ought to know him. I took care of him in the hospital +three weeks before he died," replied Miss Liverage, confidently.</p> + +<p>"Is he dead?" asked Mr. Bennington, startled by the announcement.</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir; he died about a fortnight ago."</p> + +<p>"It is only six weeks since he left here," added Leopold, who was even +more shocked than his father at the news.</p> + +<p>"We didn't hear a word from him after he left Rockland," continued Mr. +Bennington. "I'm sure I didn't think he was so near his end, though I +saw that he couldn't live very long."</p> + +<p>"I thought he would be able to get out again, till the very day he died. +He ate a hearty dinner,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span> for a sick man, and then was taken with +bleeding at the lungs, and died right off. I went with his body to the +place he was brought up, and he was buried a week ago last Thursday, +from the house of his uncle. He had good care while he lived, if he was +in the hospital; and I believe everybody in the town turned out to go to +his funeral. But I guess I'll go to my room now."</p> + +<p>Leopold conducted her to the chamber, placed her valise in a chair, and +saw that the wash-stand was provided with water and towels.</p> + +<p>"Are you sure this is the room that Harvey Barth had?" asked Miss +Liverage, as Leopold was about to retire.</p> + +<p>"Sure as I am of anything," replied the young man. "I used to stay with +him a good deal, when I wasn't busy. Was Harvey Barth a relation of +yours?"</p> + +<p>"Well, no, not exactly; but I was a good deal interested in him. You are +Leopold, I suppose," added Miss Liverage, who appeared to be anxious to +change the direction the conversation had taken.</p> + +<p>"That's my name."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 610px;"> +<img src="images/ill-130.jpg" width="610" height="450" alt="The Arrival of Miss Sarah Liverage. Page 121." title="" /> +<span class="caption">The Arrival of Miss Sarah Liverage. Page <a href="#Page_121">121</a>.</span> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span>"And this was Harvey's room," continued the woman glancing around the +chamber, and then bestowing especial attention upon the fireplace.</p> + +<p>"This was his room," replied Leopold, as he moved towards the door. "Can +I do anything more for you?"</p> + +<p>"No, nothing now. You are the boatman, I believe; and you have bought a +new boat."</p> + +<p>"I bought one just before Harvey Barth left the house. Did he tell you +about her?"</p> + +<p>"Well, nothing in particular, only he said you were a great boatman, and +a very good boy."</p> + +<p>As the woman did not seem inclined to say anything more, Leopold left +the room, and returned to the office.</p> + +<p>"Can you make out what she is, Leopold?" asked his father.</p> + +<p>"No; she says she is no relation to Harvey, but she was a good deal +interested in him. She seems to know all about me; but I suppose Harvey +Barth told her."</p> + +<p>"I wonder what she is driving at?" added the landlord, whose curiosity, +as well as that of his son, was raised to the highest pitch.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I haven't any idea. If she is not a relation of Harvey, what is she, +and why did she want his room?"</p> + +<p>"I can't tell."</p> + +<p>"How old do you think she is, father?"</p> + +<p>"About forty, I should say."</p> + +<p>"Harvey couldn't have been engaged to her, or anything of that +sort—could he?" suggested Leopold.</p> + +<p>"I should think not. She is ten years older than he was, I should say," +replied Mr. Bennington.</p> + +<p>No satisfactory solution presented itself, and Miss Sarah Liverage had +to remain a mystery for the time.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER VII.</h2> + +<h3>SOMETHING ABOUT THE HIDDEN TREASURE.</h3> + + +<p>Miss Sarah Liverage had been three days at the Cliff House before the +mystery of her coming appeared to promise a solution. The landlord was +sure she had come for something, for all her speech and all her actions +indicated this. She had not visited the shore for recreation, and was +not idling away a vacation. One day she commenced a conversation with +Mr. Bennington, and the next with Leopold; and, though she evidently +desired to make some important revelation, or ask some startling +question, she always failed to carry out her purpose. She was nervous +and excitable; and on the second day of her stay at the hotel, the +chambermaid discovered her in her room, on her knees before the +fireplace, apparently investigating the course of the flue; but when the +girl<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span> asked her what she was doing, she answered that she was looking +for her shawl-pin, which she had dropped.</p> + +<p>The weather was rather chilly, and the wind blew fresh and stormy on the +bay, so that Leopold seldom went out in the new boat, but did a man's +work about the hotel; for as the season advanced the "help" was reduced. +Miss Liverage, for some reason, seemed to be very desirous of +cultivating his acquaintance, and she talked with him much more than +with his father. On the second day of her stay she offered him a dollar, +when he brought her a pitcher of water to drink in the parlor, which the +young man was too proud to accept. The guest talked to him for half an +hour; and he noticed that she did not drink any of the water he had +brought. On the strength of this and other similar incidents, Leopold +declared that she was a very strange woman. She sent for him, or +procured his attendance by less direct means, as though she had +something to say; but she did not say it. She asked a multitude of +questions in regard to some of the localities in the vicinity, but she +did not connect her business at Rockhaven with any of them.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span></p> + +<p>On the third day of her residence at the Cliff House a violent +north-east storm commenced, and the guest could not go out of the house +as she had been accustomed to do in the forenoon for a short time. From +the cliff near the house Leopold had explained to her the geography of +the vicinity; and when she inquired where the ledges were on which the +Waldo had been lost, he indicated the direction in which they were +situated, for the high land on the south shore of the river intercepted +the view of them. Miss Liverage appeared to become more desperate in her +purpose, whatever it was as the day passed away; and the storm seemed to +increase her excitement. On the fourth day after her arrival, she +vibrated between her chamber and the parlor all the forenoon, +occasionally visiting the dining-room and the office. The landlord said +she was "as uneasy as a fish out of water;" and he carried books and +newspapers to her, but these did not seem to occupy her attention. She +only glanced at them, and it was plain that her mind wandered when she +attempted to read them. After dinner, on this eventful day her +desperation appeared to culminate in a resolve to do<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span> something; and for +the twentieth time since her arrival she sent for Leopold.</p> + +<p>When he entered the parlor, where she was nervously walking across the +floor, she closed the door after him, and looked out at the windows +which opened on the piazza, apparently to assure herself that no one was +within hearing distance of her. She labored under more than her usual +excitement of manner, and the landlord's son was impressed with a belief +that something was about to happen. Miss Liverage had evidently made up +her mind to say something, and Leopold promptly made up his mind, also, +to hear what it was.</p> + +<p>"I didn't come down here for nothing," said she, and then paused to +observe the effect of this startling revelation upon her auditor.</p> + +<p>"I didn't suppose you did," replied Leopold, judging from the pause that +he was expected to say something, though he was not very deeply +impressed by the guest's announcement.</p> + +<p>"Leopold, Harvey Barth said you were a very nice young man," she added.</p> + +<p>"Then I suppose I am, for I think Mr. Barth was a man of good judgment," +laughed Leopold.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span></p> + +<p>"He told me you owed some money for your new boat."</p> + +<p>"He told the truth at that time; but I don't owe anything now. I was +very lucky with the mackerel, and I have had plenty of jobs for the +boat, so that I have paid up all I owed."</p> + +<p>"Then you have paid your debt," added Miss Liverage, apparently "headed +off" by the young man's reply.</p> + +<p>"I don't owe a cent to anybody."</p> + +<p>"I didn't know but you might want to make some money."</p> + +<p>"I do; I am always ready to make a dollar, though I don't owe anybody +anything," replied Leopold, willing to encourage the woman, while he did +not desire to make anything out of her.</p> + +<p>"Five hundred dollars is a good deal of money," continued Miss Liverage, +watching the countenance of the young man very closely.</p> + +<p>Leopold did not dispute the remark, and with a nod he admitted the truth +of it.</p> + +<p>"I suppose you would not object to making five hundred dollars, +Leopold."</p> + +<p>"I don't believe I should, if I could make it honestly, fairly, and +above-board; but I wouldn't<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span> steal five hundred dollars for the sake of +having it."</p> + +<p>"Of course not. I wouldn't, either," protested Miss Liverage. "I never +did anything which was not honest, fair, and above-board, and I never +mean to. Now, Leopold, I can put you in the way of making five hundred +dollars."</p> + +<p>"Can you? I am sure I shall not object. I suppose the money would do me +as much good as it would anybody."</p> + +<p>"I have no doubt it would. Now, can you keep a secret?" demanded the +woman, more excited than ever; so much so that her manner began to be +decidedly melo-dramatic.</p> + +<p>"That depends on circumstances," answered Leopold, who was not yet quite +clear in his own mind whether or not the woman was crazy. "If it is to +cheat anybody out of a cent, even, I wouldn't keep a secret any more +than I would the itch, if I could get rid of it."</p> + +<p>"Nonsense, Leopold! I am not going to cheat or wrong anybody. I wouldn't +do such a thing for all the money in the world."</p> + +<p>"I can keep a secret that won't harm anybody," added the young man.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Will you promise me solemnly not to tell any one, not even your father, +what I say to you?" asked Miss Liverage, in a low tone, and in a very +impressive manner.</p> + +<p>"If the matter don't concern my father, I won't tell him of it, or +anybody else. But I don't want you to tell me anything that concerns any +person—that is, in a way to do any injury."</p> + +<p>"It don't concern any living soul," interposed Miss Liverage, +impatiently. "I know where there is some money."</p> + +<p>The last remark was whispered, after a glance at the door and all the +windows of the parlor.</p> + +<p>"Where is it?" asked Leopold, now for the first time manifesting a real +interest in the conversation.</p> + +<p>"In the ground."</p> + +<p>"Buried?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>Miss Liverage was very much agitated for a few moments, for she had now +actually entered upon the business which had brought her to Rockhaven. +Of course this important revelation was in some manner to involve Harvey +Barth;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span> but Leopold was not willing to believe that the sick man had +buried any considerable sum of money, unless his speech and his life +while at the hotel were both a lie.</p> + +<p>"Will you promise to keep the secret?" demanded the woman, as soon as +she had overcome in a measure her agitation.</p> + +<p>"On the condition I said, I will," replied Leopold. "But after you have +told me, if I find that anybody is to be wronged by my keeping still, I +shall tell all I know."</p> + +<p>"I'm satisfied. I hope you don't think I came down here, all the way +from New York, to cheat or wrong anybody."</p> + +<p>"I hope not. If you did, I can't do anything for you."</p> + +<p>"You shall judge for yourself. It is just as Harvey Barth said: you are +a good young man, and you will be as honest by me as you mean to be by +other folks."</p> + +<p>"Of course I will be."</p> + +<p>"Your share of the money will be five hundred dollars. Shall you be +satisfied with this?"</p> + +<p>"I think I shall be," laughed Leopold, to whom the amount seemed like a +fortune.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span></p> + +<p>"You agree to take this as your share?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; I agree to it."</p> + +<p>"And to keep the secret?"</p> + +<p>"On the conditions I named."</p> + +<p>"I am satisfied with the conditions. If you and I don't get this money, +somebody else will, who has no more right to it than we have."</p> + +<p>"But who owns the money?" asked Leopold, whose views of an honest policy +required him to settle this question first.</p> + +<p>"Nobody."</p> + +<p>"Nobody!" exclaimed the young man. "It must belong to somebody."</p> + +<p>"No it don't."</p> + +<p>"How can that be?"</p> + +<p>"The owner is dead and gone."</p> + +<p>"Then it belongs to his heirs."</p> + +<p>"He has no heirs."</p> + +<p>"Who is he, anyhow?"</p> + +<p>"He isn't anybody now. Didn't I say he was dead and gone?" demanded Miss +Liverage, impatiently.</p> + +<p>"Well, who was he, then?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know."</p> + +<p>"It's very strange," mused Leopold.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I know it's strange. I am the only person living who knows anything +about this money. If I don't take it, somebody else will, or it will +stay in the ground till the end of the world," said the woman. "It's a +plain case; and I think the money belongs to me as much as it does to +anybody else."</p> + +<p>"Where is it buried?"</p> + +<p>Before she would answer this question, Miss Liverage satisfied herself +that Leopold understood the bargain they had made, and was ready to +abide by all its conditions. With the proviso he had before insisted +upon, the young man agreed to the arrangement.</p> + +<p>"I don't know exactly where the money was buried," continued the owner +of the great secret.</p> + +<p>"O, you don't!" exclaimed Leopold, rising from his chair, and bursting +into a laugh. "Then this is a 'wild goose chase.'"</p> + +<p>"No, it isn't. But now you have agreed to the terms, I will tell you all +about it. Sit down; for I don't want to scream out what I have to say. +Will any one hear us?"</p> + +<p>"No; I think not."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Won't your father?"</p> + +<p>"No, he has gone up to Squire Wormbury's."</p> + +<p>Miss Liverage drew her chair up to the cheerful wood fire that blazed in +the Franklin stove, and Leopold seated himself in the corner nearly +opposite her, with his curiosity intensely excited by what he had +already heard.</p> + +<p>"In the first place do you know whatever became of Harvey Barth's +diary?" Miss Liverage began.</p> + +<p>"I haven't the least idea; but he said it was stolen from him, and he +was going to get it when he went to New York," replied Leopold, deeply +interested even in this matter.</p> + +<p>"But he never found it, and I don't believe anybody stole it. I think it +is in this house now. Our first business is to find it."</p> + +<p>"We couldn't find it in the time of it, and I don't believe we can now."</p> + +<p>"We must find it, for that diary will tell us just where the money is +buried."</p> + +<p>"You never will find the diary or the money."</p> + +<p>"Don't be too fast. Harvey told me where the money was buried. It was +under the cliffs at High Rock," added Miss Liverage.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span></p> + +<p>"The cliffs are about a mile long."</p> + +<p>"The money was buried in the sand."</p> + +<p>"The beach under High Rock is half a mile long, and it would be a +winter's job to dig it all over. But who hid the money there?"</p> + +<p>"A man who was wrecked in the brig."</p> + +<p>"Was it Harvey Barth?"</p> + +<p>"No; the man was a passenger and called himself Wallbridge; but Harvey +thought this was not his real name."</p> + +<p>"That was the name of the passenger as it was printed in the newspaper."</p> + +<p>"Harvey wrote down all he knew about him in his diary. He buried his +money—twelve hundred dollars in gold—on the beach; and in the diary +the place is described. Harvey inquired about the passenger in Rockland; +but no one knew anything about him."</p> + +<p>"Twelve hundred in gold," said Leopold, musingly.</p> + +<p>"Yes; and I have agreed to give you nearly half of it."</p> + +<p>"If we find it," added the young man, who considered the information +rather too indefinite for entire success.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I think we can find it."</p> + +<p>"Did Harvey Barth tell you just where the money was buried?"</p> + +<p>"He said it was buried on the beach. He talked a great deal about it the +day before he died, and said, if he ever got well enough, he should go +and get it; and then he would pay me handsomely for all I had done for +him. I was a nurse in the hospital, you see, and was his only companion. +He felt very bad about the loss of his diary, and told me all about it. +He said he put it in the flue of the fireplace, because there was no +closet in the room. Now, if nobody stole it, the diary must be there +yet. I have looked into the flue, but I couldn't see anything of it; and +I have made up my mind that it dropped down somewhere."</p> + +<p>"The room is directly over this parlor, and if it dropped into the +chimney, it must have come down into this fireplace," replied Leopold. +"I am sure nothing was ever seen of it."</p> + +<p>They examined the flue of the Franklin stove, and Miss Liverage was +satisfied with the young man's statement in regard to its construction.</p> + +<p>"Some one may have picked it up and put it away," suggested the nurse.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span></p> + +<p>"There was a summer piece fastened into the front of this stove, which +was not taken down till I removed it to make the fire when you came. If +the diary had been there, I should have found it. But I will search the +whole house for it, though I am of Harvey Barth's opinion, that some one +stole the book. If any person saw him put it into the flue, as Harvey +thought the drummer did, he might have supposed it was something very +valuable. Why should he take so much pains to hide it, if it was not? If +the drummer did not take it himself, he may have told somebody else, who +did steal it. If he had left the diary on the table, nobody would have +touched it, I know. It was all because he hid it, that he lost it."</p> + +<p>Miss Liverage was sure the diary was still in the house, and during that +and the next day, while the storm lasted, Leopold searched the hotel +from cellar to garret. He did not find the key to the hidden treasure of +High Rock. The nurse searched for herself, so far as she could do so +without exciting the suspicions of the hotel people; but she was no more +successful than her confidant in the secret. If the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span> diary was in the +house, it could not be found. The structure of the chimney, in which the +flue of the fireplace was built, was carefully examined; and Leopold's +conclusion seemed to be fully verified. Miss Liverage was reluctantly +compelled to abandon all hope of finding the coveted volume.</p> + +<p>The storm ended, and the sun shone again. The wind came fresh and cold +from the north-west. The nurse looked from the windows of the hotel upon +the waters of the river, which, sheltered from the force of the blast, +were as smooth as an inland pond though the waves rolled up white and +angry beyond the point. The guest at the Cliff House, though she had +given up all expectation of finding the diary, had not abandoned the +hope of obtaining the hidden treasure.</p> + +<p>"Now, Leopold, we must go to the beach under High Rock," said she, after +the storm was over.</p> + +<p>"What is the use of going there, if you don't know where the money is +hidden?" demanded the boatman.</p> + +<p>"I think I can find the place," replied Miss<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span> Liverage. "Harvey told me +where it was; but I can't think of the names he used in telling me. I +was pretty sure I should find the diary, when I left New York."</p> + +<p>"If you want to go to High Rock, I will take you down there in the +boat," added Leopold.</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid of boats. Can't we go by land?"</p> + +<p>"Not very well. My boat is as stiff as a man-of-war, and you can go a +great deal easier in her than you can climb over the rocks on the other +side of the river."</p> + +<p>Miss Liverage considered the matter, and after dinner she decided to +undertake the hazardous trip, as she regarded it. She had an engagement +the next week in New York, and she could not remain in Rockhaven more +than a day or two longer. What she did must be done at once. Mr. +Bennington was astonished when he saw his son taking her out to sail on +such a chilly, blustering day; but he always allowed his guests to suit +themselves, and offered no objection to the expedition. Leopold seated +his timid passenger in the standing-room, and shoved off the boat. In +the river she made smooth<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span> sailing of it; but the instant she passed the +range of the high bluff on the north shore, the No-Name plunged into a +heavy sea, burying her bow deep in a foam-crested billow, whose dense +spray drenched the water-proof of Miss Liverage, and it seemed to her as +if the end of all things had come.</p> + +<p>"Mercy on us!" screamed she, trying to rise from her seat, as the bow of +the boat was lifted far up by the wave.</p> + +<p>"Sit down, Miss Liverage," said Leopold, pushing her back into her seat.</p> + +<p>"We shall be drowned!" cried the terrified passenger.</p> + +<p>"This is nothing; the boat is doing first rate," answered Leopold.</p> + +<p>"I shall be wet to the skin," she added, as another cloud of spray was +dashed over her. The skipper went to the cuddy, forward, and brought +from it an old oil-cloth coat, which he spread over his passenger. +Though this garment protected her from the spray, the angry waves were +still a vivid terror to her, and the skipper vainly assured her there +was no danger. Letting off the main sheet, he put the boat<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span> before the +wind, and then she rolled, pitched, and floundered, till Miss Liverage +declared she was frightened out of her life.</p> + +<p>"Don't be alarmed. There! you can see the ledges now where the Waldo +went to pieces," added Leopold, pointing to the black rocks, now in +sight, upon which the white foam broke at every surge of the sea.</p> + +<p>"I can't see anything, Leopold," gasped Miss Liverage, holding on to the +washboard with both hands. "Do go back as fast as you can."</p> + +<p>"But you can't find the money if you don't go and look for it."</p> + +<p>"I don't care for the money. I wouldn't stay out here another minute for +the whole of it," protested the passenger.</p> + +<p>She pleaded so earnestly that Leopold finally came about, and beat his +way back to the river, and soon landed her in front of the hotel. She +declared she would not get into a boat again for all the treasure hidden +in the bowels of the earth.</p> + +<p>Miss Liverage was satisfied that Leopold was both honest and zealous, +and she finally concluded to commit to him the search for the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span> buried +money. The next day she started for home, disappointed and disheartened +at the result of her visit to Rockhaven, though she had some hope that +her confidant might yet discover the treasure.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER VIII.</h2> + +<h3>AN IMPORTANT DISCOVERY.</h3> + + +<p>The landlord of the Cliff House was a man who attended to his own +business to the exclusion of that of others, and he did not trouble +himself any further about the affairs of his guest, though his curiosity +was somewhat excited at first. Leopold "was not happy" in being obliged +to conceal his thoughts and actions from his father; but then Mr. +Bennington did not question him in regard to her conduct after he was a +little accustomed to the ways of Miss Liverage. The young man did not +place much reliance upon the statements of the nurse. He had heard and +read about "money-diggers" before. He was familiar with the story of +Wolfert Webber, who had dug over the whole of his cabbage garden in +search of hidden treasure, and he had no little contempt for those<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span> who +allowed themselves to be carried away by such vain and silly illusions. +While he had no doubt that Miss Liverage was in earnest, he had little +confidence in the existence of the hidden treasure at High Rock.</p> + +<p>Though Leopold did not intend to become a Wolfert Webber, and dig over +half a mile of beach under the cliffs, he admitted to himself the +possibility of the existence of the treasure. He had promised the nurse +that he would search for the money, and he did so; but he felt that the +task was like "looking for a needle in a hay-mow," and he abandoned it +before he had made himself ridiculous in his own estimation. He wrote a +letter to the nurse, who had given him her address in New York, +informing her of the ill success of his endeavors. She answered the +letter, giving him further instructions, saying that the money was +buried not more than a foot below the surface of the beach, and near a +projecting rock. Probably when she was less excited than during her +visit to Rockhaven, her memory had recalled some of the statements of +Harvey Barth; for certainly she had said nothing so definite as this +when she was with Leopold.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span></p> + +<p>The young man, aided by these directions, which certainly were not very +precise, made another attempt to find the treasure. There was more than +one "projecting rock," and he dug over all the sand and gravel to the +depth of a foot in the vicinity of every part of the cliff which +answered to the description given. He worked very hard, and the boatmen +who saw him at his labors wondered if he expected to find clams so far +up on the beach.</p> + +<p>He found neither clams nor money; and when he had finished the search he +was more than ever dissatisfied with himself for being led away by such +a chimera. He wrote to Miss Liverage again, informing her of the +continued failure of his efforts, and declaring that he would not "fool +with the matter" any longer. The nurse did not answer his last letter +and it was evident that she too had "lost hope." Leopold never heard +anything more from her or about her, and in a few weeks he had forgotten +all about the "hidden treasure of High Rock," for he did not believe +there was any treasure there, and it was not pleasant for him to +remember that he had made a fool of himself.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span></p> + +<p>Leopold and Stumpy went to school together during the winter, and +continued to be as good friends as ever. Mrs. Wormbury struggled with +her hard lot, and Squire Moses still threatened to take possession of +the cottage. The Cliff House prospered in its small way, and the +landlord still nursed his grand project of having a big hotel in +Rockhaven. During the next season Leopold did very well with his boat, +both with the fishing and with the "jobs" from the hotel. He saved his +money and still kept it in the iron safe of Herr Schlager, who was as +proud of and as devoted as ever to his nephew. In the spring, the +question for the name of the new boat came up again, and the skipper was +prepared to settle the question. Among the guests at the hotel in the +summer, was the family of the Hon. Franklin Hamilton, a wealthy merchant +of New York, who was a native of Rockhaven. They had spent a few days at +the Cliff House for several seasons, though it was painfully apparent to +the landlord that his accommodations were not satisfactory to his +distinguished and wealthy guests, for the time they spent at the house +was very brief. The family consisted of Mr.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span> Hamilton, his wife and an +only daughter. They always wanted to sail when they came to Rockhaven, +but Ben Chipman's boat did not suit them. Leopold did not buy his sloop +till after they had gone; but he congratulated himself upon the fact +that when they came the next season he should be able to sail them in a +boat which was good enough for any nabob in the land.</p> + +<p>Being in funds in the spring, he fitted up the sloop very nicely, and +could not help anticipating the pleasure it would afford him to sail the +Hamiltons, especially the daughter, who, at the age of fourteen, was a +very pretty girl. Revelling in these delightful thoughts, it suddenly +occurred to him that he might give the young lady's name to the boat. It +was certainly a very pretty name for so jaunty a craft as the sloop. It +was Rosabel. In another week it appeared in gilt letters on the stern of +the boat. In the summer the family came again. Rosabel was taller and +prettier than ever, and Leopold actually realized all his pleasant and +romantic anticipations, as he sailed her and her parents about the bay. +Mr. Hamilton engaged the boat<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span> for every day during his stay, which was +prolonged to a whole week, or twice as long as he usually remained; for +Rosabel was so pleased with the water excursions that her father +extended his visit at her desire. Probably Leopold had as much romance +in his nature as most young men of seventeen, and after his first full +season in the Rosabel, the beautiful face and form of Miss Hamilton were +a very distinct image in his mind, often called up, and often the +subject of his meditations, though he could not help thinking of the +wide gulf that yawned between the daughter of the rich merchant and the +son of the humble landlord of a small hotel.</p> + +<p>In the fall of the year, Leopold observed that his father was making +frequent visits to Squire Moses Wormbury; and it soon came out that the +rich man was to loan the landlord six thousand dollars, to enable the +latter to make his contemplated improvements upon the hotel. The squire +was to have this sum on the first of January, and though Mr. Bennington +did not want it for several months, he consented to take it at that +time; for Squire Moses would not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span> allow it to remain a single month +uninvested. The landlord was confident that he could make money enough +on the new hotel to pay off the mortgage in three years. As soon as the +snow melted in the spring, the work was commenced. The old portion of +the hotel was partly torn to pieces, and for a time business was very +good at the Island Hotel, for the Cliff House was closed.</p> + +<p>Both the landlord and his son, pleasurably excited by the alterations in +progress, worked with their own hands. Among other changes, the parlor +chimney was taken down, and Leopold took a hand in the job, enjoying the +operation of tumbling down to the cellar great masses of brick.</p> + +<p>"Hold on, Le," shouted the mason who was at work with him, when they had +removed the chimney as far as the level of the parlor floor. "What's +that?"</p> + +<p>The mason pointed to a bundle which was lodged in an opening back of the +flue of the Franklin stove that had stood in the parlor. It was covered +with bricks and lime dust, but the mason brought it to the surface with +his iron bar.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I know what it is," exclaimed Leopold, as he picked up the package, and +knocked it several times against a partition in order to remove the soot +and dust from it.</p> + +<p>It was the oil-cloth containing the diary of Harvey Barth.</p> + +<p>Leopold was somewhat excited by the discovery, and all the incidents of +Miss Sarah Liverage's visit to the hotel came back fresh to his mind, +though they had occurred eighteen months before.</p> + +<p>"What is it?" asked the mason, whose curiosity was excited by the event.</p> + +<p>"It is a book that belonged to Harvey Barth, the steward of the Waldo, +which was wrecked off High Rock," replied Leopold. "I will take care of +it."</p> + +<p>"But how came it in the chimney?" asked the workman.</p> + +<p>"He put it in the flue of the fireplace, and it tumbled down."</p> + +<p>"What did he put it in there for?"</p> + +<p>"Because there was no closet in the room, and he was a very queer +fellow. He is dead now."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span></p> + +<p>"What are you going to do with the book, then?"</p> + +<p>"Send it to his friends, if I can find where they are."</p> + +<p>Leopold carried the diary to his room, in a part of the house which was +not to be disturbed, and locked it up in his chest. He wanted to read +the portion which related to the wreck of the Waldo, and the burying of +the money, if such an event had occurred, of which he had some grave +doubts. But he could not stop then, for he was doing a man's work for +his father, and his conscience would not allow him to waste his time. +The mason asked more questions when Leopold returned to his work, and +they were answered as definitely as the circumstances would permit. The +young man examined the construction of the chimney, and found another +flue besides that of the Franklin stove, into which the diary had +fallen. It had formerly served for a fireplace in an adjoining +apartment, and had been bricked up before the landlord purchased the +estate. The Franklin stove, which was merely an iron fire place set into +the chimney, had the less direct flue of the two, so<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span> that the package +had fallen where it was found.</p> + +<p>During the rest of the day, Leopold's thoughts were fixed upon the +long-lost diary, for which Miss Liverage and himself had vainly +searched. Doubtless she would claim the diary, if it was found; but had +she any better right to it than its present possessor? Leopold +considered this question with no little interest. The secret of the +hidden treasure was certainly in his keeping, and after the "trade" made +between them, he felt that she had some rights in the matter which he +was bound to respect. But the affair was no longer a secret; for after +the "humbug was exploded," as Leopold expressed it, he told his father +all about it. The landlord only laughed at it, and insisted that the +nurse was crazy; and her excited conduct at the hotel rather confirmed +his conclusion.</p> + +<p>The result of Leopold's reflections during the day was a determination +to write to Miss Liverage again, if he found anything in the diary which +would enable him to discover the hidden treasure. The day seemed longer +to him than usual, so anxious was he to examine the pages of the diary. +When at last his work was done, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span> he had eaten his supper, he +hastened to his chamber, and opened the oil-cloth package. He was +greatly excited, as most people are when long-continued doubts are to be +settled. In a few moments he would know whether or not Miss Liverage was +crazy, and whether or not there was any foundation to the story of the +hidden treasure. He locked the door of his room before he opened the +package, for he felt now that the secret was not his own exclusive +property. If there was twelve hundred dollars in gold buried in the +sands under High Rock which belonged to nobody, he felt bound in honor +by his agreement with the nurse to make the division of it with her, in +accordance with the conditions of the contract.</p> + +<p>He desired very much to speak to his father about the diary; but he did +not feel at liberty to do so. It did not appear that the mason with whom +Leopold was at work had told Mr. Bennington, or any person, of the +finding of the package. After his questions had been answered, he seemed +to feel no further interest in the diary, and probably forgot all about +it before he went home to dinner. The discovery of it did not seem to +him to be a matter of any importance, and Leopold kept his information +all to himself.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 608px;"> +<img src="images/ill-164.jpg" width="608" height="450" alt="Leopold makes a Discovery. Page 149." title="" /> +<span class="caption">Leopold makes a Discovery. Page <a href="#Page_149">149</a>.</span> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span>Removing the string from the package, the young man proceeded to unwrap +the oil-cloth, shaking the soot and lime dust into the fireplace as he +did so. The diary came out clean and uninjured from its long +imprisonment in the chimney. Leopold's agitation increased as he +continued the investigation, and he could hardly control himself as he +opened the book and looked at the large, clear, round hand of the +schoolmaster. The writing was as plain as print.</p> + +<p>He turned the leaves without stopping to read anything, till he came to +the record of the last day whose events Harvey Barth had written in the +book; but those pages contained only an account of his illness, and a +particular description of his symptoms, which might have interested a +physician, but did not secure the attention of the young man. He turned +back to the narrative of the loss of the Waldo. It was very minute in +its details, and contained much "fine writing," such as the editor of +the newspaper had struck out in the manuscript for publication.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span></p> + +<p>Leopold had read the account in the newspaper, and he skipped what he +had seen in print, till the name of "Wallbridge" attracted his +attention. The first mention of the passenger that he saw was made when +he went into the cabin, after his recovery from the effects of the +lightning, and returned with something in his hand. The reader followed +the narrative, which was already quite familiar to him, till he came to +the landing of the party in the whale-boat on the beach; and at this +point he found something which Harvey Barth had not written in his +newspaper article, or mentioned during his stay at the hotel. Leopold +read as follows:—</p> + +<p>"As soon as we had landed on the beach, Wallbridge told me he had twelve +hundred dollars in gold, which he had earned by his two years' work in +Cuba. By the light of the flashes of lightning I saw the bag in his +hand. It was an old shot-bag, tied up with a piece of white tape. +Wallbridge said he was afraid the bag might cost him his life, if he +held on to it, and I suppose he thought he might have to swim, and the +weight of the gold would sink him.</p> + +<p>"I have figured up the weight of twelve<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span> hundred dollars in gold, and I +found it would be almost five pounds and a half Troy, or nearly four and +a half Avoirdupois. I don't blame him now for wanting to get rid of it; +but I did not think before I figured it up, that the money would weigh +so much. Four and a half pounds is not much for a man to carry on land, +but I should not want to be obliged to swim with this weight in my +trousers' pocket, even when I was in good health.</p> + +<p>"Wallbridge said he would bury the money in the sand, under a projecting +rock in the cliff, so that he could come and get it when he wanted it. +Just then a flash of lightning came, and I looked up at the cliff under +which he stood. I saw the projecting rock, and it looked to me, in the +blaze of the lightning, just like a coffin, from where I stood. It +seemed to me then just like a sign from Heaven that I should soon need a +coffin, if the sea did not carry me off; but if the sign meant anything, +it did not apply to me, but to Wallbridge, who in less than half an hour +afterwards was swallowed up in the waves. I am sorry for him, and I only +hope he had not done anything very bad, for I could not help thinking he +had committed some crime."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span></p> + +<p>Leopold did not see why the writer should think so; but then he had not +read the preceding pages of the diary, which Harvey Barth had written +just before the passenger came to the galley to light his pipe. The +narrative, after a digression of half a page of reflections upon the +unhappy fate of Wallbridge, continued:—</p> + +<p>"Wallbridge got down on his knees, and scooped out a hole not more than +a foot deep in the sand, and dropped the bag into it. I looked up at the +projecting rock again, when another flash of lightning came, and there +was the coffin, just as plain as though it had been made for one of us. +It was not a whole coffin, but only the head end of one. It seemed to +project and overhang the beach at an angle of about forty-five degrees, +and a man could have sat down on the upper end, which was about twenty +feet high. The shape of it startled me so that I did not think any more +of what the passenger was doing, though I saw him raking the sand into +the hole with his hands. I thought the thing was a bad sign, and I did +not like to look at it, though I could not help doing so when the +lightning flashed. I walked<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span> along to get out of the way of it, and +passed the place where Wallbridge was at work. When I looked up at the +cliff again, I could not see the coffin any more. There was the +projecting rock, but on this side it did not look at all like a coffin.</p> + +<p>"I walked along to the end of the beach, where an angle in the cliff +carried it out into the water. I expected every moment to be carried off +by the sea or to be crushed against the rocks. I did not expect to save +myself, and I could not help feeling that the coffin I had seen was for +me. Just then a flash of lightning showed me a kind of opening in the +cliff, near the angle."</p> + +<p>Leopold knew this part of the story by heart, and had often passed up +and down through the ravine, which Harvey Barth described in his diary +with as much precision as though the locality had contained a gold mine.</p> + +<p>"A projecting rock shaped like a coffin!" said the reader, as he raised +his eyes from the book to consider what he had read. "I don't remember +any such rock, though there may be such a one there. I must go down to +High Rock in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span> a thunder-storm, and then perhaps it will look to me as it +did to him."</p> + +<p>But the nurse was right, after all; there was a solid foundation to the +story she had told, though she had not mentioned any rock shaped like +the head of a coffin. Probably Harvey Barth, who at the time he told the +nurse the story had expected to get well enough to go to his home, had +not intended to describe the locality of the hidden treasure so that she +could find it, but only to assure her that he should have money with +which to reward her, if she took good care of him during his sickness. +Leopold read the account of the burying of the money again; but he could +not recall any rock answering to the description in the book. He had dug +up the sand under every projecting rock that overhung the beach, to the +depth of a foot, without finding the treasure. By the death of every +person on board of the brig except Harvey Barth, the knowledge of the +acts of Wallbridge was necessarily confined to him. If the money had +ever been buried on the beach, Leopold was confident it was there now. +No one could have removed it, for no one could have suspected its +existence.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span></p> + +<p>Faithful to the agreement he had made, Leopold wrote a letter that +evening to Miss Liverage, directing it to the address she had given him. +The letter contained but a few lines, merely intimating that he had +important business with her. The young man was now anxious to visit the +beach under High Rock, for the purpose of identifying the mortuary +emblem which had so strongly impressed the author of the journal, in the +lightning and the hurricane; but he could not be spared from his work, +and it was several months before he was able to verify the statements in +the diary.</p> + +<p>Weeks and months passed away, and no answer to his letter came. In June +he wrote another letter, to the "Superintendent of Bellevue Hospital, +New York City," in which Harvey Barth died, requesting information in +regard to Miss Sarah Liverage. A reply soon came, to the effect that the +nurse had married one of her patients, and now lived somewhere in +Oregon, the writer did not know where.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER IX.</h2> + +<h3>COFFIN ROCK.</h3> + + +<p>Miss Sarah Liverage had taken herself out of the reach of all further +communication in regard to the hidden treasure. Leopold had no hope of +being able to see or hear from her. She had not sent him her last +address, and he had used all the means in his power to carry out the +terms of the agreement. He considered himself, therefore, released from +all responsibility, so far as she was concerned. But even then he did +not feel like going to High Rock and taking the money for his own or his +father's use. He could not get rid of the idea that the money belonged +to somebody. If Wallbridge had saved this money from the earnings of two +years in Cuba, it certainly ought to go to his heirs, now that he was +dead.</p> + +<p>The remarks of Harvey Barth in his diary<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span> seemed to indicate that the +passenger had committed some crime, or at least that he was open to the +suspicion of having done so. Leopold considered, whether this might not +be the reason why no one had yet claimed any relationship to him. The +young man was sorely perplexed in regard to his duty in the matter; and +he was really more afraid of doing wrong than he was of losing twelve +hundred dollars in gold. He did not like to confess it even to himself; +but he was afraid that his father's views, if he told him about the +hidden treasure, might he looser than his own. He believed that the +landlord was even more honest than the majority of men; but, after he +had commenced upon the extensive improvements of the hotel, the son +feared that the father might be tempted to do what was not exactly +right.</p> + +<p>While all these questions remained unsettled in the mind of Leopold, he +did nothing to recover the money, until the hotel was nearly completed. +In fact, he had no time to do so, for his father kept him busy from +morning till night, and then he was so tired that he did not even feel +like reading the diary. After he had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span> obtained the important facts in +regard to the buried money, he did not feel any further interest in the +journal of Harvey Barth. He had tried to read portions of it; but each +day commenced with a detailed account of the writer's health, with +remarks on the weather, and similar topics, which did not hold the +attention of the young man. The enlargement of the hotel was a subject +which engrossed his whole mind, after the novelty of finding the diary +had worked itself off. He was deeply interested in the progress of the +work; and when the putting up of the partitions gave form and shape to +the interior, not many other matters occupied his mind.</p> + +<p>The mechanics finished their labors, and the hotel was ready to receive +the new furniture which had been purchased for it. Leopold was busier +than ever, and hardly a thought of the hidden treasure came to his mind. +He put down carpets and put up bedsteads, till he was nearly worn out +with hard work, though the excitement of seeing the various apartments +of the new house assume their final aspect prevented him from feeling +the fatigue of his labor.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span> By the middle of June everything was ready +for the reception of guests, though not many of them were expected to +arrive till the middle of July. Now the hotel was called the "Sea Cliff +House," and its opening was advertised in the principal cities of New +York and New England. As the Island Hotel lost its "trade" and the new +house obtained it all, Ethan Wormbury was correspondingly angry.</p> + +<p>As usually happens to those who rebuild and remodel private or public +houses, the expense far exceeded the estimates. The war of the rebellion +was in progress, and the prices of everything in the shape of building +material and furniture had fearfully increased. The nine thousand +dollars which Mr. Bennington had on hand to pay his bills, was exhausted +long before the work was completed. The landlord was sorely troubled, +and he went to Squire Wormbury to obtain a further loan on his property; +but the money-lender declared that he would not risk another dollar on +the security. Then Mr. Bennington mortgaged his furniture for two +thousand dollars,—all he could obtain on it,—in order to relieve the +pressure upon him; but<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span> even then the "floating debt" annoyed him very +seriously. He had always paid his bills promptly, and kept out of debt, +so that his present embarrassment was doubly annoying to him, on account +of its novelty. With all his mind, heart and soul he regretted that he +had undertaken the great enterprise, and feared that it would end in +total ruin to him.</p> + +<p>The landlord talked freely with his wife and Leopold about his +embarrassments, and the son suffered quite as much as the father on +account of them. There were guests enough in the hotel to have met the +expenses of the old establishment, but not of the new one; and the +landlord found it difficult even to pay the daily demands upon him. He +was almost in despair, and a dollar seemed larger to him now than ever +before, and hardly a single one of them would stay in his pocket over +night. The interest on the mortgage note would be due on the first of +July, and Mr. Bennington knew not where to obtain the first dollar with +which to pay it. The landlord was in great distress, for he knew that +Squire Moses was as relentless as death itself, and would show him no +mercy.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I don't see but I must fail," said Mr. Bennington, with a deep sigh, as +the day of payment drew near.</p> + +<p>"Fail, father!" exclaimed Leopold.</p> + +<p>"That will be the end of it all. If I don't pay my interest on the day +it is due, Squire Wormbury will foreclose his mortgage, and take +possession of the house," groaned the landlord.</p> + +<p>"Can't something be done, father?" asked the son.</p> + +<p>"I don't know what I can do, I have borrowed of everybody who will lend +me a dollar. With one good season I could pay off every dollar I owe, +except Squire Wormbury's mortgage. It seems hard to go to the wall just +for the want of a month's time. I am sure I shall make money after the +season opens, for I have engaged half the rooms in the house after the +middle of July. Half a dozen families from Chicago are coming then, and +when I was in Boston a dozen people told me they would come here for the +summer."</p> + +<p>"I think you will find some way to raise the money, father," added +Leopold, more hopeful than his father.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I don't see where it is coming from. The bank won't discount any more +for me. I feel like a beggar already; and all for the want of a month's +time."</p> + +<p>Leopold was very sad; but in this emergency he thought of the hidden +treasure of High Rock. But he had already made up his mind that this +money did not belong to him. He even felt that it would be stealing for +him to take it. In his father's sore embarrassment he was tempted to +appropriate the treasure, and let him use it as a loan. But then, if his +father should fail, and the heirs of Wallbridge should appear, he could +not satisfy them, or satisfy his own conscience.</p> + +<p>But the temptation was very great; and the next time he went out alone +in the Rosabel, he visited the beach under High Rock. It was the first +time he had been there this season. He landed, and commenced the search +for the projecting rock which was shaped like a coffin. He walked from +one end of the beach to the other, without discovering any rock which +answered to Harvey Barth's description. He started to retrace his steps, +remembering that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span> the writer of the journal had been unable to observe +the singular form of the rock after he had changed his position. The +tide was low, and he walked on the edge of the water; but by going in +this direction he had no better success. After spending an hour in +looking for it, he could discover no rock which looked like the emblem +of death. He returned to Rockhaven, almost convinced that Harvey Barth +had imagined the scene he had described in his diary.</p> + +<p>The next day, just at dark, a thunder-storm, the first of the season, +came up. The weather had been warm and sultry for a week, and the +farmers declared that the season was a fortnight earlier than usual. The +roaring thunder and the flashing lightning reminded Leopold of the scene +described in Harvey's journal, and especially of the burying of the +twelve hundred dollars in gold. Without saving anything to any one of +his intention, he left the hotel, and embarked in the Rosabel, with no +dread of the rain, or a squall. There was wind enough to take him down +as far as the ledges, and then it suddenly subsided. Leopold furled his +mainsail, for the calm indicated a coming squall. It<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span> wanted an hour of +high tide, and he anchored the Rosabel at a considerable distance from +the shore, paying out the cable till the stern of the boat was in water +not more than three feet deep. Pulling upon the rope till he was +satisfied that the anchor had hooked upon one of the sharp rocks below +the beach, he prepared to go on shore. The beach sloped so sharply that +the sands were not more than twenty feet from the stern of the Rosabel.</p> + +<p>It was now quite dark, but the scene was frequently lighted up by the +sharp lightning. The tide had risen so that the water was within a rod +of the cliffs. Taking an oar in his hand, he planted the blade end of it +in the water as far as he could reach from the stern, and grasping the +other end, he made a flying leap with its aid, and struck at a spot +where the water was only knee-deep. He had scarcely reached the beach +before the squall came; but it blew out of the north-west, so that the +Rosabel was partially sheltered from its fury by the projecting cliffs +between High Rock and the mouth of the river. She swung around, abreast +of the cliffs, into the deep water between the beach<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span> and the ledges. +Leopold watched her for a few moments, fearful that the change of +position might have unhooked the anchor; but it held on till the squall, +which expended its force in a few moments, was over. Then the rain came +down in torrents, drenching the boatman to the skin.</p> + +<p>Leopold, with the oar in his hand, walked along the narrow beach, +watching the play of the lightning on the rocks of the cliff. +Occasionally he halted to observe the shapes they assumed, and he could +not help perceiving that the glare of the electric fluid gave them an +entirely different appearance from that which they usually wore. He had +landed near the ravine by which Harvey Earth had escaped from the angry +billows, and he walked to the farther end of the beach without seeing +any rock which bore the least resemblance to a coffin. The tide was +rising all the time, driving him nearer and nearer to the cliff. Leopold +was not much excited, for his former failure to find the hidden treasure +had almost convinced him that no such thing existed. He was cool +enough—drenched to the skin as he was—to reason about the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span> movements +of the shipwrecked party on the beach.</p> + +<p>"When Harvey Barth left Wallbridge filling up the hole in which he had +put the bag of gold," thought Leopold, "he must have walked towards the +'Hole in the Wall'"—as the ravine was called by those who visited High +Rock. "If he hadn't walked towards it, he wouldn't have found it. If he +had walked up and down the beach, he would have seen Wallbridge and the +mate when they went off in the whale-boat to return to the wreck. This +shows plainly enough that he only walked one way before he came to the +Hole. That way must have been the opposite direction from that I have +just come; for if he had walked the way I have, he could not have +reached the Hole; and there is no beach to walk on beyond it.</p> + +<p>"When Harvey Barth looked behind him, he could not see the coffin; and +of course I couldn't see it when I came this way. I suppose it only +shows itself, like the man's head near the light-house, from one +particular point. The head can only be made out from a boat, when it +ranges between the island and the light, one way, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span> in line with the +dead tree and Jones's barn on the north shore, the other way. Twenty +feet from this position, nothing that looks like a head can be seen. +Probably this coffin works by the same rule. If it don't, it is strange +that I have never noticed it. Now I will walk in the direction that +Harvey Barth did, and if there is any coffin here I shall see it."</p> + +<p>The bright flashes of lightning still illuminated the cliffs, as Leopold +walked slowly towards the Hole in the Wall, scrutinizing the rocks with +the utmost care. By the rising of the tide his line of march was now +within ten feet of the cliff, and the beach was of about the same width +as when the shipwrecked party had sought a refuge upon it; but the sea +was comparatively calm, and there was no peril on its smooth sands. +Leopold had gone about one third of the length of the beach, when his +eye rested upon a formation in the cliff, which, as the lightning played +upon it, assured him he had found what he sought. The view he had +obtained of it was only for an instant. He halted, waiting again till +the lightning again, enabled him to see the rock.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span></p> + +<p>"That's it, as sure as I live!" exclaimed the boatman.</p> + +<p>Again and again he saw it, as the lightning glared upon it; and the +resemblance to a coffin was certainly very striking. Harvey Barth was +justified again, and Leopold acknowledged to himself the correctness of +the description in the diary. Thrusting the oar down into the sand on +the spot where he was, so as not to loose the locality, he stood for +some time observing the phenomenon on the rocks. He understood now why +he had not seen it before. In his previous search, he had walked on the +beach twenty feet farther out from the cliff. Changing his position by +wading into the water, the shape of the coffin on the rock was lost +before he had moved ten feet from the oar. From this point it assumed a +new form, looking like nothing in particular but a mass of rock.</p> + +<p>Leopold returned to the stake which he had set up, and then walked from +it to the cliff. When he stopped, the projecting rock was directly over +his head. He knew the spot very well. He had baked clams there for +Rosabel Hamilton during one of his visits to High Rock<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span> with her; and he +had dug over every foot of sand beneath it, in search of the hidden +treasure, without finding it. But Harvey Barth was so correct in regard +to his description of the locality that the boatman was more disposed to +rely upon his statements in other matters than he had ever been before. +He gathered a pile of stones to mark the place, and then gave himself up +to a careful consideration of the circumstances of the case. He could +not now escape the conclusion that the money was actually buried beneath +the projecting rock—"Coffin Rock" he had already named in his own mind; +and he proceeded to inquire why he had not found it, when he dug the +ground all over.</p> + +<p>"Miss Liverage told me the hole which Wallbridge dug was not more than a +foot deep; and Harvey Barth's diary contained the same statement," said +the boatman to himself. "I dug a foot down, and the money was not there. +I remember I found a piece of boat-hook, with the iron on it about that +distance below the surface. What does that prove? How happened that +piece of a boat-hook, to be a foot under ground? On the top of the +cliffs the sand and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span> gravel, with a little soil on top, is six feet +deep, and this beach is formed by the caving down of the earth. There is +no beach beyond the Hole, because the rocks are all bare on the top of +the cliff. I suppose the sand keeps dropping down, and the roll of the +sea has spread it out as it fell. I have no doubt that the hurricane +piled the sand up a foot or more next to the cliff. That's the reason I +didn't find the money. I will dig deeper now."</p> + +<p>Satisfied with this reasoning, Leopold waded off to the Rosabel which +the tide had swung in towards the beach again. In the cuddy he had a +lantern,—for use when he was out after dark,—which he lighted. As he +was obliged to supply bait for parties who went out fishing with him, he +kept under the seat in the standing-room a boy's shovel, which his +father had given him years before, with which he dug clams on the +beaches. Letting out the cable, the boat drifted still nearer to the +beach, and the skipper landed, with his lantern and shovel. Throwing off +his wet coat, he began to dig under Coffin Rock. He allowed considerable +latitude in marking out the size of the hole, to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span> allow for any possible +want of accuracy in Harvey Barth's observation.</p> + +<p>It was pitch dark after the shower, for the sky and the stars were +obscured by dense clouds. Leopold had only the light of his lantern to +enable him to work, and his task was gloomy enough to satisfy the +veriest money-digger that ever delved into the earth for hidden +treasure. In half an hour, more or less, he had dug the hole a foot +deep, and then felt that he had reduced this part of the beach to its +former elevation, at the time of the wreck of the Waldo. A descent of +another foot would decide whether or not the treasure had an existence, +save in the brain of the sick man.</p> + +<p>It was hard work, after a full day's labor at the hotel; but Leopold +redoubled his exertions after he had removed the first foot of sand. As +he proceeded, he examined every stone he threw out of the hole, to +assure himself that he did not miss the bag of gold. The task began to +be somewhat exciting, as the solution of the problem drew nearer.</p> + +<p>The hole which he had laid out was six feet square; and when he had +thrown out all the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span> sand and gravel to this depth, in order to save any +unnecessary labor he began to dig in the middle of the excavation, for +this was directly under the centre of the projecting rock. If Harvey +Barth's statement was exactly correct, the bag would be found where +Leopold was now at work. Faster and faster he plied the shovel, the +deeper he went, and, when he judged that the lower hole was nearly a +foot deep, his excitement of mind was intense. He had come to the last +layer of sand he had to remove in making the second foot in depth. +Placing his heel upon the shovel, he attempted to force it down the +length of the blade; but something impeded his progress. It was not a +rock, for it yielded slightly, and gave forth no sharp sound. Scraping +out the sand with the shovel, Leopold began to paw it away with his +hands. Presently he felt something which was neither sand nor gravel. He +drew it forth from the hole, and held it up where the light of the +lantern struck upon it.</p> + +<p>It was the hidden treasure.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 601px;"> +<img src="images/ill-190.jpg" width="601" height="450" alt="The Money Digger. Page 176." title="" /> +<span class="caption">The Money Digger. Page <a href="#Page_176">176</a>.</span> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span>The bag was just what Harvey Barth had described, and it weighed at +least the four pounds and a half Avoirdupois which he had made it by his +calculations. Leopold was tremendously excited, as he seated himself on +the brink of the hole, with the shot-bag in his hand.</p> + +<p>"Hallo, Le! Is that you?" shouted a voice from the water.</p> + +<p>It was Stumpy in Leopold's old boat.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER X.</h2> + +<h3>DOUBTS AND DEBTS.</h3> + + +<p>Leopold was terribly startled when he heard the voice of Stumpy. He was +the possessor of a mighty secret, and he felt that he had been very +imprudent in exposing it to discovery. It would have been better to dig +up the hidden treasure in the daytime, when the light would have enabled +him to observe the approach of an intruder. But he was glad it was +Stumpy, rather than any other person, who had detected him in his +strange and unseasonable labor. If need be, he could reveal the great +secret to his friend, which he would have been very unwilling to do to +any one else. But he did not wish to say a word about the hidden +treasure even to Stumpy.</p> + +<p>He was startled when he heard the voice of his friend, and, without +deciding at that moment<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span> upon his future course, he dropped the shot-bag +into the hole from which he had taken it, and hastily covered it with +sand to the depth of a foot, in fact, filling up the smaller hole he had +made. This was the work of a moment; and before Stumpy had time to +approach the spot, Leopold, with the lantern in his hand, walked to the +place where his friend had landed.</p> + +<p>"What are you doing here in the dark?" demanded Stumpy, as Leopold +approached him.</p> + +<p>"Lighting up the darkness," replied the money-digger, lightly.</p> + +<p>"What were you doing with that shovel?" added Stumpy, as his friend +stepped into the old boat, the bow of which rested on the beach.</p> + +<p>"Digging, of course," answered the possessor of the mighty secret, not +yet decided whether or not to reveal what he knew, and what he had been +doing.</p> + +<p>"I don't think there is much fun in digging down here where it is as +dark as a stack of black cats."</p> + +<p>"I was not digging for the fun of it. But what brought you down here in +the darkness, Stumpy?" asked Leopold, willing to change the subject.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I wanted to see you, and went over to the Sea Cliff House. Your father +told me you had gone out in your boat just at dark; and, as a smart +squall had just stirred up the bay, he was somewhat worried about you."</p> + +<p>"Was he? I didn't know that he ever worried about me when I was on the +water. I think I know how to take care of myself."</p> + +<p>"No doubt you do; but the smartest boatmen get caught sometimes. I think +we had better hurry back, for the longer you are out, the more anxious +your folks will be about you."</p> + +<p>"That's so," replied the considerate Leopold. "But we have two boats +here, and we can't both return in the Rosabel."</p> + +<p>"Can't we tow the old boat?"</p> + +<p>"We can, but I don't like to do it, for the old boat will be sure to +bump against the Rosabel, and scrape the paint off. Now, Stumpy, if you +will take the new boat, and sail back in her, I will follow you in the +old tub. You will get to the house long before I do, and you can tell +the folks I am right side up."</p> + +<p>"Why don't you go in the Rosabel, and tell them yourself?" suggested +Stumpy.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span></p> + +<p>Just at this point Leopold was bothered. If Stumpy reached the hotel +first, he would tell Mr. Bennington where he had found his son, on the +beach under High Rock, with a lantern and shovel in his hand. Of course +his father would wish to know what he was doing there; and under present +circumstances this would be a hard question, for Leopold was deeply +indoctrinated with the "little hatchet" principle. In a word, he could +not tell a deliberate lie. He could not place himself in a situation +where a falsehood would be necessary to extricate himself from a +dilemma. Unhappily, like thousands of other scrupulous people, he could +"strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel;" for it was just as much a lie +to deceive his father by his silence as it was by his speech.</p> + +<p>But, after all Leopold's motive was good. He was afraid his father would +use the hidden treasure to relieve his embarrassments in money matters, +and he was not willing to subject him to this temptation. The young man +was still firm in his faith that the money belonged to somebody, and +just as firm in the belief that it was his duty to seek out the owner +thereof, which he had not yet done, or had time to do.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span></p> + +<p>He had thought a great deal about the ownership of the treasure; and, +arguing the question as he might to himself, he always reached the same +conclusion—that the money did not belong to him, and that it did belong +to somebody else. He had considered the possibility of finding the +proprietor of the twelve hundred dollars in gold through the owners of +the Waldo, and the consignees or agents of the brig in Havana. This was +before he found the old shot-bag; and, now that he had held it in his +hand, this conclusion was even more forcible than before. Satisfied that +the secret would be safer in the possession of Stumpy than of his +father, he was tempted to tell him the whole story.</p> + +<p>"After all, I guess we will go back in the Rosabel, Stumpy," added +Leopold, when he had considered the matter. "You can keep your eye on +the old boat, and see that she don't do any harm."</p> + +<p>"I can keep her from doing any mischief," said Stumpy.</p> + +<p>Leopold asked his companion to haul the Rosabel up to the beach, and, +shoving off the old boat, he returned to the spot under Coffin Rock<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span> +where he had been digging. Using his shovel vigorously for a few +moments, he filled up the excavation he had made, and levelled off the +sand and gravel, so that no chance visitor at the place should discover +the traces of his labor.</p> + +<p>By the time he had finished the work, the Rosabel had been hauled up to +the beach, and the painter of the old boat attached to her stern. In a +few moments the money-digger and his friend were under way, standing +towards the mouth of the river.</p> + +<p>"I don't see why my father should be worried about me," said Leopold, as +he seated himself at the tiller.</p> + +<p>"You don't very often go out in the night, and in a thunder-storm, too. +I was worried about you myself, Le, for any fellow might be caught in a +squall. Without saying anything to your father, or any other person, I +took the old boat, and stood out of the river. I shouted to you with all +my might. When I got out beyond the point, I saw the light on the beach, +under High Rock, and went for it."</p> + +<p>"Well, I'm much obliged to you for the trouble you have taken," added +Leopold.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span></p> + +<p>"But what in the world were you doing on the beach with the lantern and +the shovel?" asked Stumpy. "You couldn't catch any clams under the rocks +where you were."</p> + +<p>"I didn't catch any. When you sung out, I was sitting on the beach. I +had anchored the Rosabel, with a long cable, and when the squall came, +it blew her off so far from the shore that I could not get on board of +her without swimming."</p> + +<p>"O, that's it—was it?" exclaimed Stumpy, entirely satisfied with this +explanation.</p> + +<p>Certainly every word which Leopold had uttered was strictly and +literally true; but Stumpy's deception was as complete as though it had +been brought about by a lie. The money-digger was not quite satisfied +with himself, though he had an undoubted right to "keep his own +counsel," if he chose to do so. But while he was thus bothered about the +situation, his friend changed the topic.</p> + +<p>"I wanted to see you," said Stumpy, after he had accepted his +companion's explanation.</p> + +<p>"What for?"</p> + +<p>"That old hunks had gone and done it!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span> added Stumpy, whose chief +emotion seemed to be a violent indignation.</p> + +<p>"What old hunks?"</p> + +<p>"Why, grandad."</p> + +<p>"What has he done?"</p> + +<p>"Taken possession of our house; or, what amounts to the same thing, has +notified my mother that she must move out on the first of August, if the +mortgage note is not paid."</p> + +<p>"That's rough," added Leopold.</p> + +<p>"Rough! That isn't the word for it," protested Stumpy, warmly. "It is +mean, rascally, contemptible, infamous, infernal! I should bust the +dictionary if I expressed myself in full. If Squire Wormbury was a poor +man, or really needed the money, it would be another thing; or if he +would wait till houses and land are worth something in Rockhaven. But he +takes the time when the war has knocked everything into a cocked hat; +and nobody knows whether we are going to have any country much longer, +and nobody dares to buy a house. Confound him! he takes this time, when +the place won't fetch anything! He knows it will bring two thousand +dollars just as soon as the clouds blow<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span> over. He intends to make money +by the operation."</p> + +<p>"Well, I don't see that you can help yourself, hard as the case is."</p> + +<p>"I don't know that I can; but I have been trying to do something."</p> + +<p>"What?"</p> + +<p>"I have asked two or three to take the mortgage; but I haven't found +anybody yet. Nobody down here has any money except my grandad, and it +might as well be buried in the sea as to be in his trousers' pocket."</p> + +<p>"Did you want to see me about this business?" asked Leopold.</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Do you think I could help you out?"</p> + +<p>"That was my idea."</p> + +<p>"That's good!" laughed Leopold. "My father can hardly keep his head +above water now. He don't know where he shall get the money to pay the +interest on his mortgage, due on the first of July. I should not be much +surprised if your grandfather had to foreclose on the Sea Cliff House."</p> + +<p>"Of course I don't expect you to find the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span> money for us, only to help me +in another way. But what you said about your father reminds me of +something I was going to tell you, when I saw you."</p> + +<p>"What's that?"</p> + +<p>"If my grandad was a decent man, I wouldn't say anything about it," +replied Stumpy, apparently troubled with a doubt in regard to the +propriety of the revelation he was about to make.</p> + +<p>"If there is anything private about it, don't say anything," added +Leopold, whose high sense of honor would not permit him to encourage his +friend to make an improper use of any information in his possession.</p> + +<p>"The conversation I heard was certainly not intended for my ear," +continued Stumpy, thoughtfully.</p> + +<p>"Then don't mention it."</p> + +<p>"I think I ought to tell you, Le, for the business concerns your +father."</p> + +<p>"No matter whom it concerns, if the information don't belong to you," +said Leopold. "If I hear my father and Jones talking about Smith in a +private way, I don't think I have any right<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span> to go and tell Smith what +they say. It makes trouble, and it's none of my business."</p> + +<p>"I think you are right in the main, Le; but let me put the question in +another form. Suppose you heard two scallawags in your hotel talking +about setting my mother's house on fire; suppose you knew the plan they +had formed to burn the cottage; would you say it was none of your +business, because you happened to hear them, and the conversation was +not intended for your ears?"</p> + +<p>"I don't believe I should say or think any such thing. These men would +be plotting to commit a crime and it would be my duty to tell you," +replied Leopold.</p> + +<p>"My sentiments exactly. A crime! That's just my opinion of what my +grandad is doing."</p> + +<p>"If you think so, it is perfectly proper for you to let on."</p> + +<p>"I do think so and I shall let on," added Stumpy. "As you said just now, +the interest on the mortgage note which your father owes Squire Moses +will be due on the first day of July; and that's only ten days ahead. +The squire thinks your father won't be able to raise<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span> the money, because +he has been to him to ask the old skin flint to let him up a little."</p> + +<p>"Yes; I know all that," replied Leopold, sadly, for he dreaded the first +of July almost as a condemned convict dreads the day of execution.</p> + +<p>"I went up to grandad's the other day, to carry his spectacles, which he +left on the table when he came to tell mother that she must move out on +the first of August. I wanted to give the spectacles into his own hands, +and to say a word to him about the place, if I got a chance. I went into +the kitchen, where the old man stays when he's in the house. He wasn't +there; but I heard his voice in the next room where he keeps his papers, +and I sat down to wait till he came out. There was no one in the kitchen +but myself, for the women folks had gone up stairs to make the beds."</p> + +<p>"But whom was Squire Moses talking to?" asked Leopold, much interested.</p> + +<p>"I was going to tell you all about it, Le; but I wanted to say, in the +first place, that I didn't go into the kitchen to listen, and I didn't +want to break in on the old man when he was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span> busy. Squire Moses did most +of the talking, and it was some time before I found out who was with +him. But after a while the other man spoke, and I knew it was Ethan."</p> + +<p>"Ethan Wormbury you mean?" asked Leopold.</p> + +<p>"Yes my uncle Ethan, that keeps the Island Hotel. Your father's new +house, Le, has scared him half out of his wits. I can't remember half I +heard them say; but the substance of it was, that if your father don't +pay his interest money on the very first day of July, the old man means +to foreclose the mortgage just as quick as the law will let him. That's +the upshot of all that was said."</p> + +<p>"That's too bad!" exclaimed Leopold, indignantly.</p> + +<p>"Just what I thought, and that's the reason why I wanted to tell you. +Squire Moses said your father's furniture was mortgaged, and that would +have to be sold too. The plan of the old hunks is to get the hotel, and +put Ethan into it as landlord. If he can't do it this summer, he means +to do it as soon as he can. He thought if he got the house, he could buy +the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span> furniture, and set Ethan up by the middle of July, or the first of +August."</p> + +<p>"It's a mean trick," muttered Leopold.</p> + +<p>"That's what I say; but it isn't any meaner than a thousand other things +the old man does. Only think of his turning his son's wife, with three +children, out of house and home! But you can tell your father all about +it, Le, and perhaps he may be able to get an anchor out to windward," +continued Stumpy, whose sympathy for his friend was hardly less than his +fear for his mother's future.</p> + +<p>"I'm much obliged to you for telling me, Stumpy; but I don't know that +my father will be able to do anything to help himself, desperate as the +case is," added Leopold.</p> + +<p>"I hope he will."</p> + +<p>"So do I but I have my doubts. Father said to-day that he had six calls +for every dollar he got. He has mortgaged everything, so that he can't +raise anything more. He said there was money enough in the large cities; +that they had picked up after the first blow of the war, and some men +were getting rich faster than ever; but down here everything was at a +stand-still;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span> no business, and no money. The rich folks will come down +to the hotel by and by; and father says a good week, with the Sea Cliff +House full, would set him all right; but he can't expect to do anything +more than pay expenses, and hardly that, till the middle of July."</p> + +<p>"It's a hard case, and Squire Moses knows it. He said if he couldn't get +the house on the first of July payment, he was afraid he should not be +able to get it at all for Ethan. I hope your father will be able to do +something."</p> + +<p>"I hope so. If I could find any one who would give me a hundred and +fifty dollars for this boat, I would sell her quick, and hand the money +over to father. It would pay his interest, into thirty dollars, and +perhaps he could raise the rest, though he says he has not had twenty +dollars in his hand at one time for a month. I can't exactly see why it +is that when men are making money hand over fist in some parts of the +country, everything is so dead in Rockhaven. The quarries have all +stopped working, and the fishermen have gone to the war," said Leopold, +as the Rosabel reached her landing place near the hotel, where she was +carefully moored; and the boys went on shore.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span></p> + +<p>"By the way, Stumpy," continued the skipper, as they walked up the steep +path towards the road, "you said I might be able to do something to help +your mother out of her trouble. If I can, I'm sure I should be glad to +do so."</p> + +<p>"I don't know that I will say anything about it now. Your case is rather +worse than mine, if anything, and you have enough to think of without +bothering your head with my mother's troubles," replied Stumpy.</p> + +<p>"Of course I can't raise any money to help her out; but if I can do +anything else, nothing would please me more."</p> + +<p>"If you have any friends, you ought to use them for your father."</p> + +<p>"What do you mean by friends? I haven't any friends."</p> + +<p>"Yes, you have; but I don't know that you have the cheek to call upon +them. I suppose it will do no harm to tell you what I was thinking +about, Le," added Stumpy, when they reached the road, and halted there. +"Your boat is called the Rosabel. You gave her that name."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Of course I did. What has that to do with this matter?" demanded +Leopold, puzzled by the roundabout manner in which his friend approached +his subject.</p> + +<p>"You named the boat after somebody," continued Stumpy, with something +like a chuckle in his tones.</p> + +<p>"I named her after Miss Rosabel Hamilton, whose father has been one of +the best customers of the hotel. Perhaps I had my weather eye open when +I christened the sloop."</p> + +<p>"Certainly you had," ejaculated Stumpy.</p> + +<p>"But it was only to please the family, and induce them to stay longer at +the hotel."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps it was," added Stumpy, placing a wicked emphasis on the first +word.</p> + +<p>"O, I know it was!" protested Leopold.</p> + +<p>"But I used to think you were rather sweet on Miss Rosabel, when I was +in the boat with you."</p> + +<p>"Nonsense, Stumpy!" replied Leopold; and if there had been light enough, +perhaps his companion might have distinguished a slight blush upon his +brown face. "I never thought of such a thing. Why, her father has been +a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span> member of Congress, and they say he is worth millions."</p> + +<p>"I don't care anything about Congress or the millions; you would have +jumped overboard and drowned yourself for the girl at any minute."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps I would; I don't know. She's a nice girl," mused Leopold.</p> + +<p>"That's not all, either."</p> + +<p>"Well, what else?"</p> + +<p>"If Rosabel didn't like you better than she did the town pump, I don't +guess any more," chuckled Stumpy.</p> + +<p>"I think she did like me, just as she would any fellow that did his best +to make her comfortable and happy."</p> + +<p>"More than that."</p> + +<p>"I don't believe it. But what has all this to do with your mother's +case, or my father's?"</p> + +<p>"I won't mix things any longer. Her father is as rich as mud. I was +going to ask you if you wouldn't write to Mr. Hamilton, and ask him to +take the mortgage on my mother's house."</p> + +<p>Leopold did not like the idea, but he promised to consider it.</p> + +<p>"If I were you, Le, I should mention my father's case to him," added +Stumpy.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span></p> + +<p>But Leopold did not like this idea any better than the other; and they +separated.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER XI.</h2> + +<h3>IN THE FOG.</h3> + + +<p>Leopold parted with his friend opposite the Sea Cliff House. He entered +the office, where his father was busy in conversation with one of the +guests. Luckily the landlord, satisfied with the safety of his son, did +not ask him where he had been; for his absence on the water was too +common an event to excite any remark, and Leopold went to bed as soon as +he had shown himself to his mother, and told her that the squall had not +harmed him. It is one thing to go to bed, and quite another to sleep. +Leopold was tired enough to need rest, yet his future action in regard +to the hidden treasure did not allow him to do anything but think, +think, think, till he heard the church clock strike twelve. That was the +last he heard that night. But with all his thinking, his opinion<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span> was +just the same as before. The money did not belong to him, and it did +belong to somebody else. He could not escape these two conclusions, and +whether his father failed or not, he could see no way by which he could +honestly bring the twelve hundred dollars in gold to his aid.</p> + +<p>Coming events pressed so heavily upon the minds of his father and +Stumpy, that neither of them had questioned him very closely in regard +to his business on the beach in the storm and the darkness. As he had +thus far escaped without telling any direct lies, he decided to keep his +own secret for the present; but he intended, the very next time he went +to Rockland, to visit the owners of the Waldo, and inquire about the +passenger who had perished in the wreck of the brig. Very likely this +man had a wife and children, a father, or brothers and sisters, who +needed this money. His wife and little children might at that moment be +suffering for the want of it. It belonged to them, and they ought to +have it. Even if his father failed, and lost all he had, Leopold felt +that it would be better for him to do his whole duty.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span> The secret was +with himself alone, and there was no one to applaud his noble decision; +nay, if he had told his friends and neighbors, and perhaps even his +father, they would probably have laughed at him, called him a fool, +declared that he was more nice than wise, and insisted that it was his +duty to save the Sea Cliff House from the avaricious grasp of Squire +Moses Wormbury.</p> + +<p>In spite of his noble conclusion, he was still terribly worried about +the financial troubles of his father. The Rosabel was well worth two +hundred dollars, and she was almost the only piece of property in the +family which was not covered by a mortgage. It was early in the season, +when a boat is more salable than later in the year; and before he went +to sleep, Leopold had decided to run over to Rockland the next day, if +possible, and endeavor to find a purchaser for her, even at three +fourths of her value. It would be a happy moment for him if he could put +one hundred and fifty dollars into his father's hands, and thus enable +him to make up his interest money. There must be some one in Rockland +who wanted a boat, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span> who would be willing to pay him this price for +so fast and stiff a craft as the Rosabel. With this pleasant +anticipation in his mind, Leopold went to sleep.</p> + +<p>He usually got up between four and five o'clock in the morning; but he +did not wake till he heard his father's voice in his chamber. He had +been so tired after the hard work he had done on the beach, and lying +awake till after midnight, he had overslept himself.</p> + +<p>"Come, Leopold; it is after seven o'clock," said Mr. Bennington, in the +rather sad and gloomy tones which the misery of his financial trials had +imposed upon him.</p> + +<p>"Seven o'clock!" exclaimed Leopold, leaping from the bed. "I didn't go +to sleep till after midnight, and that's the reason I didn't wake up."</p> + +<p>"You needn't get up if you don't feel able to do so," added the +landlord.</p> + +<p>"O, I'm able enough," protested Leopold, half dressed by this time.</p> + +<p>"I should like to have you go down and see if you can get some fish for +dinner," added his father.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span></p> + +<p>"All right. I will get some, if there is any in the sea," answered the +young man, as he finished his primitive toilet.</p> + +<p>In fifteen minutes more, he had eaten his breakfast, and was descending +the steep path to the river, where the Rosabel was moored. The weather +was cloudy, and out at sea it looked as if the fog would roll in, within +a short time, as it often did during the spring and summer. Indeed, the +one bane of this coast, as a pleasure resort, is the prevalence of dense +and frequently long-continued fog. Sometimes it shrouds the shores for +several days at a time; and it has been known to last for weeks. It is +cold, penetrating, and disagreeable to the denizen of the city, seeking +ease and comfort in a summer home.</p> + +<p>When the sloop passed Light House Point, Leopold saw that the dense fog +had settled down upon the bay, and had probably been there all night. +But he did not bother his head about the fog, for he knew the sound +which the waves made upon every portion of the shore. As one skilled in +music knows the note he hears, Leopold identified the swash or the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span> roar +of the sea when it beat upon the rocks and the beaches in the vicinity. +By these sounds he knew where he was, and he had a boat-compass on board +of the Rosabel, which enabled him to lay his course, whenever he +obtained his bearings.</p> + +<p>Before the sloop had gone a quarter of a mile she was buried in the fog, +and Leopold could see nothing but the little circle of water of which +the Rosabel was the centre. With the compass on the floor of the +standing-room, he headed the sloop for the ledges, outside of which he +expected to find plenty of cod and haddock. The wind was rather light, +but it was sufficient to give the Rosabel a good headway, and in half an +hour he recognized the roar of the billows upon the ledges. Going near +enough to them to bring the white spray of the breaking waves within the +narrow circle of his observation, he let off his main sheet, and headed +the sloop directly out to sea.</p> + +<p>The best fishing ground at this season was about two miles from the +ledges; and with the wind free, Leopold calculated that he had made this +distance in half an hour. He had cleared<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span> away his cable, and had his +anchor ready to throw overboard, when the hoarse croaking of a fog-horn +attracted his attention. The sound came from the seaward side of him, +and from a point not far distant.</p> + +<p>The Rosabel was provided with one of those delectable musical +instruments, whose familiar notes came to her skipper's ears. It was +rather a necessity to have one, in order to avoid collisions; besides, +it is fun for boys to make the most unearthly noises which mortal ear +ever listened to.</p> + +<p>Leopold blew his fog-horn, and it was answered by a repetition of the +sound to seaward. The craft, whatever it was, from which the music came, +was much nearer than when the skipper of the Rosabel first heard the +signal. This satisfied him that she was headed to the north-east, and +was nearly close-hauled, for the wind was about east; in other words, +the craft from which the melody of the fog horn came was standing from +the sea directly towards the ledges off High Rock.</p> + +<p>Leopold blew his horn again and again, and the responses came nearer and +nearer every<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span> time. The craft was evidently bound up the bay, or into +the Rockhaven river. If she was going to Rockland, or up the bay, she +was very much out of her course. If she was going into the river, she +was more likely to strike upon the ledge than to hit her port.</p> + +<p>"Ahoy! Ahoy!" came a hoarse voice, apparently pitched from the note of +the fog-horn.</p> + +<p>The skipper of the Rosabel judged that the craft was not more than an +eighth of a mile from him.</p> + +<p>"Ahoy! Ahoy!" he shouted in reply, at the top of his voice.</p> + +<p>Leopold had hauled down his jib, and thrown the sloop up into the wind, +in preparation for anchoring; but he concluded not to do so, in view of +the peril of being run down by the stranger. On the contrary he hoisted +his jib, and filled away again, so as to be in condition to avoid a +collision. Resuming his place at the helm, he stood out towards the +fog-hidden vessel. The hail was repeated again and again, and Leopold as +often answered it. In a few moments more he discovered what appeared to +him to be the jib of a schooner. Her bow was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span> of shining black, with a +richly gilded figure-head under the bowsprit. A moment later he +discovered the two masts of the vessel. The mainsail was set, but the +foresail was furled, and she was apparently feeling her way with great +care into the bay. A sailor in uniform was heaving the lead near the +fore rigging.</p> + +<p>Leopold saw, as soon as he obtained a full view of the vessel, that she +was a yacht of at least a hundred tons and as beautiful a craft as ever +gladdened the heart of a sailor. There were a dozen men on her +forecastle, and as the Rosabel approached her, a procession of +gentlemen, closely muffled in heavy garments and rubber coats, filed up +the companion-way, doubtless attracted to the deck by the incident of +hailing another craft.</p> + +<p>"Schooner, ahoy!" shouted Leopold, as soon as he had made out the +vessel.</p> + +<p>"On board the sloop!" replied the voice which resembled the tones of the +fog-horn.</p> + +<p>"Where you bound?" demanded the skipper of the Rosabel.</p> + +<p>"Belfast."</p> + +<p>"You are a long way off your course, then," added Leopold, with +emphasis.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Will you come on board?" asked the speaker from the yacht.</p> + +<p>"Ay, ay, sir, if you wish it," answered Leopold.</p> + +<p>"Hard down the helm!" shouted the hoarse voice, which we may as well say +in advance of a nearer introduction, belonged to Captain Bounce, the +sailing-master of the yacht.</p> + +<p>"What schooner is that?" called Leopold, as the yacht came up into the +wind.</p> + +<p>"The yacht Orion, of New York," replied Captain Bounce.</p> + +<p>The skipper of the Rosabel ran under the lee of the Orion, and came up +into the wind all shaking. Leopold threw his painter to the uniformed +seamen of the yacht, and then hauled down his jib.</p> + +<p>"Where are we?" asked Captain Bounce, rather nervously for an old salt.</p> + +<p>"Two miles off the High Rock ledges; you were headed directly for them," +replied Leopold, as he let go the halyards of the mainsail.</p> + +<p>When he had secured the sail, he ascended the accommodation steps, which +the seaman had placed on the side for his use. One of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span> hands carried +the painter of the Rosabel to the stern of the Orion.</p> + +<p>"I don't know where we are now," said Captain Bounce, who was a short, +stout man, with grizzly hair and beard, both reeking with moisture from +the fog; and he looked like the typical old sea-dog of the drama.</p> + +<p>"Do you know where we are, young man?" asked one of the gentlemen who +had filed up the companion-way.</p> + +<p>Leopold started suddenly when he heard the voice and turned towards the +speaker.</p> + +<p>"Of course I do, Mr. Hamilton," replied Leopold, briskly. "I reckon you +don't know me, sir."</p> + +<p>Leopold took off his old hat, and bowed respectfully to the gentleman, +who was muffled up in an immense overcoat with a long cape.</p> + +<p>"I do not," added the Hon. Mr. Hamilton, with a puzzled expression.</p> + +<p>The skipper of the Rosabel thought it was very strange that the +honorable gentleman did not recognize him; for he did not consider that +he had grown three inches taller himself, and that the distinguished +guest of the Cliff House<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span> met a great many people in the course of a +year.</p> + +<p>"Don't you know my boat, sir?" asked Leopold, laughing as he pointed +astern at the sloop.</p> + +<p>"I do not."</p> + +<p>"Well, sir, that's the Rosabel. You have sailed in her more than once."</p> + +<p>"O, this is Leopold, then!" exclaimed Mr. Hamilton. "You ought to know +where we are."</p> + +<p>"I do, sir; and I know that you were headed for the High Rock ledges. I +can prick your position on the chart."</p> + +<p>"He knows all about this coast, Captain Bounce," added Mr. Hamilton, +turning to the Sailing-master. "He will be a safe pilot for you."</p> + +<p>"Well youngster, we are bound to Belfast," said the sailing-master, +thrusting his fists deep down into the pockets of his pea-jacket.</p> + +<p>"I am not a pilot to Belfast," replied Leopold; "but you must keep her +west-half-north for Owl's Head, nine miles from here. There are islands +and ledges all around you."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span></p> + +<p>"We have had enough of this sort of thing," interposed Mr. Hamilton, +evidently disgusted with his experience. "We have been feeling our way +in this fog for twenty-four hours. I would give a thousand dollars to be +in Belfast at this moment."</p> + +<p>"I don't believe the best pilot on the coast would agree to take this +yacht up to Belfast in this fog for twice that sum," added Leopold. "One +of the Bangor steamers, that goes over the route every day, got aground +the other night."</p> + +<p>"I never was on this coast before, Mr. Hamilton, as I told you before we +sailed from New York," said Captain Bounce, apologetically; "but if I +had been here all my life, I couldn't find my way in a sailing vessel in +such a fog as this."</p> + +<p>"O, I don't blame you Captain Bounce," added Mr. Hamilton, who was the +owner of the yacht.</p> + +<p>"I have kept you off the rocks so far; and that was the best I could +do."</p> + +<p>"You have done all that anybody could do, Captain Bounce, and I have no +fault to find with you. But the ladies are very uncomfortable;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span> they are +wet, and everything in the cabin is wet with the moisture of this fog. +We are very anxious to get to some good hotel, where we can remain till +the fog has blown away," continued Mr. Hamilton.</p> + +<p>"You can go into Rockhaven, sir," suggested Leopold.</p> + +<p>The Hon. Mr. Hamilton smiled gloomily, and shrugged his shoulders, for +he knew how limited were the accommodations in the old Cliff House.</p> + +<p>"Your hotel would not hold us, Leopold," said Mr. Hamilton. "Our party +consists of fifteen persons. We must get into Rockland, some how or +other."</p> + +<p>"We have a new hotel, Mr. Hamilton," interposed Leopold.</p> + +<p>"What's that?"</p> + +<p>"The Sea Cliff House. It is the Cliff House rebuilt and enlarged. We +have fifty rooms now, besides new parlors and a new dining-room. The +house has been furnished new, and my father means to keep a first-class +hotel. He has raised the price to three dollars a day, so that he can +afford to do so. We have some rooms built on purpose for you, sir."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Indeed! But your father always kept a good house, though it was not big +enough."</p> + +<p>"You won't find any better hotel in Rockland or Belfast than the Sea +Cliff House, Mr. Hamilton," said Leopold, confidently.</p> + +<p>"Then let us go there by all means," added the owner of the Orion. "Can +you take the yacht into the harbor, Leopold?"</p> + +<p>"I can sir."</p> + +<p>"Are you sure?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly I am."</p> + +<p>"We don't want to be thrown on the rocks."</p> + +<p>"I can go into the river with my eyes shut, any time, sir."</p> + +<p>"Very well. Captain Bounce, here is your pilot."</p> + +<p>"All right Mr. Hamilton. All his orders shall be obeyed," replied the +sailing-master.</p> + +<p>"Hoist the jib, then, if you please, and head her to the north-east," +added Leopold.</p> + +<p>"To the north-east!" exclaimed Captain Bounce. "You said the ledges were +in that direction."</p> + +<p>"I know they are; but I can tell just where to find them."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span></p> + +<p>"We are not anxious to find them," added the sailing-master.</p> + +<p>"I am, for I take my bearings from them. Trust me as your best friend, +Captain Bounce, and you shall throw over your mud-hook, in just an hour +from now, in the river, off Rockhaven."</p> + +<p>"All right; the owner says you are the pilot, and I haven't a word to +say," replied the captain. "Forward there! Hoist the jib! At the helm!"</p> + +<p>"Helm, sir!" replied the quarter-master.</p> + +<p>"Keep her north-east."</p> + +<p>"North-east, sir."</p> + +<p>Leopold turned at that moment, and discovered a bundle of shawls and +water-proofs emerging from the companion-way.</p> + +<p>"Leopold Bennington! I'm glad to see you!" exclaimed the bundle, in a +voice which the young pilot promptly identified as that of Miss Rosabel +Hamilton.</p> + +<p>"Thank you, Miss Hamilton. I'm happy to see you again," stammered +Leopold, rushing up to the bundle, in which he could hardly make out the +beautiful face and form of Rosabel.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span></p> + +<p>"You have come to get us out of an awful bad scrape. We have no fire in +the cabin, and are wet through, and nearly frozen. I'm so glad we met +you!"</p> + +<p>"I'm glad to meet you too," said Leopold. "I'm sure I didn't expect to +see you out in this fog. But I'm the pilot of this yacht now and if you +will excuse me, I will go forward, and attend to my duty."</p> + +<p>"Certainly. Don't let me keep you," answered Rosabel, in those sweet, +silvery tones which made Leopold's heart jump. "I shall be so glad when +we can see a good, warm fire!"</p> + +<p>The young pilot did not like to leave her; but he felt the +responsibility of the position he had assumed, and he hastened forward. +The Orion was moving along through the water at the rate of about four +knots an hour. Leopold walked out on the bowsprit as far as the jibstay, +and there seated himself. Rosabel, apparently deeply interested in his +movements, followed him as far as the forecastle.</p> + +<p>"What are you going to do out there, Leopold?" she asked.</p> + +<p>"I'm going to keep a lookout for the ledges,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span> which are ahead of us; and +as I have to use my ears, I must ask you not to speak to me any more. +Excuse me, but I might not hear the breakers soon enough, if I were +talking," added the pilot.</p> + +<p>Rosabel excused him, and returned to the cabin, for the cold fog made +her shiver, even within her bundle of clothing. Leopold listened with +all his might, and in less than half an hour he heard the surges on the +ledges, faintly, at first, in the distance.</p> + +<p>"Breakers ahead!" shouted Captain Bounce.</p> + +<p>"I know it; trust your best friend and don't be alarmed," replied +Leopold. "There is water enough here to float a seventy-four."</p> + +<p>He allowed the Orion to proceed on her course, till he could hear very +distinctly the breakers on the ledges, and was sure they were the High +Rock ledges.</p> + +<p>"Starboard the helm, and start your sheets," shouted the pilot.</p> + +<p>"High time, I should say," growled Captain Bounce, as he gave the +necessary orders, and the Orion fell off to her new course.</p> + +<p>"Keep her north-west," added Leopold, as he just saw the ledges whitened +with sea foam.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span></p> + +<p>He still retained his position on the bowsprit, with his attention fixed +upon some point on the weather-bow.</p> + +<p>"That's it! Dip point!" said he, as he listened to the breakers. "Keep +her nor'-nor'-west!"</p> + +<p>Ten minutes later, he ordered the fog-horn to be blown, and a reply came +off from the light-house on the point, at the mouth of the river. When +the Orion was clear of the point, he directed the yacht to be +close-hauled on the starboard tack, in order to beat into the river. The +first reach brought her to the high cliff near the hotel, and after a +"short leg," he fetched the anchorage off the wharf.</p> + +<p>"Let go your jib-halyards!" shouted Leopold. "Hard down the helm! Let go +the anchor!"</p> + +<p>The Orion swung round to her cable, and the pilot went aft.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER XII.</h2> + +<h3>AN EXTENSIVE ARRIVAL.</h3> + + +<p>During the run of the Orion, from the time that Leopold assumed the +charge of her till the anchor buried itself in the mud of the river, the +owner and the passengers remained in the cabin. They were all city +people, and to them the fog was even more disagreeable than a heavy +rain. It was cold and penetrating, and the pleasure-seekers found it +impossible to remain on deck. They were actually shivering with cold, +and perhaps for the first time in their lives realized what a blessing +the sunshine is. But Captain Bounce was on deck, and, standing on the +forecastle, he nervously watched the progress of the yacht. Doubtless he +felt belittled at finding himself placed under the orders of a mere boy, +even though the pilot was as polite as a French dancing-master.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 606px;"> +<img src="images/ill-232.jpg" width="606" height="450" alt="Captain Bounce cannot see the Town. Page 218." title="" /> +<span class="caption">Captain Bounce cannot see the Town. Page <a href="#Page_218">218</a>.</span> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span>When the Orion changed her course off the ledges, he caught a glimpse of +the dangerous rocks, upon which he had heard the beating surf for a +moment before. From that time he did not see anything which looked like +a rock or a cliff. Even when the yacht swung around to her anchor, the +shore could not be seen from her deck, so dense was the fog.</p> + +<p>Captain Bounce had not much confidence in the skill of his pilot. He had +not seen the rocks and cliffs which line the coast, and had no idea of +the perils which had surrounded him. Whenever Leopold ordered a change +in the course, he could just hear the murmuring sea breaking on the +shore; but the old sea-dog expected the vessel would be thrown upon the +rocks every moment. He was prepared to act upon an emergency of this +kind, and had actually arranged in his own mind his plan of procedure, +when the order to let go the jib-halyard indicated that the pilot +intended to anchor.</p> + +<p>Captain Bounce looked about him, but he could see nothing which looked +like a town, a port, or a harbor. He was so obstinate in his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span> +incredulity, that he was inclined to believe the young man in charge had +given up the attempt to find Rockhaven as a bad job, and intended to +anchor under the lee of some island. He obeyed the orders given him by +the pilot, however. The chain cable ran out, and when its music had +ceased, one of the church clocks in Rockhaven struck ten. Captain Bounce +heard it distinctly, and of course the sound from a point high above him +in the air overwhelmed him with positive proof that the young pilot knew +what he was about.</p> + +<p>"Ten o'clock!" shouted Leopold, walking up to the captain of the yacht. +"We have been just five minutes short of an hour in coming up."</p> + +<p>Leopold looked at his silver watch, which was the gift of Herr Schlager, +and rather enjoyed the perplexity of the sailing-master.</p> + +<p>"I don't see any town," said Captain Bounce, going to the rail, and +gazing into the fog, in the direction from which the sounds of the +church clock had come.</p> + +<p>"You heard the clock on the Methodist church strike—didn't you?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I heard that."</p> + +<p>"Well, sir, we are in the river; and it is a crooked river, too. You +can't take a boat and pull in a straight line in any direction without +running on the rocks," added Leopold.</p> + +<p>"I'm glad we are in a safe harbor," continued the old sea-dog, but in a +tone which seemed to belie his words, for he was not quite willing to +believe that the boy had piloted the vessel four or five miles, without +even seeing the shore a single time.</p> + +<p>"When did you leave New York, Captain Bounce?" asked Leopold.</p> + +<p>"Three days ago. We had a fine run till we went into the fog yesterday +morning. The wind was contrary, and in beating my way up I lost my +reckoning. I have been dodging the breakers for twenty-four hours. I was +afraid of a north-easterly storm; and if I had had no women on board, I +should have come about, and run out to sea. As it was, I had to feel my +way along."</p> + +<p>"You are all right now," added Leopold, as he saw the owner and +passengers coming up the companion-way.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span></p> + +<p>"You have brought us in—have you, Leopold?" said Mr. Hamilton.</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir. You are in the river, off Rockhaven, though you can't see +anything," replied the young pilot.</p> + +<p>"You have done well; and you are fully entitled to your pilotage," added +the ex-member of Congress.</p> + +<p>"I don't pretend to be a pilot for pay," protested Leopold.</p> + +<p>"You have brought the yacht into port, and here is your fee," said Mr. +Hamilton, putting some bank bills into his hand.</p> + +<p>"No, sir!" exclaimed Leopold; "I don't want any money for what I have +done. I am not entitled to any pilot's fees."</p> + +<p>"Yes you are, just as much entitled to them as though you had a warrant +or a branch. Now go to your hotel, and have everything ready for us as +quick as you can. We are wet and cold, and we want good fires," +continued Mr. Hamilton.</p> + +<p>"But this money—"</p> + +<p>"Don't stop another moment, my boy," interrupted the rich merchant. "If +your father's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span> hotel is as good as you say it is, we may stay there a +week."</p> + +<p>Under this imperative order, Leopold thrust the bills into his pocket, +and leaped into the Rosabel. He had anchored the Orion off the wharf, in +the deep water in the middle of the river, so that her boats could +conveniently reach the landing-steps near the fish market. Hoisting his +mainsail and jib, he stood down the river.</p> + +<p>"Come and help us get on shore!" shouted Mr. Hamilton, as the Rosabel +was disappearing in the fog. "We can't find the wharf."</p> + +<p>"Ay, ay, sir," replied Leopold.</p> + +<p>In a few moments he had anchored the sloop at her usual moorings, +secured the sails very hastily, and was climbing the steep path to the +road. In spite of the pride which had prompted him to refuse it, the +pilot's fee was a godsend to him, or, rather, to his father, for he +determined to give the money to him immediately. He took the bills from +his pocket, and found there were three ten-dollar notes. His heart +leaped with emotion when he remembered what his father said—that he had +not seen twenty<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span> dollars at one time for a month. The landlord actually +needed the money to make purchases for the comfort of his new guests.</p> + +<p>Leopold was almost beside himself with joy, and he rushed up the steep, +rocky path without regard to the proper expenditure of his breath. +Puffing like a grampus, he reached the road, and then ran with all his +might, as if the Sea Cliff House was on fire. He rushed into the office, +and flew about the house like a madman. His father was nowhere to be +seen; but he spent only a moment in looking for him, and then darted out +into the wood-shed. Filling a bushel basket with wood, chips, and +shavings, he carried it into the big parlor, and lighted a tremendous +fire in the Franklin stove. Another was made in the large corner +apartment up stairs, with two bed-rooms <i>en suite</i>, which he always +called Mr. Hamilton's room. He piled on the wood with no niggardly hand +upon these, and four other fires he kindled in as many of the best rooms +in the house.</p> + +<p>Calling the chambermaid to attend to those up stairs, he returned to the +public parlor, where he piled up the wood again.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span></p> + +<p>"What under the sun are you doing, Leopold?" demanded his father, while +he was thus occupied.</p> + +<p>"Making fires," replied the son, vigorously. "I have kindled five up +stairs."</p> + +<p>"But what under—"</p> + +<p>"Never mind now, father," interposed Leopold. "Fifteen folks from New +York will be here pretty soon, and you must be ready for them."</p> + +<p>"Fifteen!" exclaimed the landlord, who had been mourning over the fog, +which promised to deprive him of the few guests who might otherwise come +over to Rockhaven in the steamer.</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir, fifteen; and they are Mr. Hamilton's party."</p> + +<p>"Good gracious!" exclaimed the astonished and delighted proprietor of +the Sea Cliff House.</p> + +<p>"But I must go down to the wharf, and help get them ashore," continued +Leopold, so excited that he could hardly speak. "They are cold and wet, +and want good fires."</p> + +<p>"I'll see to the fires Leopold. But where in the world did they come +from in this fog?"</p> + +<p>"They came in a yacht. I went off about<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span> two miles from the ledges after +cod and haddock, and picked them up there. They had been knocking about +in the fog for twenty-four hours. I brought the yacht into the river, +and Mr. Hamilton gave me thirty dollars for pilot's fees. Here's the +money, father."</p> + +<p>"But, Leopold," added the landlord, as he involuntarily took the bills, +"this is your money, and—"</p> + +<p>"Never mind, father. We mustn't stop to talk about it now," interposed +the son, vehemently. "If you will have the house ready, I will go and +bring up the folks. Send the wagon down to the wharf as quick as you +can."</p> + +<p>Leopold waited for nothing more, but ran down to the wharf as fast as +his legs would carry him, and arrived almost out of breath. To his +astonishment, he found quite a number of people gathered there, for it +had just been discovered that a large yacht had anchored in the river. +Squire Moses and Ethan Wormbury were there, the latter to look out for +the interests of the Island Hotel. Leopold borrowed a skiff belonging to +Mr. Bangs, and pulled off to the Orion. Both of her boats had been +lowered<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span> from the davits, and hauled up at the accommodation steps, in +readiness to convey the ladies and gentlemen to the shore.</p> + +<p>"We are all ready for you at the Sea Cliff House, Mr. Hamilton," said +Leopold, us he stepped upon the deck.</p> + +<p>"Shall we find a good fire in the parlor?" asked the ex-Congressman.</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir, and in your rooms, too," replied Leopold. "We call it warm +weather down here; but I piled on the wood to suit your case."</p> + +<p>"I am so glad to come here again!" said Rosabel, stepping up to Leopold. +"I am very much obliged to the fog for sending us to Rockhaven."</p> + +<p>"I shall consider the fog one of my best friends after this," laughed +Leopold; and he conducted the young lady to the gangway.</p> + +<p>"Father says you have a new hotel; and I hope we shall stay here all +summer."</p> + +<p>"The Sea Cliff House, folks say, is about as good as anything on the +coast; and I hope the new hotel will suit you well enough to keep you +here a long time," said the gallant young man, as he assisted Rosabel +down the steps and into the stern-sheets of the boat.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span></p> + +<p>"It would be so delightful to stay here all summer, and have the yacht, +so that we could sail about the bay!"</p> + +<p>Leopold assisted the other ladies—of whom there were not less than +seven—to their places in the two quarter-boats of the Orion. The whole +party was disposed in both of them, and the landlord's son led the way +to the wharf in the skiff, which was reached in a few moments. Leopold +was on the landing-steps in time to assist the ladies when the first +boat came alongside the platform, and the whole party were soon on the +wharf.</p> + +<p>"Who are all these people, Leopold?" asked Squire Moses Wormbury, as the +young man was ascending the steps.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Franklin Hamilton's party from New York," replied the young man +hastily.</p> + +<p>"Island Hotel, sir?" said Ethan Wormbury, approaching one of the +gentlemen, whose wife was leaning upon is arm; "best hotel in the place, +sir, and close to the wharf."</p> + +<p>"If it is the best hotel in the place, that is where we wish to go," +replied the gentlemen, with a slightly foreign accent in his tones.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span></p> + +<p>"This way, if you please, sir," added Ethan, with enthusiasm, as he +began to move up the wharf.</p> + +<p>"Doctor," called Mr. Hamilton, "where are you going?"</p> + +<p>"To the hotel. Thin man says he keeps the best one in this place."</p> + +<p>"We are all going to the Sea Cliff House," added the chief of the party.</p> + +<p>Ethan gnashed his teeth with rage, and so did the squire, his father. It +was really horrible to see the whole party going to the Sea Cliff.</p> + +<p>"How do you do, Mr. Hamilton?" said Squire Moses, extending his withered +hand to the New York merchant. "Glad to see you come down to the old +place once in a while."</p> + +<p>"Ah, how do you do, Squire Wormbury?" replied Mr. Hamilton, taking the +offered hand. "I mean to come down here every year."</p> + +<p>"My son keeps the Island Hotel," insinuated the squire. "He don't make +quite so much show as Bennington, but he will take good care of you, and +feed you better. Folks that know say he keeps the best house. And +Bennington<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span> has raised his price to three dollars a day; the Island +Hotel is only two."</p> + +<p>Moses Wormbury considered the last argument as by far the most powerful +one he could present. How any man could help wishing to save a dollar a +day on his board, was more than the squire was able to comprehend.</p> + +<p>"I have already spoken for rooms at the Sea Cliff House, and they have +made fires in them for us," replied Mr. Hamilton, unmoved by the old +man's powerful appeal.</p> + +<p>"Ethan will give you a fire, and not charge you anything extra for it, +as they do at Bennington's," added the squire. "He can accommodate the +whole party if you will sleep two in a bed. You will save at least +fifteen dollars a day by going to the Island Hotel."</p> + +<p>"As we have spoken for rooms at the Sea Cliff House, I think we ought to +go there," answered the New Yorker, rather coldly, unmoved by the +economical considerations of the squire.</p> + +<p>"Stage all ready, Mr. Hamilton," interposed Leopold, who had listened +with painful anxiety to a portion of the old man's arguments.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span></p> + +<p>The "stage" was a long wagon, like an omnibus, but with no top; and +Ethan saw, with an aching and an angry heart, the entire party of +fifteen crowd into this vehicle. Squire Moses was not only vexed, he was +downright mad. At any time it would have annoyed him, as well as Ethan, +to see fifteen "arrivals" go to the "other house," and not a single one +to the Island Hotel. To the old man it was doubly grievous at the +present time, for every day the party staid at the Sea Cliff House would +put at least forty-five dollars into the pocket of its landlord; and he +was afraid Mr. Bennington would be able to pay his interest money on the +day it was due. He wanted the new hotel for his son, if he could get it +cheap enough, that is, for one third or one half of its value. This +dawning of prosperity upon the Sea Cliff was, therefore, very unwelcome +to the squire and his son.</p> + +<p>Leopold leaped upon the box with the driver as soon as the passengers +were all seated, and the two horses tugged up the steep hill from the +wharf with the heavy load. On the level road above, the excited teamster +put the whip upon his horses, and dashed up to the hotel at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span> full +gallop. Fifteen arrivals at once, at this time in the year, was very +unusual, and everybody about the hotel was thrown into a fever of +excitement. The landlord stood upon the piazza, with no hat on his head, +bowed and scraped, and helped the ladies out of the wagon. The party +were shown to the parlor, which the roaring fire had heated to a fever +temperature, so that the perspiration stood upon the landlord's brow +when he entered it. In the mean time Leopold had hastened to his room to +change his clothes, and make himself presentable to the party.</p> + +<p>"This is delicious—isn't it?" said one of the ladies, when she felt the +warm air of the parlor.</p> + +<p>"It feels like a new world," added another.</p> + +<p>"What a blessing it will be to be warm and dry once more!" put in a +third.</p> + +<p>"We have made fires in your rooms, ladies," interposed the polite +landlord, doubly courteous under the avalanche of good fortune which had +fallen upon him. "I will show you your rooms as soon as you wish."</p> + +<p>"Let us get warm before we do anything,"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span> said Mr. Hamilton, removing +his heavy coat. "You have a very nice house, Mr. Bennington."</p> + +<p>"We think it is pretty fair down here," replied the modest landlord. "We +have a parlor up one flight, with a bed-room on each side, which Leopold +always calls 'Mr. Hamilton's rooms.' I think they will suit you; at any +rate, I fitted them on purpose for your use."</p> + +<p>"That was very considerate," laughed the merchant.</p> + +<p>"The three rooms will just accommodate your family. I have four other +parlors, not quite so large, with one bed-room to each," continued the +landlord, looking around at the New Yorkers, as if to ascertain their +wants. "Of course you needn't have private parlors, if you don't want +them. I have plenty of nice single rooms."</p> + +<p>"We want the private parlors," replied Mr. Hamilton. "I did not expect +to find such accommodations in Rockhaven."</p> + +<p>"I think I know what a hotel ought to be," added the landlord. "By and +by, if our guests don't want private parlors, we shall put beds in +them."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Squire Moses says you have raised the price," laughed the rich +merchant.</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir: I couldn't afford to keep such a house as I mean to keep at +two dollars a day in these times."</p> + +<p>"You have done quite right, and the price is very reasonable."</p> + +<p>"I shall have to charge five dollars a day for the parlors, if anybody +wants them."</p> + +<p>"Certainly; that is also proper; and we want five of them. Now I will go +to the office, and enter the names on the register," said Mr. Hamilton.</p> + +<p>Their were five gentlemen with their wives, two single gentlemen, two +young ladies, and one young gentleman of sixteen. Rooms were assigned to +them according to their several needs, and all the party expressed +themselves as delighted with their accommodations. The furniture was not +costly, but it was neat and comfortable. The beds were clean, and +everything was in good order. The baggage, which the boats had brought +ashore after landing the passengers, was conveyed by the wagon to the +hotel. In less than an hour, the guests were all comfortable and happy.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span></p> + +<p>Mr. Bennington was on the jump all the time, and so was Leopold. The +landlady, who was also the cook, was "spreading herself" to the utmost +upon the dinner. They all knew that the success of the house depended in +a very great measure upon the satisfaction given to these wealthy and +influential guests. The landlord, however, knew better than to waste his +strength upon mere "style," for he could not expect to equal that to +which his present patrons were all accustomed at home. He wanted the +best of meats and vegetables, well cooked, and served hot. He knew very +well that a teaspoonful of string beans, mashed potato, stewed tomato, +or green peas, in a miniature dish, placed before a guest after it had +been standing half an hour on the pantry table, was not eatable; and he +governed himself accordingly.</p> + +<p>At dinner the guests appeared modestly dressed, and it would have been +difficult to identify in them the bundles of water-proofs, shawls, and +overcoats which had landed at the wharf. Leopold had put on a "biled +shirt," as he called it, and dressed himself in his best clothes. To<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span> +him was assigned the duty of waiting upon Mr. Hamilton and his family. +In his "store clothes" Leopold was a good-looking fellow, and he was +remarkably attentive to the wants of Miss Rosabel.</p> + +<p>The dinner proceeded satisfactorily to the new guests, as to the old +ones. Dr. Heilenwinder declared that the soup was marvellously good; and +when he learned that Mrs. Bennington, who made it was a German by birth, +its excellence was explained to him.</p> + +<p>The fog and rain continued for three days, and the ladies of the party +hardly ventured out of the house. The bowling alleys and billiard tables +were in constant use, and every evening, in the large hall connected +with the hotel, there was a dance, to which Mr. Hamilton invited many of +the town's people. It was fun and frolic from morning till midnight; and +no party weather-bound in a hotel ever enjoyed themselves more.</p> + +<p>The fourth day was bright and pleasant.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER XIII.</h2> + +<h3>THE EXCURSION TO HIGH ROCK.</h3> + + +<p>The yacht party which had come to Rockhaven in the Orion, in spite of +the fog and the rain, appeared to be very happy. If they were +aristocratic in the metropolis, they were not so in their summer resort. +Though the party was large enough to enable them to "have a good time" +without any assistance from outside of the hotel, they invited many of +the people of Rockhaven to join them in their indoor amusements. As Mr. +Hamilton was a native of the town, he was quite at home there, though he +had been absent from his boyhood. In addition to the dancing, the +billiards, and the bowling, one of the gentlemen of the party was an +elocutionist, and gave several "readings" in the parlor. A celebrated +writing-master, who was a guest at the hotel, gave an exhibition of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span> his +sleight of hand tricks, in which he was almost as skillful as in the use +of his pen. At the end of the third day it was voted that, in spite of +the weather, the party had enjoyed themselves to the utmost. Mr. +Bennington and Leopold were unremitting in their efforts to make the +guests comfortable and happy.</p> + +<p>But in spite of the enjoyment within doors, the New Yorkers were glad to +see the sun shine again. For the first time since their arrival they +were permitted to gaze upon the rugged and beautiful scenery of the +island. They were delighted with the cliffs, and with the views from +them. Most of the party spent the day in rambling about the town and in +climbing the rocks; but the younger members of it insisted upon +something more exciting. When Leopold carried their coffee to Rosabel +and her friend Isabel Peterson, at the breakfast table, he found them +very much excited. They were talking together with a furious enthusiasm, +though there was to be no wedding, or even a grand ball.</p> + +<p>"We want to go to High Rock right off after breakfast," said Rosabel; +and it appeared that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span> the high spirits of the young ladies were produced +simply by the anticipation of this excursion.</p> + +<p>"In the Rosabel?" asked Leopold.</p> + +<p>"Yes, certainly," answered Miss Hamilton.</p> + +<p>"I will be ready for you," added the skipper.</p> + +<p>"High Rock is such a delightful place!" exclaimed Rosabel, turning to +Isabel again. "I went there twice last summer; and I never enjoyed +myself so much as I did in climbing the rocks, and looking out upon the +ocean. I want you to see the place at once, Belle."</p> + +<p>"I shall be delighted to go, especially if we are to sail in the +Rosabel," replied Miss Peterson. "Isn't it a nice thing to have a boat +named after you!"</p> + +<p>"Of course it is a very great honor," laughed Rosabel, as she shook back +the affluence of wavy auburn locks which fell upon her shoulders. +"Leopold is a real good fellow."</p> + +<p>"He is a very good-looking fellow, too," added Isabel, in a lower tone. +"His face is handsome, and if he were only dressed in good style, he +would be magnificent."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I think he is nice now," said Rosabel, candidly, and without a blush, +for the little beauty was conscious of nothing but a kindly regard for +the landlord's son.</p> + +<p>"He doesn't talk a bit country, and isn't clumsy and awkward, like many +young fellows away from the city."</p> + +<p>"His manners are as pleasant as those of any young man I ever met. Do +you know, Belle, he speaks German?"</p> + +<p>"What, Leopold!"</p> + +<p>"He knows how to speak it a great deal better than I do, though he never +studied it in school, as I have for two years."</p> + +<p>Leopold had left the dining-room for a moment, so that he did not hear +any of this conversation, and therefore had no idea how well he stood in +the estimation of these young ladies. Of course they did not intend that +he should know; and the next remark of Isabel, to the effect that she +wished he was not a "waiter," would certainly have hurt his feelings. +Leopold had gone into the office, where he found a boy waiting for a +chance to set up pins in the bowling alley, whom he sent for Stumpy, +with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span> directions for him to have the Rosabel ready immediately for the +excursion to High Rock. Stumpy often went with him, and, as he intended +to wear his good clothes on the trip, he wanted his help on this +occasion.</p> + +<p>As soon as breakfast was finished, Leopold was ready. His passengers +were to be Rosabel, Isabel, and Charley Redmond, a young man of +seventeen, and the son of one of the New Yorkers in the party. The sloop +was all ready when they reached the river. Stumpy had hoisted the +mainsail, and hauled her up where the passengers could embark without +difficulty.</p> + +<p>"Why, she is a real nice boat!" exclaimed Isabel, as she seated herself +in the standing-room.</p> + +<p>"I told you she was," replied Rosabel.</p> + +<p>"Quite nobby," added Charley Redmond, with a patronizing tone, as he +adjusted his eye-glasses, for he was either near-sighted, or fancied +that the glasses added to his dignity and importance. "I dare say this +rustic is quite a boatman."</p> + +<p>"He may be a rustic, but he is not so green as you are, Charley +Redmond," added Isabel, indignantly; but she spoke for her friend rather +than for herself.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span></p> + +<p>The "rustic" did not hear any of these remarks, for after helping the +girls to their seats, he had gone to cast off the cable which Stumpy was +hauling in. But Leopold did not like Charley Redmond, for the young +gentleman was a person of ten times as much importance, in his own +estimation, as his father. He was supercilious, and, unlike the rest of +the party, looked down upon the boatman, and everybody else in the town.</p> + +<p>"Of course you couldn't expect much of a fellow down here," added +Charley.</p> + +<p>"He knows twice as much as you do," retorted Isabel, as the skipper took +his place at the helm, thus putting an end to the conversation.</p> + +<p>"Now shove her off, Stumpy," said Leopold.</p> + +<p>"Stumpy!" ejaculated Charley, with a laugh. "That's a romantic name."</p> + +<p>"His name is Stumpfield Wormbury," Leopold explained. "He is a +first-rate fellow."</p> + +<p>"No doubt of it," sneered the New Yorker, who was not a good specimen of +his <i>genus</i>, and could not appreciate such a "good fellow," with his +brown face and coarse clothes.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span></p> + +<p>"He don't like his nickname very well, and when he objected to it, years +ago, the fellows began to call him 'Wormy.' He couldn't stand that, and +is satisfied now to be called 'Stumpy.'"</p> + +<p>"Stumpy is better than Wormy," added Charley Redmond.</p> + +<p>"Hoist the jib," said Leopold.</p> + +<p>The Rosabel went off with a brisk breeze, at a speed which immediately +rekindled the enthusiasm of the girls; and, to prolong the sail, Leopold +stood off into the bay, going around a small rocky island, a mile from +the light-house.</p> + +<p>"It's rather rough out here," said Charley Redmond, when the sloop began +to dance and leap on the waves thrown up by the fresh north-west wind.</p> + +<p>"It's delightful!" exclaimed Isabel; "isn't it, Rose?"</p> + +<p>"I think so, Belle; I enjoy it above all things."</p> + +<p>"But the boat is rather small," suggested Charley, as a cloud of spray +dashed over the bow.</p> + +<p>"So much the better," added Rosabel.</p> + +<p>When the sloop was a mile from the shore,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span> where the water was not +sheltered by the high cliffs, the white caps lighted up the bay, and it +was very lively sailing. The Rosabel, close-hauled, pitched smartly, and +the spray soon drenched Stumpy, who, presuming not to intrude himself +into the presence of the New Yorkers in the standing-room, remained upon +the half-deck. Mr. Redmond was not willing to own it, but he was +actually frightened, as Leopold could see by the way he started when the +boat pitched, and by the energy with which he held on to the washboard.</p> + +<p>"I don't know that I like this very well," said he, at last, with a sort +of shudder.</p> + +<p>"It's perfectly splendid," exclaimed Belle.</p> + +<p>"Elegant," added Rosabel.</p> + +<p>"I will come about whenever you wish, Miss Hamilton," said Leopold.</p> + +<p>"O, no, not yet," protested Isabel.</p> + +<p>"I think it is about time," put in Charley. "It is cold and wet."</p> + +<p>The skipper enjoyed the starts and squirmings of the young gentleman. He +had the boat perfectly in hand, though by this time she had all the wind +she could stagger under. He knew very<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span> well that the most exciting part +of the sail was yet to come, for he would have the wind free as soon as +he came about. If the girls had not been on board, he would have let the +boat over far enough to take in a few buckets of water, for the especial +benefit of Mr. Redmond. He knew just how much she would bear, and he +could do it with entire safety; but he did not care to alarm his fair +passengers. Having weathered the island, he let off the sheets a little. +The Rosabel heeled over, and promptly increased her speed. The wind came +in gusts, and now every flaw carried her down to the washboard. Mr. +Redmond was more uneasy than ever, but the girls only shouted in the +exuberance of their delight.</p> + +<p>"I don't believe in this thing," said Charley, at last, when his +nervousness overcame him.</p> + +<p>"Are you afraid, Charley?" laughed Belle.</p> + +<p>"Of course I'm not afraid—ugh!" he muttered, as the sloop heeled over +till the waves threatened to invade the standing-room.</p> + +<p>"You <i>are</i> afraid Charley."</p> + +<p>"I'm not afraid; but I don't think it is safe. I've been in boats enough +to know that this<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span> isn't the way to do the thing. Why don't you lower +one of the sails, Leopold?"</p> + +<p>"What for?" asked the skipper quietly.</p> + +<p>"You will upset the boat!" gasped Charley.</p> + +<p>"No danger of that."</p> + +<p>"But I know there is: I have been in boats before," protested Charley.</p> + +<p>"If the ladies wish me to reef the mainsail, I will do so," said +Leopold.</p> + +<p>"O, no; don't, don't, Leopold!" cried Belle. "I think this is just +lovely."</p> + +<p>"Fun alive—isn't it?" chimed in Rosabel. "It would spoil it all to +reef."</p> + +<p>"If we only had a man with us, it would be another thing," groaned Mr. +Redmond, with a shudder, as the boat went down to her washboard again.</p> + +<p>"I think I am strong enough to handle her," suggested Leopold.</p> + +<p>"But you don't understand it," exclaimed the New Yorker, desperately.</p> + +<p>"If you think you understand it any better than I do, I am willing to +let you take my place," said the skipper, with a smile.</p> + +<p>"O, no! don't let him! I should certainly be afraid then," cried Belle.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I don't pretend to know anything about a boat; and I don't think you +do," blubbered Charley, angrily.</p> + +<p>"I think I can get along with her," added Leopold, pleasantly. "This is +a quiet time compared with what I have seen out here in this boat."</p> + +<p>Mr. Raymond continued to growl, and the girls continued to scream and +"squeal" with delight when the sloop heeled over, and when the spray +drenched their water-proofs. The Rosabel was at least five miles from +the land, still making things very lively on board, when a large +schooner was seen dead ahead.</p> + +<p>"I've had enough of this thing," said Charley, clinging to the washboard +behind him. "If you don't turn round, or lower one of the sails, I shall +call for help from that vessel."</p> + +<p>"What a simpleton you are!" exclaimed Belle; and her remarks were often +much stronger than Rosabel could approve.</p> + +<p>Leopold quietly put the helm up, and let off the sheets, so that the +boat did not go within half a mile of the schooner. Half an hour later +he put her about, and, with the wind on the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span> quarter, stood in towards +High Rock. Being almost before the wind, the Rosabel jumped, leaped, and +"yawed" about more than ever; but she took in no more spray over her +bow. She seemed to fly on her course, and Charley Redmond expected every +moment to feel her go over. He held on with desperation, unnoticed now +by the girls. In another half hour the sloop passed into the calmer +waters, sheltered by the high cliffs. Charley began to be brave again.</p> + +<p>"You feel better—do you, Mr. Redmond?" said the laughing Belle.</p> + +<p>"I feel well enough."</p> + +<p>"You were afraid."</p> + +<p>"Afraid—I? Not a bit of it; at least not for myself," replied the young +gentleman. "The boatman don't understand his business. That's the whole +of this thing."</p> + +<p>"My father says he knows all about a boat; and he would trust him +farther than he would most men," added Rosabel. "Didn't he take the +Orion into the river in the fog?"</p> + +<p>"He didn't manage the yacht: Captain Bounce was on board. I have been in +boats before, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span> I think I can tell when a boatman knows his biz," +replied Charley, confidently. "I wasn't at all concerned about myself; +but I was afraid he would drown you girls. You were placed in my care—"</p> + +<p>"Were we? Indeed! Didn't we invite you to come?" demanded Belle.</p> + +<p>"If you did, of course it was my duty, as a gentleman, to look out for +you. No; I wasn't a bit concerned about myself; but I was afraid for +you."</p> + +<p>"It was very kind of you to be afraid for us," sneered his fair +tormentor. "It was very unselfish in you. I think I see you now, +reckless of yourself, but trembling for our safety! I hope you will tell +Leopold how to manage a boat!"</p> + +<p>"I shall be glad to learn," laughed the skipper.</p> + +<p>Leopold ran the sloop alongside a rock, which at this time of tide +served as a wharf, and landed his party. Rosabel led the way to the Hole +in the Wall, and they soon disappeared in the deep ravine. The skipper +would have been very glad to go with them, but he was not invited<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span> to do +so; and without this formality he was unwilling to do that which might +possibly be deemed an intrusion. Rosabel wondered that he did not come +with them, and would have been glad of his company; but as she did not +feel herself above the boatman, it did not occur to her to ask him.</p> + +<p>"That fellow was scared—wasn't he, Le?" said Stumpy, when they were +alone.</p> + +<p>"Of course he was. He is a regular spooney," replied the skipper. "If +the girls hadn't been with us, I would have put him through a course of +sprouts."</p> + +<p>"He thinks he is a bigger man than the president of the United States. +You won't catch him in the Rosabel again."</p> + +<p>"I don't want to catch him there."</p> + +<p>"How long are they going to stay up there, Le?" asked Stumpy.</p> + +<p>"They won't come down for a couple of hours yet."</p> + +<p>"Then I can dig a bucket of clams while we are waiting," added Stumpy, +as he took the shovel and a pail from the cuddy.</p> + +<p>Leopold fastened the painter to the rocks,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span> and followed his friend. The +bucket was soon filled with clams, the largest and finest to be found on +the coast, for they were seldom dug on this beach. In returning to the +boat, they passed quite near Coffin Rock, and of course Leopold could +not help thinking of the hidden treasure in the sand. Stumpy, with the +bucket of clams in his hand, led the way to the spot, not exactly with +the approbation of his companion, who was afraid that the waters had not +yet smoothed over the beach so as to conceal his recent operations.</p> + +<p>"Come, Stumpy, ain't you going down to the boat?" asked Leopold, as he +began to move in a different direction from that of his friend.</p> + +<p>"No hurry—is there? <i>I</i> want to go to the spring, and clean up a +little," replied the clam-digger.</p> + +<p>"Can't you do it down by the boat?" suggested the money-digger, who did +not feel inclined to answer the questions which the disturbed state of +the beach under Coffin Rock would put into the mouth of Stumpy.</p> + +<p>"I never wash in salt water when I can get fresh. Besides I want a +drink."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span></p> + +<p>Without intending to be obstinate, Stumpy silently insisted upon having +his own way, by directing his steps towards the springs, which flowed +from the rocks not twenty feet from the hidden treasure. The pure water +dropped from an overhanging cliff, in a kind of alcove in the precipice. +It was clear and cold, and on a warm day it was emphatically a luxury. +If the weather was not warm on the present occasion, Stumpy was, for he +had been digging deep into the sand and mud of the beach. The water +dropping from the spring had formed a deep pool under the cliff, which +overflowed, and was discharged by a stream flowing down the sands into +the ocean. In this stream Stumpy washed his face and hands, and then his +feet, covered with the black mud which he had thrown up from under the +sand at low tide.</p> + +<p>Leopold sat down on a bowlder, some distance from the cliff, to wait for +his companion. Stumpy seemed to be determined to do just what his friend +did not want him to do, for, as soon as he had washed his feet, he +walked directly out of the alcove to the spot under Coffin Rock, taking +the clams and shovel with him.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I say, Le, can't we get up a clam-bake for the girls?" said he, calling +to the skipper in the distance.</p> + +<p>"It won't pay," replied Leopold, walking to the place where Stumpy +stood, exactly over the buried treasure.</p> + +<p>"Why not? You said Miss Rosabel liked clams."</p> + +<p>"It will take too long. We must get back to the hotel by dinner time."</p> + +<p>"Just as you say; but if the girls like clams, it would be a treat to +them; and this is just the place to do this thing."</p> + +<p>"We haven't time to-day."</p> + +<p>"All right," replied Stumpy, who seemed to be just then engaged in a +survey of the locality. "What in the world were you doing here, Le?" he +added. "This sand looks as though it had been all dug over."</p> + +<p>No high tide had washed the beach since Leopold dug for the treasure, +and even his shovel marks were plainly to be seen under the overhanging +rock.</p> + +<p>"I might as well tell him all about it," thought Leopold. "I can trust +him till the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span> end of the world; and I should like to have some one to +help me bear the burden of the secret."</p> + +<p>"What were you digging for, Le?" repeated Stumpy, his curiosity +considerably excited.</p> + +<p>"Can you keep a secret, Stumpy?"</p> + +<p>"Of course I can till the rocks crumble, and the earth sinks," replied +he, warmly.</p> + +<p>Leopold told him the whole story, from the first glimpse he had of +Harvey Barth's diary, down to the finding of the bag of gold.</p> + +<p>"I swow!" exclaimed Stumpy, drawing a long breath, when the narrative +was finished. "Twelve hundred in gold!"</p> + +<p>"I haven't counted it; but that's what the diary says," replied Leopold.</p> + +<p>"You will be as rich as mud, Le. Gold! Then it's worth double that in +paper."</p> + +<p>"It don't belong to me," answered Leopold, decidedly.</p> + +<p>"It belongs to you as much as it does to any one."</p> + +<p>"But I intend to find the owner, or the heirs of the man who buried the +gold."</p> + +<p>"I wouldn't leave it here a day longer, if I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span> were you, Le," said +Stumpy. "Somebody else will find it."</p> + +<p>This suggestion was considered for some time, and Leopold finally +concluded to dig up the treasure, and conceal it in some safer place. In +a few moments more the shot bag was unearthed, and Stumpy held it in his +hand.</p> + +<p>"I swow! Solid gold!" exclaimed he.</p> + +<p>"Halveses!" shouted Charley Redmond, suddenly stepping between the +money-diggers.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER XIV.</h2> + +<h3>THE FAIR THING.</h3> + + +<p>Leopold immediately began to realize that he had no talent for +concealment; that he was a sad bungler in the management of any business +which was not open and above-board. This impertinent, disagreeable +little coxcomb of a New Yorker, without a warning sound to announce his +coming, had suddenly stepped between him and Stumpy, who held the hidden +treasure in his hand. If there was any person in or about Rockhaven from +whom he would have particularly desired to keep his secret, it was Mr. +Charles Redmond, or any other person like him.</p> + +<p>Both Leopold and Stumpy supposed the little New Yorker with the +eye-glass was making himself as agreeable as he could to the young +ladies on the cliffs above. It is true there was an<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span> angle in the cliffs +which concealed his approach from the eye, and the soft sand deadened +the sound of footsteps to the ear; but both the money-digger and the +clam-digger would have deemed it impossible for any one to come into +their presence without being heard. But then both of them were absorbed +in the unearthing of the treasure, and Leopold made so much noise with +his shovel that the sound of Charley Redmond's approach, if there were +any, could not be heard.</p> + +<p>Leopold looked at Stumpy, and Stumpy looked at Leopold. The money-digger +and the clam-digger realized that they were in a bad scrape. This little +dandy in eye-glasses had certainly upset all Leopold's plans for the +disposition of the gold.</p> + +<p>"Halveses!" shouted Charley a second time, as he adjusted his +eye-glasses, and fixed his gaze upon the wet shot-bag which contained +the hidden treasure.</p> + +<p>"I think not," added Leopold.</p> + +<p>"No? When a fellow finds any money, the rule is to divy with all +present," added Charley.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span></p> + +<p>"And for that reason you modestly ask for one half?"</p> + +<p>"Well that's a conventional phrase, you see. Of course I meant +<i>shareses</i>. I shall be quite satisfied with one-third; and that's the +way to do the thing."</p> + +<p>"Where did you come from? I thought you were on the cliff with the young +ladies," asked Leopold.</p> + +<p>"I was there; but it seems that I came down just in the nick of time," +replied the little fop. "The fact is, I drank too much wine last night, +and it makes me thirsty to-day. I was almost choked, and the ladies had +seated themselves on a rock, to enjoy a view of the boundless ocean, you +see; and it looked to me just as though they intended to stay there all +day, you see. In the mean time I was suffering with thirst; but it +wasn't polite, you see, for me to leave them. It isn't the way to do the +thing, you see. I knew they wouldn't want me to leave them."</p> + +<p>Leopold looked at Stumpy, and smiled significantly.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 610px;"> +<img src="images/ill-274.jpg" width="610" height="447" alt="Stumpy with the Bag of Gold. Page 253." title="" /> +<span class="caption">Stumpy with the Bag of Gold. Page <a href="#Page_253">253</a>.</span> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span>"My throat was as parched as though I had spent a month in the Desert of +What-you-call-it, you see," continued Mr. Redmond. "I desired very much +to come down to the boat and obtain a draught of cold water. I didn't +expect to obtain a draft on a gold bank then—ha, ha! you see? Not +bad—eh? Even a gentleman can't help making a pun sometimes, you see."</p> + +<p>"Making a what?" asked Leopold.</p> + +<p>"A pun—you see," laughed Mr. Redmond.</p> + +<p>"Which was the pun?"</p> + +<p>"Don't you see it? Why, a draught of water, and a draft on a gold bank. +Ha, ha!"</p> + +<p>"O, that was it—was it? I'm much obliged to you for telling me."</p> + +<p>Of course Mr. Redmond hardly expected a "countryman" to appreciate his +wit.</p> + +<p>"<i>I</i> was suffering with thirst, you see," continued the fop.</p> + +<p>"I think you said so before."</p> + +<p>"I wanted to introduce the matter so as not to be abrupt; not to tear +myself rudely away from the ladies, you see. We were gazing out upon the +vast ocean, you see; and a quotation from the poet—ah—a doosed odd +sort of a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span> thing, written by the poet—what's his name? you know—about +an old salt that killed a wild goose, or some sort of a thing, and then +had nothing to drink. I repeated the quotation, and both of the girls +laughed: 'Water, water, all around, but not a drop of whiskey to +drink.'"</p> + +<p>"I don't wonder the girls laughed," replied Leopold.</p> + +<p>"Why so?" asked Mr. Redmond, blankly.</p> + +<p>"You didn't quote it just as the poet 'What-you-call-him' wrote it, +Stumpy can give it to you correctly."</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">"'Water, water everywhere;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">Not any drop to drink,'"</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>added Stumpy; "and Coleridge was the fellow that wrote it."</p> + +<p>"Not correct," protested Mr. Redmond, emphatically. "Do you mean to tell +me that an old salt thought of drinking water? It isn't the way old +salts do that sort of thing, you see."</p> + +<p>The coxcomb felt that he had the best of the argument, however +astonished he was to find that these countrymen knew something about the +poets.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I told the ladies that I felt just as that old salt did, only I would +rather have water just then than whiskey, however good whiskey may be in +its place, you see. From this it was quite easy to say that I was very +thirsty; and I said so. Though Miss Hamilton did not wish me to leave +her, you see, she was kind enough to tell me that I should find a spring +of nice cold water under the cliff. I apologized for leaving the ladies, +you see; but they were so self-sacrificing as to say that I needn't +climb up the rocks to join them again; they would soon meet me on the +beach. Isn't it strange how these girls will sometimes give up all their +joys for a feller?"</p> + +<p>"The girls must be miserable up there without you," added Leopold.</p> + +<p>"The water was clear and cold, and it suited me better than the whiskey +that old salt wanted in the poem. I found a tin cup at the spring, and I +drank half a gallon. I was very thirsty, you see. While I was drinking, +I heard you talking about the bag of gold; and then I stepped in here +under this rock, just in the nick of time. Come, Stumpy, cut the string +of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span> bag, and let us divy before the ladies join us."</p> + +<p>"Why should you want a share of it Mr. Redmond?" asked Leopold very much +embarrassed by the situation. "You are the son of a rich man, and seem +to have all the money you want."</p> + +<p>"No, not at all. That isn't the way my governor does that sort of thing, +you see. A year ago he used to do the handsome thing, and then I could +give a champagne supper to my friends at Delmonico's. But one night, you +see, I came home just a little elevated, you see; and when I went up to +my bed, I had the misfortune to tumble down—it was quite accidental, +you see—near the door of my governor's chamber. The patriarch came out. +I was rather bewildered, you see, by my fall; and he had the +impertinence to tell me I was intoxicated. After that he reduced my +allowance of pocket money about one half, so that I have been short ever +since, you see. Cruel—wasn't it? What would you say, Leopold, if your +governor should tell you you were intoxicated?"</p> + +<p>"If I had been drinking champagne, or any other kind of wine, I should +believe he spoke the truth."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Nonsense! You see, I'm a two-bottle man, and I was only just a little +heavy, you see. But we are wasting time. Let us proceed to business. I +have told you just how this sort of thing ought to be done; and I ask +only the fair thing, you see. How much is there in the bag?" added Mr. +Redmond, extending his hand to Stumpy to take the treasure.</p> + +<p>Stumpy did not respond to this application for the money. On the +contrary, he handed it to Leopold.</p> + +<p>"How much is there? Do you know?" repeated the fop.</p> + +<p>"I do know: the bag contains twelve hundred dollars in gold," replied +Leopold, as he dropped the four-pound bag into his trousers pocket, +where it weighed heavily upon his starboard suspender.</p> + +<p>"Bully for you, my countryman;" exclaimed Mr. Redmond. "Twelve hundred +dollars in gold! that's four hundred apiece, you see; and I don't ask +for more than my third. Four hundred in gold! And that's over eight +hundred dollars in greenbacks at the present time! I can give a dozen +champagne suppers on that, you see; and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span> when you fellows come to New +York, I shall invite you to one of them, and tell my friends the +romantic incident of the finding of the bag of gold."</p> + +<p>"I don't believe that any of this money will be spent for champagne +suppers—at least, not yet a while," replied Leopold.</p> + +<p>"Aren't you going to divy?" demanded Mr. Redmond, looking as though he +had regarded such a disposition of the treasure as a foregone +conclusion.</p> + +<p>"I am not going to divy."</p> + +<p>"No? But that's mean you see."</p> + +<p>"I don't see it."</p> + +<p>"But it's the thing to do, when you find any money, you see."</p> + +<p>"Do you think you had any share in finding it, Mr. Redmond?" asked +Leopold, quietly, as he began to move towards the boat.</p> + +<p>"I was looking on when you found it, Leopold; and it's the rule, you +see, in such cases, to divy. I was here when you unearthed the thing."</p> + +<p>"No, you were not," answered Leopold, decidedly. "I dug it before you +came to Rockhaven."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I don't claim any share of it," Stumpy put in. "Le didn't find it by +accident. No part of it belongs to me, and I don't ask for a dollar of +the money."</p> + +<p>"O, you don't!" exclaimed Mr. Redmond; "then Leopold and I will divy +even, you see; half to each."</p> + +<p>"We shall not divide at all," added the skipper of the Rosabel, who had +by this time reached the flat rock where the sloop was made fast.</p> + +<p>"See here, Leopold; do I understand you to say that you are going to +keep the whole?" asked Charley Redmond, very seriously. "That would be +mean, you see. It would be the way a swine would do that sort of thing."</p> + +<p>"I don't intend to divide at all, or to keep it myself. It don't belong +to me any more than it does to you," protested Leopold.</p> + +<p>"Didn't you find it?"</p> + +<p>"Of course I did."</p> + +<p>"Then it belongs to you."</p> + +<p>"Not at all. If you pick up a pocket-book in the street of New York, +does it belong to you, or to the one that lost it?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span></p> + +<p>"That's another sort of a thing, you see. This is money buried on the +sea-shore by Captain Kidd, or some of those swells of pirates. It don't +belong to anybody, you see."</p> + +<p>"This gold was not buried by pirates."</p> + +<p>"Who did bury it, then? That's the conundrum."</p> + +<p>"His name was Wallbridge."</p> + +<p>"Did you know him?" asked Mr. Redmond.</p> + +<p>"No; I never saw him."</p> + +<p>"Well, where is he now?"</p> + +<p>"He is dead; he was lost on the brig Waldo, which went down by those +rocks you see off there," replied Leopold, pointing to the reefs.</p> + +<p>"Then he is dead!" exclaimed the fop, with a new gleam of hope. "Then he +has gone to the happy hunting-ground, where gold isn't a hundred and +twenty above par; and he won't have any use for it there, you see. The +right thing to do is to divy."</p> + +<p>"I think not. If your father had lost twelve hundred dollars in gold on +this beach, and went to the happy hunting-ground before he found it, you +would not say that the money belonged to me, if I happened to dig it +up," added Leopold,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span> earnestly, for he had some hope of convincing the +New Yorker of the correctness of the position he had taken, and of +inducing him to keep the secret of the hidden treasure until its +ownership had been fully investigated.</p> + +<p>"That's another sort of a thing, you see," replied Mr. Redmond. "In that +case, the money would belong to me, as his nearest heir, and I should +have the pleasure of spending the whole amount, thus unexpectedly +reclaimed from the sands of the sea, in champagne suppers at Delmonico's +up-town house. That would be the fair thing, you see."</p> + +<p>"I think so myself; and I purpose to act on precisely the principle you +suggest. Mr. Wallbridge, to whom the money belonged, has gone to the +happy hunting-ground, where I don't want to trouble him to hunt for this +bag of gold. For aught I know, Mr. Wallbridge had had a handsome, +refined accomplished son, familiar with the poets, to whom this money +now belongs just as much as though he were here to claim it; though I +hope, when he gets it, that he will not spend the whole or any part of +it in champagne suppers. I see that we are perfectly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span> agreed in this +matter, and that you think the way I mention is the right way to do this +sort of thing."</p> + +<p>Mr. Redmond felt that he had been whipped in the argument; and he was +very much dissatisfied with himself for the admission he had made in the +supposed case, and very much dissatisfied with Leopold for the advantage +he had taken of the admission.</p> + +<p>"Who was the feller that buried the money?" he demanded, feeling his way +to another argument in favor of a division.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Wallbridge."</p> + +<p>"Who was he?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know."</p> + +<p>"You haven't been introduced to him?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"What do you know about him?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing."</p> + +<p>"Then how did you know he had a good-looking son, familiar with the +poets?"</p> + +<p>"I don't."</p> + +<p>"That was what you said."</p> + +<p>"I only supposed a case. So far as we know now, no one was acquainted +with Mr. Wallbridge.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span> No one knows anything at all about him."</p> + +<p>"All right, then. All we have to do is to divy."</p> + +<p>"Not yet. I am going to see the owners of the Waldo, in which Mr. +Wallbridge was a passenger. They know nothing about him, I am aware; but +I am going to ask them to write to their agents in Havana, and ascertain +who he was."</p> + +<p>"That's taking a good deal of trouble for nothing, you see," added Mr. +Raymond, with a look of disappointment and dissatisfaction.</p> + +<p>"That is just what I am going to do, any how," replied Leopold, firmly. +"The money don't belong to me, and I intend to keep it safely till the +heirs of Wallbridge appear to claim it; or at least, till I am satisfied +there are no heirs. When that time comes, I shall be willing to +<i>consider</i> the question of dividing it with Stumpy and you."</p> + +<p>"I don't think any of it belongs to me," added Stumpy.</p> + +<p>"I think a share of it belongs to me; but I am willing to discount my +claim, you see."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Discount it?" queried Leopold.</p> + +<p>"I can't wait a year or two till you find out whether or not the man +that buried the gold has any heirs or not."</p> + +<p>"I am very sorry you are so impatient."</p> + +<p>"I want the money now, when my governor is cruel to me. Besides, in two +years gold may be down to par, and it won't bring anything more than its +face, you see. I want to do the fair thing. Give me two hundred dollars +in gold, and I will relinquish my claim: discount it, you see."</p> + +<p>"No, Mr. Redmond; I cannot sell or discount what don't belong to me. +They may do it in New York, but some of us countrymen haven't yet +learned how to do that thing, you see," laughed Leopold.</p> + +<p>"Say one hundred, then."</p> + +<p>"Not a single dollar. The best I can do is to promise that I will +<i>consider</i> the question of a division when I feel that the money belongs +to the finder."</p> + +<p>Mr. Redmond argued the point in all its bearings, but with no different +result.</p> + +<p>"But how long will it be before you find out whether this man had any +heirs?" asked he.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I may ascertain in a month or two. It don't take but a week or ten days +for a letter to go to Havana."</p> + +<p>"Then I must wait, I suppose," mused the fop.</p> + +<p>"You must, indeed."</p> + +<p>"But I am sure you will find no heirs."</p> + +<p>"I may not."</p> + +<p>"Leopold, I'll tell you what I will do. I want to be fair, you see."</p> + +<p>"I see."</p> + +<p>"Give me two hundred in gold now, and then, if you find any heirs, I +will agree to pay the money back to you. That's fair, you see."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps it is," laughed Leopold, amused at the desperation of the +coxcomb; "but one so busy as you are, and will always be, in a great +city like New York, might forget to send me the money."</p> + +<p>"I will give you my note for it."</p> + +<p>"Your note would not be worth any more than mine, for neither of us is +of age. If you will give me your father's note I will think about it."</p> + +<p>"My father's note! I don't want my governor<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span> to know anything about this +business, you see. I want this money for my private purse, so that I can +give a champagne supper when I please."</p> + +<p>"I am afraid we shall not be able to manage the business, Mr. Redmond. +You know I was to <i>consider</i> your claim, when I found there were no +heirs."</p> + +<p>"O, you mean to cheat me out of it."</p> + +<p>"I promised to <i>consider</i> your claim. But in the mean time I don't want +anything said about this money in Rockhaven. It would make too much +talk."</p> + +<p>"O, you want me to keep the secret—do you?" demanded Mr. Redmond, with +a new gleam of hope.</p> + +<p>"I do." And Leopold explained some of the reasons which induced him to +desire that the hidden treasure should still remain a secret.</p> + +<p>"If you mean to do the fair thing, of course I shall keep still, you +know. Give me my share, and I will keep as still as the man that has +gone to the happy hunting-ground."</p> + +<p>"I can't promise anything."</p> + +<p>"Neither can I," said the fop, angrily; for by<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span> this time he had come to +the conclusion that Leopold did not intend to do "the fair thing."</p> + +<p>The money-digger was appalled to think of having the story of the buried +treasure told all over Rockhaven, and perhaps being compelled to hand it +over to his father before he had made any effort to find the heirs of +the lost passenger. On the other hand, he could neither divide the money +at the present time, nor promise to do so in the future, with the +troublesome visitor; and the former was the less of the two evils. The +appearance of the young ladies on the beach, as they emerged from the +Hole in the Wall, put an end to the argument; but Leopold hoped yet that +he should be able to prevail upon Mr. Redmond to be silent in regard to +the treasure.</p> + +<p>"I am very glad to see you again, ladies," said the fop, running toward +them as they approached. "I hope you will pardon me for leaving you, and +for not returning, for a matter of some little importance prevented me +from joining you again."</p> + +<p>"You are very excusable, Mr. Redmond," replied Rosabel. "We contrived to +pass away the time in your absence."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Thank you for your kind consideration."</p> + +<p>"We didn't suffer much for the want of you, Charley Redmond," added +Belle.</p> + +<p>The party immediately embarked in the Rosabel, which was soon under way +on the return to Rockhaven. But the wind was dead ahead, and even +fresher than when they had come down to High Rock. Leopold stood +directly out to sea, making only one tack in reaching the river. It was +very rough, and Mr. Redmond soon lost all his elasticity of spirit, and +forgot all about the hidden treasure of High Rock, in his fears for his +own safety. But, in spite of the gale, the Rosabel went into the river +without accident, under the skillful management of the skipper, though +the entire party were thoroughly drenched by the spray.</p> + +<p>As soon as Leopold had landed his passengers, and securely moored the +sloop, he hastened, before going to the hotel, to the shop of his uncle. +Without any explanation, he dropped upon the watch-maker's counter the +shot-bag, in which the gold chinked as it fell, to the intense +astonishment of Herr Schlager.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 606px;"> +<img src="images/ill-292.jpg" width="606" height="450" alt=""Donner und Blitz." Page 273." title="" /> +<span class="caption">"Donner und Blitz." Page <a href="#Page_273">273</a>.</span> +</div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER XV.</h2> + +<h3>THE WALDO'S PASSENGER.</h3> + + +<p>"Donner <i>und blitz</i>!" exclaimed Herr Schlager, when he realized that the +wet and sandy bag on the counter before him contained money, for he was +too familiar with the chink of gold to mistake the sound. <i>"Was haben +sie, hier, Leopold?"</i></p> + +<p>"Money, gold, specie, coin, <i>geld</i>," replied the boatman, hardly less +excited than his Teutonic uncle.</p> + +<p>"So mooch golt! Der bag is wet mit der sand, and covered mit salt water! +Himmel! where so much money haf you found, Leopold?"</p> + +<p>"Put it in the safe, uncle, and we will talk about it afterwards," added +the young man. "I haven't opened this bag, and I don't want it opened."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span></p> + +<p>"No? What for you want him not to be open?"</p> + +<p>"It is not mine."</p> + +<p>"Not your money? Dat is bad!"</p> + +<p>"I wish it were mine, certainly, uncle; but, as it is not, I mean to +take good care of it for the owner."</p> + +<p>"Den I sall seal up der bag for you," replied the watch-maker, taking a +piece of red tape from one of his drawers, which he wound tightly over +the original string of the bag.</p> + +<p>Then, lighting the spirit-lamp which he used with his blow-pipe, he +melted a large mass of sealing-wax upon the knot of the red tape, and +pressed upon it the great seal hanging from his watch-chain. Herr +Schlager was a simple-minded man, and doubtless he believed that the +seal was a perfect protection to the contents of the bag. Possibly he +thought that no mortal man would dare to "cut the red-tape." Leopold was +less superstitious in regard to the sanctity of a seal; and he relied +more upon the protective power of the iron safe than upon that of the +tape or seal. His uncle lodged in a little room in the rear of his shop +for the better security<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span> of his goods; and the young man felt that the +treasure would be safe in the watch-maker's strong-box. Herr Schlager +dropped the bag into one of the drawers of the safe.</p> + +<p>"Now, where you was get him?" demanded the Teuton, as he closed the iron +door.</p> + +<p>"I dug it out of the sand on the beach at High Rock, uncle," replied +Leopold.</p> + +<p>"Den it pelongs to you, mine poy."</p> + +<p>"Not at all, uncle; at least, not yet a while."</p> + +<p>Leopold told the whole story, from Harvey Barth's diary down to date, as +briefly as he could.</p> + +<p>"If I don't find any owner, I suppose the money belongs to me," he +added.</p> + +<p>"Himmel! Yes!" answered the watch-maker.</p> + +<p>"Now, uncle, don't you let anybody, not even my father, have the bag +without my consent."</p> + +<p>"No, Leopold; nobody shall touch him," added Herr Schlager, as he locked +the door of the safe, and put the key in his pocket.</p> + +<p>The money-digger was satisfied that his uncle would be faithful to the +letter of his promise;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span> and he hastened back to the hotel, to attend to +his usual duties.</p> + +<p>But the malignant little Mr. Redmond had already told the story of the +hidden treasure, so far as he new it, to an audience in the office of +the Sea Cliff House, which included the landlord. Of course the +narrative was full of interest; and in the course of half an hour it was +travelling from mouth to mouth up the main street of Rockhaven as +rapidly as though it had been written out, and sent by express. When the +finder of the treasure entered the hotel office, the subject was still +under discussion.</p> + +<p>"Leopold wouldn't do the fair thing, and divy with Stumpy and me," said +the little fop, when he had finished his story. "If he had, I would have +kept the whole thing secret as he wished me to do."</p> + +<p>"Why should he share the money with you, Charley?" demanded Mr. +Hamilton.</p> + +<p>"Because I was in at the death, and that's the way to do the thing when +any money is found. Leopold was mean about it."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps he was; but my boy hasn't the reputation of being mean," added +the landlord.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I don't think Charley has any claim," said Mr. Redmond, senior, the +father of the <i>other</i> Mr. Redmond, "however it may be with Stumpy."</p> + +<p>"Here he is, to speak for himself," added Mr. Hamilton, as Leopold +entered the room. "They say you are mean because you would not divide +the money with Charley. How is that, my boy?"</p> + +<p>"I certainly would not divide with him, or with anybody, for that +matter," replied the skipper of the Rosabel. "I found the money, all +alone by myself, on the night before the Orion arrived. I left it where +it was, because I did not know what to do with it," replied Leopold.</p> + +<p>"Where is it now?" asked the landlord.</p> + +<p>"In my uncle's safe. I have not opened the bag, and uncle Leopold sealed +it up. I told him not to let anybody touch it without my consent."</p> + +<p>"I think that is the safest place for it," said Mr. Bennington. "Then it +appears that Miss Liverage was not crazy, after all."</p> + +<p>"She was right in every respect. If she could have told me where to look +for the gold, I should have found it," replied Leopold.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span></p> + +<p>"But how happened you to find it?" asked Mr. Hamilton.</p> + +<p>"I didn't happen to find it, sir. I went right to the place where it +was, and dug it up, after I had read the directions in Harvey Barth's +diary."</p> + +<p>"But where did you get the diary, Leopold?" inquired the landlord.</p> + +<p>"I found it in the chimney, when the old house was pulled down."</p> + +<p>"You didn't say anything about it," added Mr. Bennington, rather +reproachfully.</p> + +<p>"You laughed at me, father, after Miss Liverage had gone, and I thought +I wouldn't say anything more until I found out whether Miss Liverage was +crazy or not. Then, when I read the diary, I didn't know but Harvey +Barth might have been crazy when he wrote it, for I couldn't find any +such rock as he mentioned till I went down to High Rock in a +thunder-storm. I am willing to tell all I know about it; but it's rather +a long story."</p> + +<p>"And dinner is nearly ready," added the landlord, glancing at the clock.</p> + +<p>"What is it? We want to know about it,"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span> said Belle Peterson, rushing +into the office, followed by Rosabel.</p> + +<p>The story had been carried to the parlor by Mr. Redmond, junior, who had +so little confidence in the future intentions of Leopold, that he had +revealed the secret from motives of revenge.</p> + +<p>"We will hear the story after dinner," said Mr. Hamilton.</p> + +<p>"We want to hear it, too," interposed Miss Belle.</p> + +<p>"Yes father," added Rosabel; "and all the ladies in the parlor want to +hear it."</p> + +<p>"Then Leopold shall tell it in the parlor, if he is willing."</p> + +<p>"I'm willing, sir," replied Leopold. "All I have to say about the money +now is, that I believe it belongs to somebody—to the heirs of the man +who buried it in the sand; and, as I told Stumpy and Mr. Redmond, I +intend to find those heirs, if I can."</p> + +<p>"That's right, Leopold," exclaimed Mr. Hamilton, patting the boatman's +shoulder. "Be honest before you are generous."</p> + +<p>Leopold and his father went to the dining-room,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span> to prepare for their +duties there. The landlord did not think as much as usual at this time +about his chowder, chicken, and roast beef. The time was rapidly +approaching when the interest on the mortgage note would be due. His New +York guests had not paid their bills in whole or in part, and he was +still very short of funds. The vision of this twelve hundred dollars in +gold which his son had dug up from the sands of the sea, was intensely +exciting to him. The gold transmuted into currency, when a dollar of the +one was worth more than two of the other, would enable him to pay his +interest and discharge the mortgage upon his furniture. He wanted the +money, and he was not particularly pleased with Leopold's idea of +finding, at some remote period, the heirs of the man who had buried it. +However, Mr. Bennington was an honest man; and further consideration of +the subject would undoubtedly convince him that his son was exactly +right and nobly just.</p> + +<p>The dinner at the Sea Cliff House was as good, though no better than +usual; but the guests, after the abundance of exercise during<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span> the +forenoon, were in better condition to enjoy it. They did enjoy it; and +they talked about the hidden treasure of High Rock while they did so.</p> + +<p>While they were eating and talking, and the landlord and his son were +waiting upon them, the story of the bag of gold was travelling up the +main street of the village, and, following the angles and bifurcations +of the highways, was penetrating to the remotest corner of the town. +Among other places, it went to the Island House, and Ethan Wormbury was +utterly dismayed when he had listened to it. Though it was almost +dinner-time, he left the few guests in his house to wait upon +themselves, and hastened over to his father's house, where he found that +the astounding news had preceded him. Squire Moses was as much +disconcerted and cast down as his son had been.</p> + +<p>"Twelve hundred dollars in gold!" exclaimed the old man, wiping the +perspiration from his bald head.</p> + +<p>"Of course Bennington will be able to pay his interest money now," added +Ethan.</p> + +<p>"I suppose so," groaned the squire. "But<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</a></span> where on earth did the money +come from? Who buried it in the sand?"</p> + +<p>"One of the men that was lost on the Waldo."</p> + +<p>"Who was he?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know," replied Ethan, for not many of the particulars in regard +to the hidden treasure had yet been circulated. "But they say Stumpy was +with young Bennington when he found the money."</p> + +<p>"What! Stumpy! With him! Then they will divide it between them!" +exclaimed Squire Moses; and the amiable old gentleman did not seem to +rejoice at this possible accession of fortune on the part of his +grandson.</p> + +<p>"I don't know about that," said Ethan, who was certainly not less +troubled than his worthy patriarch.</p> + +<p>"But they ought not to touch the money—none of them. It belongs to the +heirs of the man that was drowned. It ain't no better'n stealing to keep +the gold," continued Squire Moses, with an overflow of honest +indignation.</p> + +<p>"That's so," added Ethan, sharing the virtuous sentiments of his father. +"Of course the money belongs to somebody, if the man that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</a></span> buried it is +dead. But I want to know more about it; and I'm going down to see +Stumpy."</p> + +<p>"I'll go with you, Ethan," said the squire; and together they left the +house.</p> + +<p>"If they should keep the money, and divide it, Joel's widow would pay +off the mortgage on the house, and Bennington would settle up his +interest money on the first of July, I suppose," mused Ethan aloud, as +they walked along the street.</p> + +<p>The landlord of the Island House appeared to be disposed to look the +facts squarely in the face, however disagreeable they might be. If the +money was divided, he could not expect to become the landlord of the new +hotel, which was the height of his ambition.</p> + +<p>"I don't know," replied Squire Moses. "I don't go near Bennington now; I +don't say anything to him about the interest money; I don't want to +disturb him, or to set him a thinking. He not only promises to pay the +interest, but he promises to pay it on the first day of July. If he +don't do it at the right time, I shall foreclose. I believe the man is +ruined now; and the longer I wait, the more money I shall<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</a></span> lose. He +ought to know that such a big hotel, furnished as extravagantly as the +new house, would not pay in such a place as Rockhaven. He can never +recover himself in the world."</p> + +<p>"But, father, even if the boys don't divide the gold, Bennington's +customers will pay him enough to enable him to settle the interest," +suggested Ethan, whose hopes were somewhat inflated by the reasoning of +his father.</p> + +<p>"That may be; but Bennington owes everybody in town, and his expenses +for keeping those New Yorkers in his house are enough to swamp him. I +don't believe he'll think of the interest at all, he's so busy, till +after it is too late. He owes Jones three hundred dollars of borrowed +money, which Jones lent him till the first of July, when he is to pay +the mortgage on his house. I've already told Jones I couldn't wait a +single day for my money; and he will have to make Bennington pay. Then I +have hinted to Green, the market-man, Butler, the grocer, and others +Bennington owes, that they had better look out and get their pay before +the first of July. They are after him now, and he promises to pay them +all just as soon as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</a></span> these New York folks settle for their board. If +Bennington ain't short on the first of July, I'll lose my guess," said +the old man; and he believed that he had made things intensely hot for +his creditor. "I can count up over a thousand dollars he has promised to +pay by the first of July."</p> + +<p>In justice to the landlord of the Sea Cliff House, it should be said +that Squire Moses had overstated the facts, for Mr. Bennington had not +<i>promised</i> to pay, but had merely expressed his hope and belief that he +should be able to do so in the month of July. He actually owed, besides +his interest, about seven hundred dollars; and his debts troubled him +sorely. He could only hope that his creditors would wait a few weeks, +though even now they harassed him every day of his life.</p> + +<p>Squire Moses and Ethan entered the cottage of Joel's widow, and found +the family at dinner. They did not knock at the door, or stand upon any +ceremony.</p> + +<p>"Stumpy, what's this story about the money found on the beach?" demanded +Squire Moses, as though he felt that he had a right to know.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</a></span></p> + +<p>Now, half a dozen persons had already spoken to Stumpy about the hidden +treasure, and he was aware the subject was no longer a secret.</p> + +<p>"Leopold found a bag of gold buried on the beach," replied Stumpy; and +without reserve, he proceeded to tell all he knew about the treasure.</p> + +<p>"And you and he are going to divide this money between you!" exclaimed +Squire Moses, jumping at once to the point, as soon as Stumpy had told +the story.</p> + +<p>"Who says we are?" asked Stumpy, indignantly.</p> + +<p>"That is what they say," added Ethan, who had, possibly, heard such a +suggestion, as the narrative became distorted in its passage along the +main street.</p> + +<p>"I want to tell you, Susan Wormbury," continued Squire Moses, addressing +himself to "Joel's widow," as he and Ethan usually called her,—"I want +to tell you, Susan Wormbury, that I don't believe this boy has been +brought up right. You ought to have brought him up to be honest."</p> + +<p>"Like his grandfather!" exclaimed Stumpy, sullenly.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Yes, like your grandfather," added the squire, severely. "No man can +say that Moses Wormbury ever stole a cent from anybody."</p> + +<p>This remark evidently indicated the boundary line of the squire's +homestead.</p> + +<p>"Done just the same thing," muttered Stumpy.</p> + +<p>"Why, father, Stumpy is a good boy," pleaded Mrs. Wormbury.</p> + +<p>"If he takes any of this money, it will be just the same as stealing +it," added the squire, projecting the remark savagely at the trembling +widow of his lost son.</p> + +<p>"Who is going to take any of it?" demanded Stumpy, springing to his +feet, with his mouth full of fried fish.</p> + +<p>"You! you and Bennington's son are going to divide it between you!"</p> + +<p>"Its no such thing," protested Stumpy. "I wish we were, though."</p> + +<p>"Do you say you are not?"</p> + +<p>"I do say so! Leopold thinks the money belongs to the heirs of the man +who buried it on the beach; and he is going to try to find them."</p> + +<p>"That alters the case," replied the squire,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</a></span> more mildly. "I hope the +man's heirs will get the money for it belongs to them."</p> + +<p>"I hope everybody will get what belongs to him," said Stumpy; but the +remark was too indefinite to be appreciated by his amiable grandfather.</p> + +<p>"You have no right to a dollar of this money, Stumpy; and if you touch +it, I want you to understand that it will be stealing."</p> + +<p>"I have nothing to do with the money. Le Bennington found it, and he +knows what to do with it. If he chooses to give me some of it, I will +take it fast enough."</p> + +<p>Squire Moses and Ethan were both satisfied, so far as Stumpy was +concerned; and they were rejoiced to know that Leopold intended to keep +the gold until he could find the heirs of the man who had committed it +to the sand.</p> + +<p>"Susan," said Squire Moses, as he turned to depart, "I told you that you +might stay in this house till the first of August; and so you may; but I +am going to foreclose the mortgage right off, so that I can get legal +possession sooner. It won't make any difference to you."</p> + +<p>The old miser did not wait to hear any reply<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</a></span> to this announcement; but +the tears dropped from the widow's eyes as the door closed upon the hard +old man. The squire and Ethan walked down to the main street, talking +with every one they met about the treasure, protesting that it ought to +be kept for the heirs of the rightful owner, and manufacturing public +sentiment which should compel the landlord of the Sea Cliff House and +his son to pursue this course. It is true that the people of Rockhaven +were very much surprised to hear Squire Moses and his son preaching such +a doctrine; but they were willing to accept it, for it seemed to be just +and right that the heirs should have what plainly belonged to them.</p> + +<p>Unknown to them, and not yet with the entire approbation of his father, +Leopold was their ally in directing public sentiment. After dinner, the +parlor of the Sea Cliff House was filled by the New Yorkers and others +who desired to hear the narrative of the finding of the hidden treasure. +Leopold, in his best clothes, washed, dressed, and combed for a great +occasion, appeared at the door of the parlor with Harvey Barth's diary +in his hand. Stumpy, who had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</a></span> come over to see him in regard to the +exciting topic, followed him, and took a back seat in one corner of the +room. The money-digger was not a little abashed when he saw so many +pairs of eyes directed towards him; but he commenced his story, and soon +recovered his self-possession. He began with the wreck of the Waldo, for +the New Yorkers knew little or nothing of this exciting event. He then +came to the appearance of Harvey Barth at the Cliff House, and detailed +all the incidents relating to the diary, the visit of Miss Sarah +Liverage, and the finding of the journal when the chimney was pulled +down.</p> + +<p>Leopold stated he had read only those portions of the diary which +related to the treasure; and then he read the description from the book +of the burying of the gold in the thunder and lightning. He had dug the +beach all over, under the instruction of the nurse; and he had been +unable to find the bag even after he read the journal, until he went +down to High Rock in a thunder shower. Then, for the first time, he +could distinguish Coffin Rock. Thus guided, he had found the treasure.</p> + +<p>Leopold then gave his views in regard to the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</a></span> ownership of the gold, and +declared that he intended to keep the money in his uncle's safe till he +had seen the owners of the Waldo, and they had sent to Havana. This +statement to the astonishment and confusion of the money-digger, was +followed by hearty applause, in which even the ladies joined. Public +sentiment in the parlor earnestly indorsed his views.</p> + +<p>"Leopold reads very well," said Mr. Hamilton; "and as we desire to rest +for an hour or two, I suggest that he read the diary to us from the time +the Waldo left Havana."</p> + +<p>This suggestion was warmly applauded, and verbally seconded by half a +dozen of the party. Leopold consented under this pressure, and read for +a full hour, till he came to the afternoon of the day on which the brig +was lost; in a word, till he came to what Harvey Barth had just written +when Wallbridge came to the galley to light his pipe, as recorded in the +first chapter of this story. The steward did not believe the passenger's +name was Wallbridge, as written on the Waldo's papers. He did not see +what he had changed his name for, and hoped he hadn't done anything +wrong.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[Pg 292]</a></span></p> + +<p>"'He gave his name as J. Wallbridge,' Leopold read from the diary; 'but +that was not the name I found on the paper in his state-room, when I +made up his bed on the day we sailed from Havana, though the initials +were the same. Then he lent me his Bible to read one day, and this other +name was written on it in forty places, wherever there was any blank +paper. I wanted to borrow the Bible again, but he would not lend it to +me; and I thought he remembered about his name being written in it so +many times. I saw the same name stamped on a white shirt of his, which +he hung up to air on deck to-day. The name was not J. Wallbridge either; +it was Joel Wormbury.'"</p> + +<p>"My father!" shouted Stumpy, springing to his feet.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[Pg 293]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER XVI.</h2> + +<h3>GOLD AND BILLS.</h3> + + +<p>Stumpy was an excited young man. He had come into the parlor on the +invitation of Leopold, and had very modestly coiled himself away in the +most obscure corner of the room. He was very much interested in the +reading of Harvey Barth's diary, and especially in regard to the +mysterious passenger. When Leopold read the name of "Joel Wormbury," he +could no longer contain himself. He leaped from his corner, and shouted +as though he had been hailing the Rosabel half a mile off.</p> + +<p>"My father!" repeated he; and all eyes were fixed upon him.</p> + +<p>Stumpy was excited, not so much, we must do him the justice to say, +because there was money involved in the fact, as because the name and +memory of his father were dear to him.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[Pg 294]</a></span></p> + +<p>"That man was Stumpy's father as true as the world!" said Mr. +Bennington.</p> + +<p>"It is a very remarkable affair," added Mr. Hamilton. "Such things don't +often happen."</p> + +<p>"But I haven't the slightest doubt that this Wallbridge was Joel +Wormbury," replied the landlord.</p> + +<p>"I'm sure of it," exclaimed Stumpy. "I know all about that Bible; I've +seen it twenty times; and mother always used to put it into father's +chest when he was going away fishing."</p> + +<p>"I don't know about that, Stumpy," interposed Mr. Bennington, with a +smile of incredulity; "I'm afraid it won't hold water."</p> + +<p>"What's the reason it won't?" demanded Stumpy, who was entirely +satisfied in regard to the identity of the sacred volume. "I used to +carry it to Sunday school sometimes; and I've seen my father's name +written in forty places in it, wherever there was a page or part of a +page not printed on, just as Harvey Barth says in his diary. I don't +believe there is any mistake about that."</p> + +<p>"But the writer of this journal appears to have been considerably +exercised about the passenger's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[Pg 295]</a></span> change of name," said Mr. Hamilton, +before the landlord had an opportunity to explain why he doubted the +truth of the statement in regard to the Bible. "Harvey Barth hoped Mr. +Wallbridge had not done anything wrong."</p> + +<p>"He hadn't done anything wrong," protested Stumpy, warmly.</p> + +<p>"Why should he change his name, then?" asked the ex-congressman. "For +the fact that he did so appears to be well established."</p> + +<p>"There was a reason for it," replied the landlord, "though as Stumpy +says, Joel Wormbury had done nothing wrong. Joel was attacked by a man +in liquor, and in self-defence he struck the assailant on the head with +a bottle, and supposed that he had killed him. He left Rockhaven in a +great hurry, in order to escape the consequences. He did not even go to +his house before he left town, afraid, perhaps, of finding a constable +there waiting for him. He went off in such a hurry, that I don't believe +he thought to take his Bible with him."</p> + +<p>The landlord bestowed a smiling glance upon Stumpy, satisfied that he +had as completely demolished<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[Pg 296]</a></span> the Bible argument as though he had been a +practised theologian.</p> + +<p>"If my mother was only here, she could tell you all about that," said +Stumpy.</p> + +<p>"Do you think he went home for the Bible before he left?" asked Mr. +Bennington.</p> + +<p>"I know he didn't."</p> + +<p>"Where did he get the Bible, then?" asked the landlord.</p> + +<p>"I'll tell you; and I won't say a word that I can't prove," replied +Stumpy, warmly.</p> + +<p>"You are not among enemies, or those who are at all inclined to doubt +your word, young man," added Mr. Hamilton.</p> + +<p>"I'll tell you about it, then; but I wish my mother was here, with the +letters my father wrote to her."</p> + +<p>"We are willing to believe all you say, Stumpy," said the landlord.</p> + +<p>"You thought that what I said would not hold water, just now."</p> + +<p>"But I explained why I thought so."</p> + +<p>"And the doubt was certainly a reasonable one," added the merchant; "now +we only wait for you to remove it."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[Pg 297]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I will do that and I can prove all I say by my father's last letter to +my mother, which is post-marked at Gloucester, Mass., in which he told +all about the fight, and gave the reasons why he cleared out."</p> + +<p>In answer to a question asked by one of the ladies, Stumpy related more +fully the particulars of Joel Wormbury's departure from Rockhaven.</p> + +<p>"About six months before my father went off for the last time, he +returned to Gloucester from a fishing trip to the Georges," continued +Stumpy. "He expected to go again in a few weeks; so he left his chest in +Gloucester. His Bible was in that chest; but, as he found work coopering +at home, he did not go again till he left after the fight. In his letter +to my mother, he said he had got his chest, and that he had the Bible +all right. He wrote, too, that he meant to read it more than he had ever +done before, and not use it to scribble in. That was the last letter we +ever got from father. We heard that he had gone out to attend to the +trawls, and was lost in a fog, not being able to find his way back to +the vessel. Of course we<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[Pg 298]</a></span> hadn't any doubt that he was dead, after we +got a letter from the captain of the schooner in which my father sailed. +That's all I know about it."</p> + +<p>"But how came he in Havana?" asked Mr. Hamilton.</p> + +<p>"That's more than I know, sir," answered Stumpy.</p> + +<p>"Harvey Barth could not have known anything about Joel Wormbury," added +Leopold; "and he wrote his diary, it appears on the very day the Waldo +was lost."</p> + +<p>"There can be no doubt that Wallbridge and Joel Wormbury were one and +the same person," said Mr. Hamilton. "The name which Harvey Barth found +on the paper, the initials, on his valise, the name on the shirt, and +written forty times in the Bible, fully establish the fact in my mind."</p> + +<p>"And in mine, too," said Leopold. "Stumpy, the gold is yours, and I will +give it to you whenever you are ready to take it."</p> + +<p>"This is a go!" exclaimed Stumpy, with a broad grin on his brown face. +"We need the money bad enough; and my mother will jump<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[Pg 299]</a></span> up six feet when +she hears the news. Somebody else won't feel good about it, I'll bet."</p> + +<p>Stumpy did not explain to whom the last remark related; but he +experienced the most lively satisfaction when he thought of the pleasure +it would afford him to see his mother tender the seven hundred dollars +in payment of the mortgage note. It occurred to him then that the +business ought not to be postponed a single day, for Squire Moses had +announced his intention of foreclosing the mortgage at once.</p> + +<p>"How much money is there in the bag?" asked the merchant.</p> + +<p>"Twelve hundred dollars in gold," replied Leopold; "and the diary says +Joel Wormbury saved it in two years from his earnings in Cuba."</p> + +<p>"Joel was an industrious and prudent man," added the landlord.</p> + +<p>"It is very fortunate that the hidden treasure fell into honest hands," +continued Mr. Hamilton, turning to Leopold; whereupon all the company +clapped their hands, and the skipper of the Rosabel blushed like a +school-girl.</p> + +<p>"He's a noble fellow!" exclaimed Miss Rosabel.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[Pg 300]</a></span></p> + +<p>"A pious swell," added Charley Redmond, with a sneer.</p> + +<p>The business of the meeting having been thus happily accomplished, the +occupants of the parlor departed.</p> + +<p>"Come Stumpy, I want to hand the money over to you," said Leopold.</p> + +<p>"I don't want it now," replied Stumpy. "I shouldn't dare to take it into +the house, for fear my beloved grandad should steal it. I think he would +find some way to do it, without calling the deed by any hard name."</p> + +<p>"What are you going to do with the gold, Stumpy?" asked Mr. Hamilton.</p> + +<p>"Hand it over to my mother. Squire Moses is going to foreclose the +mortgage on the house we live in right off. I want to head him off on +that before night."</p> + +<p>"But gold, you know, is worth a large premium just now. I saw by my +paper which came to-day that it was 208 in New York," continued the +merchant.</p> + +<p>"I'll go and tell my mother about it," said Stumpy, moving off.</p> + +<p>"Stop a moment, my boy," interposed Mr.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[Pg 301]</a></span> Hamilton. "If you are going to +pay off the mortgage you should do so in currency, not in gold. I will +buy your coin, and assist you in this business."</p> + +<p>"Thank you, sir," replied Stumpy, warmly.</p> + +<p>"I will pay you the market rate for your gold, whatever the papers +report it to be for to-day."</p> + +<p>Mr. Hamilton was certainly very kind; and Stumpy felt that, with such a +powerful friend, he had the weather-gage of his avaricious grandfather. +Leopold led the way to the shop of his uncle, and the New York merchant +joined them.</p> + +<p>"I want the gold, uncle," said Leopold.</p> + +<p>"What for you want him?" demanded Herr Schlager.</p> + +<p>"I have found the owner."</p> + +<p>"<i>Donner and blitz!</i> Den he is no more your golt."</p> + +<p>"No, uncle; but I feel better in handing it over to Stumpy than I should +in spending it myself," laughed Leopold.</p> + +<p>"<i>Himmel!</i> Stumpy!"</p> + +<p>"Yes Stumpy." And the money-digger briefly stated the facts which had +been discovered.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[Pg 302]</a></span></p> + +<p>"<i>Donner and blitz!</i> I'm glad for der poy, but sorry for you," added the +watch-maker, as he took from the safe the shot-bag containing the +treasure.</p> + +<p>"Take it, Stumpy. It is yours," said Leopold. "Open it."</p> + +<p>"I can't exactly believe in this thing yet, Le," replied Stumpy, as, +with trembling hand, he cut the red tape, and demolished the sacred seal +of Herr Schlager.</p> + +<p>Turning the bag over, he poured the gold out upon the counter. The money +was American coin, which Joel Wormbury had probably purchased in Havana, +to avoid the necessity of exchanging it after his return to Rockhaven. +Mr. Hamilton counted the money, and found that Harvey Barth's statement +was again correct.</p> + +<p>"Now figure it up, my boy. Then we will finish this transaction at +once," said the merchant. "I shall not be able to pay you in full for it +to-day; but I have credits in Belfast and Rockland, and you shall have +the whole of it by to-morrow night for we intend to cross the bay in the +Orion to-morrow."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[Pg 303]</a></span></p> + +<p>Leopold and Stumpy both did the sum, multiplying twelve hundred by two +hundred and eight, and pointing off two decimals in the product.</p> + +<p>"Twenty-four hundred and ninety-six dollars!" exclaimed Leopold.</p> + +<p>"That's what I make it," added Stumpy, "What a pile of money!"</p> + +<p>Mr. Hamilton, who had left New York prepared to pay the heavy expenses +of his yacht excursion, counted off twelve one hundred dollar bills, +which he handed to Stumpy.</p> + +<p>"I will give you my note for the balance," said the merchant.</p> + +<p>"Creation!" cried Stumpy, looking the bills over, his eyes dilated till +they were nearly as big as saucers—small saucers. "Here's more money +than I ever saw!"</p> + +<p>Mr. Hamilton wrote the note, and gave it to Stumpy. It was made payable +to the order of Sarah Wormbury.</p> + +<p>"But I don't want all this money. I don't know what to do with it," +exclaimed Stumpy, embarrassed by his sudden riches.</p> + +<p>"You shall have the rest to-morrow night," added Mr. Hamilton.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[Pg 304]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I would rather not have it just yet."</p> + +<p>"As you please. If I retain it, I shall pay you interest," replied the +merchant.</p> + +<p>"Interest! Hold on, now, hold on, all!" almost shouted Stumpy, turning +from the bills which still lay on the counter, and looking Leopold +square in the face. "I'm a hog! I'm a pig, just out of the sty!"</p> + +<p>"What's the matter now?" demanded Mr. Hamilton, laughing heartily at the +odd manner of Stumpy.</p> + +<p>"Here I've been thinking of myself and my folks all the time! Here I've +been thinking of what I should do with all this money, and never had a +thought of Le, who found it, and kept it for me and my folks. I'll do +the fair thing Le."</p> + +<p>"What do you mean?" asked the merchant.</p> + +<p>"I shall divy with Le; I shall give him at least five hundred.</p> + +<p>"Not a cent," protested Leopold.</p> + +<p>"You bet!" added Stumpy. "I've been thinking all the time about getting +my mother out of trouble, and only just now it comes into my head that +Le's father is in hot water. I'll tell you what we'll do, Le: I'll give +you five hundred—"</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 603px;"> +<img src="images/ill-326.jpg" width="603" height="450" alt="Stumpy pouring out the Gold. Page 302." title="" /> +<span class="caption">Stumpy pouring out the Gold. Page <a href="#Page_302">302</a>.</span> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[Pg 305]</a></span>"No, you won't! not a cent," said, Leopold, decidedly. "I should feel as +though I had been paid for being honest."</p> + +<p>"I hope he won't take any part of the money which your father earned, +and kept sacredly for his family," interposed Mr. Hamilton. "I grant +that he deserves it."</p> + +<p>"Not a cent," repeated Leopold.</p> + +<p>"I never should have got a dollar of it, if it hadn't been for him," +Stumpy argued.</p> + +<p>"No matter for that," said Leopold.</p> + +<p>"I know now!" exclaimed Stumpy, as if a new thought had taken possession +of him. "Just subtract seven hundred from twenty-four hundred and +ninety-six, Le."</p> + +<p>"Seventeen hundred and ninety-six," replied Leopold.</p> + +<p>"That's just the amount I don't want. Of course when I say 'I,' my folks +is meant. Now, Le, your father wants money just as badly as my mother +does; and we will lend the seventeen hundred and ninety-six dollars to +him, taking his note on interest, just as Mr. Hamilton would<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[Pg 306]</a></span> give it. +But I would rather give you five hundred of the money."</p> + +<p>"You can't give me a dollar; but if you will lend some of the money to +my father, I should like it first rate."</p> + +<p>"I will—the whole of it," protested Stumpy.</p> + +<p>"This is quite a sensible arrangement, my boys," said the merchant; "and +I have so much confidence in Mr. Bennington's integrity, that I will +indorse his note. But it strikes me that you are going rather too fast, +Stumpy."</p> + +<p>"Why, sir?"</p> + +<p>"Perhaps I have led you too rapidly over the ground. Whatever property +your father left—this money included—belongs to his family. I suppose +an administrator ought to be appointed."</p> + +<p>"Creation! That would be Squire Moses!" exclaimed Stumpy, aghast.</p> + +<p>"No; your mother may be appointed."</p> + +<p>"My mother! Well, now I think of it, I believe she was appointed. I +didn't know much about such things at the time."</p> + +<p>"Be that as it may, before you lend the money to Mr. Bennington, or give +any to Leopold, you had better see your mother. I will<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[Pg 307]</a></span> go to the house +with you, for I am really quite interested in this matter."</p> + +<p>"Thank you, sir; you are very kind, and I am ever so much obliged to +you," answered Stumpy. "But I shouldn't feel right—administrator or +not—if Le's father wasn't helped out of trouble."</p> + +<p>"I was not aware that Mr. Bennington was in difficulty."</p> + +<p>"He is—up to his eyes; and I know very well that my grandfather—that's +Squire Moses—means to get the Sea Cliff House away from him, if he can, +and let Ethan Wormbury have it. This money must save him. He's been a +good friend to me, and I should be a hog if I didn't help him out. +Mother will do it, too, I know; for if it hadn't been for Le, we +shouldn't have seen this money."</p> + +<p>"We will talk with your mother about it," replied Mr. Hamilton, as he +put the gold back into the shot-bag, and asked the watch-maker to keep +it in the safe till the next day, when he intended to dispose of it in +Rockland.</p> + +<p>Stumpy placed the twelve hundred dollars in bills in his wallet, and put +it in his pocket;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[Pg 308]</a></span> but he did not remove his hand from it till he +reached his mother's house. If the widow's son was almost crazy in the +whirl of remarkable events which so suddenly altered the fortunes of the +family, it was hardly to be wondered at; and doubtless the ardor and +fury with which he rushed into the house, with his hand still clutching +the wallet in his pocket, would have startled his mother, if she had not +been sadly occupied with an affair of her own. Squire Moses, Ethan, and +the village lawyer were with her, and were about to give the legal +notice of the foreclosure of the mortgage. The old man was afraid that +he should be cheated out of his prey if he waited any longer. Stumpy +rushed into the house, followed by Mr. Hamilton and Leopold.</p> + +<p>"O, my son," exclaimed Mrs. Wormbury, "the house is to be taken from +us!"</p> + +<p>"Not now," interposed Squire Moses. "I told you that you might stay here +till the first of August. I'm not a hard man, to turn you out without +any notice. I always mean to do what is just right."</p> + +<p>"Of course. I have been expecting it, after what you said; but it comes +very hard to be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[Pg 309]</a></span> turned out of house and home," sobbed Mrs. Wormbury.</p> + +<p>"You shall not be turned out, mother," cried Stumpy, blubbered himself, +when he saw the tears in his mother's eyes; "neither now nor on the +first of August."</p> + +<p>"Why Stumpfield, what do you mean?"</p> + +<p>"Perhaps the boy means to pay the note of seven hundred dollars," +sneered Squire Moses. "But I don't want any nonsense about this +business."</p> + +<p>"That's just what I'm going to do, grandpa," shouted Stumpy, drawing the +wallet from his pocket, and taking from it the roll of bills.</p> + +<p>Squire Moses turned round, amazed at the announcement of his grandson, +and for the first time discovered the presence of Mr. Hamilton.</p> + +<p>"I'm glad to see you, Mr. Hamilton," said he, extending his withered +hand to the merchant. "This is disagreeable business."</p> + +<p>"I should think it was—to turn your son's widow out of house and home," +replied the ex-congressman, dryly.</p> + +<p>"The mortgage note has been due for years," pleaded the squire. "Of +course the widow can't pay it, and—"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[Pg 310]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Yes, she can!" yelled Stumpy. "She never did get any favors from you, +and she don't ask for any now. Here's the seven hundred dollars. My +mother wants the note, and a release of the mortgage."</p> + +<p>Squire Moses actually turned pale, as much from anger as from the +failure of a profitable operation for the future.</p> + +<p>"I don't understand this," said he.</p> + +<p>"Here's your money, when you give my mother the papers," replied Stumpy. +"That's easy enough to understand—isn't it?"</p> + +<p>"Where did you get the money, Stumpy?" demanded the squire.</p> + +<p>"That don't make any difference," added Stumpy, shaking his head.</p> + +<p>"I don't think it does," interposed Mr. Hamilton. "The young man's +position appears to be quite correct."</p> + +<p>Squire Moses looked at the merchant, and immediately concluded that this +rich New Yorker had advanced the money. He bit his lips till they bled, +but finally went off with Ethan and the lawyer, to procure the necessary +papers to discharge the mortgage.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[Pg 311]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I don't understand it any better than Squire Moses," said Mrs. +Wormbury, when the hard creditor had gone.</p> + +<p>"You will pay off the note, mother, with money earned by father's own +hands," replied Stumpy, gently.</p> + +<p>"What do you mean, my son?" asked the widow, trembling with emotion.</p> + +<p>Stumpy explained what he meant. Mrs. Wormbury listened, and wept when +she realized that her husband had perished in the waves, not on the +Georges, but within sight of his own home. The story was hardly finished +before Squire Moses returned alone, with the note and release. Mr. +Hamilton carefully examined the latter document, and declared that it +was correct.</p> + +<p>"So it seems Joel was the passenger in the Waldo, who buried this +money," said the squire, as he put the bills in his pocket; for the +discovery made in the parlor of the Sea Cliff House was now following +the story of the hidden treasure up the main street.</p> + +<p>"That's so," replied Stumpy; "and mother will always have the +satisfaction of knowing that this house was all paid for with his +earnings."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[Pg 312]</a></span></p> + +<p>Squire Moses soon left, with the feeling that he had lost at least a +thousand dollars by the finding of the hidden treasure.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[Pg 313]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER XVII.</h2> + +<h3>THE FIRST OF JULY.</h3> + + +<p>"Hurrah! hurrah! hurrah!" shouted Stumpy, as soon as the door had closed +upon his amiable grandfather.</p> + +<p>He threw up his hat to the ceiling, and demonstrated in the most +extravagant manner, to the great amusement of Mr. Hamilton and Leopold. +Mrs. Wormbury cried with joy, and was not less happy than her son.</p> + +<p>"Come, Stumpfield, don't go crazy," said she.</p> + +<p>"The house is paid for, mother, and you don't owe a single dollar in the +whole world to any man, woman or child—except Leopold," shouted Stumpy, +checking himself at the end of his enthusiastic discourse. "We ought to +give him five hundred dollars of this money."</p> + +<p>"Not a cent of it to me!" protested the skipper of the Rosabel; "but you +may do it in the other way if you like."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[Pg 314]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I will, and I know mother will.—Mother," continued Stumpy with energy, +"we owe all this to Leopold. He was honest, clear up to the hub; if he +hadn't been, we shouldn't have got a cent of this money which father +earned. We should have been turned out of the house on the first of +August, and had to grub our way worse than ever. Now the house is paid +for, and we have nearly eighteen hundred dollars in cash. That will give +us over a hundred dollars interest money, which will make it a soft +thing for us. No interest money to pay, either; so that we shall be a +hundred and fifty dollars better off than we were before; and all +because Leopold was honest, and did the right thing."</p> + +<p>"I am sure I am very grateful to him, for my own and my children's +sake," added Mrs. Wormbury.</p> + +<p>"That don't pay any bills, mother," protested Stumpy. "Leopold's father +is in trouble. My beloved grandad will come down upon him like a +thousand of bricks, on the first of July, if he don't pay the interest +on his note; and Le says his father can't do it."</p> + +<p>"I'm very sorry," sighed Mrs. Wormbury.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[Pg 315]</a></span></p> + +<p>"That don't pay any bills, mother; and we must do something more than +being sorry. I want to lend this money—this eighteen hundred +dollars—to Mr. Bennington right off. He will be able to pay us after +this season."</p> + +<p>"I think you can safely do this, Mrs. Wormbury," added the merchant. "I +will indorse the landlord's note, and thus guarantee its payment."</p> + +<p>"I'm sure I shall be very glad to do so," said the widow, with a +cheerful smile, which proved that she meant all she said.</p> + +<p>"I shall be very much obliged to you, and consider myself more than paid +for anything I have done in this business," replied Leopold.</p> + +<p>"I am sure you can depend upon Mr. Bennington," said Mr. Hamilton. "Was +any administrator appointed for the estate of your husband, Mrs. +Wormbury?"</p> + +<p>"I was appointed administratrix."</p> + +<p>"As your husband was not dead at the time, perhaps the appointment does +not hold good at present. You had better procure a reappointment. But in +the mean time I will be responsible for all your acts, and you may take +the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[Pg 316]</a></span> landlord's note. I would assist Mr. Bennington myself if it were +not for depriving Stumpy of the pleasure of doing so."</p> + +<p>The business was finished, and Mr. Hamilton and Leopold returned to the +hotel. The widow and her son had a long talk over their sudden accession +of fortune; but both of them were painfully perplexed by the revelations +of Harvey Barth's diary. The husband and father had lived more than two +years after they believed he was dead; but the events of this period +seemed to be forever sealed to them. In what manner he had been saved, +and how he came to be in Cuba, made a sad mystery to them; but in due +time the veil was lifted, and they heard the whole story.</p> + +<p>The landlord of the Sea Cliff House was in the office when his son +returned. All the guests had gone to walk on the cliffs, and the house +was nearly empty. Mr. Bennington, as usual of late, was sad, perplexed, +and worried. His debts troubled him, and the dreaded first of July was +rapidly approaching. Jones had already told him he must have the three +hundred dollars due him before that time. Others were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[Pg 317]</a></span> pressing him +sorely to pay their bills or notes. Two or three had already refused to +give him any further credit for supplies for the hotel, the market-man +among the number. It looked as though he must suspend on the first day +of July.</p> + +<p>The finding of the hidden treasure, in spite of what Leopold had said +about keeping it for the possible heirs of the owner, to be discovered +in the future, had given him a strong hope that it might be available to +relieve him from his embarrassments. He thought only of using it to pay +his debts, and restoring it if the heirs were found. But after dinner +the heirs had been found in the family of Joel Wormbury. His hope from +this source was, therefore, plucked away from him almost as soon as it +was awakened. If the New Yorkers staid till the dreaded pay-day, even +the whole of their bills would not pay the amount of his indebtedness; +but it was not probable that they would remain at the house more than a +day or two longer. The most that he could expect from them was enough to +pay Jones, who had threatened to force him into insolvency if he was not +paid.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[Pg 318]</a></span></p> + +<p>Everything, therefore looked very gloomy and dark to the landlord, when +his son entered the office.</p> + +<p>"You were in a great hurry to get rid of the money you found, Leopold," +said Mr. Bennington, rather reproachfully.</p> + +<p>"I had to be honest, father," replied the son.</p> + +<p>"If you had kept still for a few weeks, I might have used the money, and +paid it off in the fall. Of course I didn't mean to have you keep it; +but if I could have had the use of it even a month, it would have saved +me. As it is, I must fail," groaned the landlord. "I can't get over the +first of July any way in the world."</p> + +<p>"How much do you owe, father?" asked Leopold.</p> + +<p>"About a thousand dollars, which I must pay right off. Mr. Hamilton's +party will probably leave three or four hundred dollars with me; but +that won't save me."</p> + +<p>"Well, father, you shall have money enough to pay all you owe, except +the mortgages, to-morrow night," added Leopold, lightly.</p> + +<p>"What do you mean?" demanded the landlord, opening his eyes.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[Pg 319]</a></span></p> + +<p>"By being honest I have made some good friends. After Stumpy had paid of +the mortgage on his mother's house, which Squire Moses was on the point +of taking from the family, he offered to lend you all the rest of the +money which the gold brings."</p> + +<p>"Stumpy?"</p> + +<p>"His mother agreed to it, and you will give her a note for the amount, +which Mr. Hamilton promised to indorse."</p> + +<p>"But how much money will there be?" asked Mr. Bennington, bewildered by +this unexpected succor.</p> + +<p>"Nearly eighteen hundred dollars."</p> + +<p>"That will be more than I want."</p> + +<p>"You need not take any more than you need; I think the hidden treasure +meets your case better than if I had not found the heirs so soon."</p> + +<p>"I declare, I feel as if a ten-ton weight had been lifted from the top +of my head!" exclaimed the landlord.</p> + +<p>"I feel better about it now than I should if I had stolen the hidden +treasure," added Leopold.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[Pg 320]</a></span></p> + +<p>"So do I. But I will take only twelve hundred dollars of this money; and +I am satisfied that I shall be able to pay it at the end of the season."</p> + +<p>The next day the Orion made her excursion to Rockland, and Leopold and +Stumpy were invited to join the party. Rosabel and Isabel were in +excellent spirits, and, as the bay was tolerably smooth, so was Charley +Redmond. Stumpy, dressed in his Sunday clothes, looked more like a +gentleman than usual. Mr. Redmond tried to make fun of him before the +girls, but Stumpy was too much for him, and retorted so smartly that he +turned the laugh upon the fop.</p> + +<p>Rosabel's long auburn tresses floated on the breeze, and Leopold could +not help looking at her all the time, thinking that she was the +prettiest girl in the whole world. He was very attentive to her, and +when the yacht anchored in the harbor of Rockland, she permitted him to +hand her into the boat.</p> + +<p>Stumpy, by his assiduous devotion to Miss Belle, and especially by his +sharp and witty retorts upon Mr. Redmond, had won her regard,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">[Pg 321]</a></span> and the +coxcomb had to step one side. Charley was disgusted and had to seek his +companions among the older people of the party, to whom he had much to +say about these "country swells."</p> + +<p>Mr. Hamilton did his financial business in the city, disposing of the +gold at two hundred and nine, as the telegraph reported the rate to be +in New York.</p> + +<p>In the afternoon the breeze freshened, and, with Leopold for a pilot, +the yacht sailed up the bay, and the party enjoyed the trip till the +last moment, when they landed in Rockhaven. In the evening the merchant +went to Mrs. Wormbury's house, and paid her the balance of the eighteen +hundred and eight dollars, which the gold had produced. With so much +money in the house, the widow and her eldest son could not sleep; but +early the next morning Mr. Bennington received, and gave his note for, +twelve hundred dollars of it, leaving Stumpy, who was the financier on +this occasion, embarrassed with six hundred more. He did not know what +to do with it, and Leopold advised him to put it in Herr Schlager's +safe. They<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">[Pg 322]</a></span> went to the watch-maker's for this purpose. In front of the +shop they saw Deacon Bowman engaged in an earnest conversation with +Squire Moses Wormbury. Stumpy heard his grandfather say something about +"bonus" as he passed him.</p> + +<p>"There's a trade," said he to Leopold, as they entered the shop. "My +beloved grandad is going to gouge the deacon out of some money, I know +by the looks of him."</p> + +<p>"Deacon Bowman looks troubled," added Leopold.</p> + +<p>"He wants to borrow money, I suppose," replied Stumpy. "Hark!"</p> + +<p>Stumpy went out of the shop, and while he pretended to be looking at the +goods in Herr Schlager's window, he listened to the conversation till +the two men separated, and the deacon entered the watch-maker's shop.</p> + +<p>"You are driving a hard trade, with Squire Moses," said Stumpy, +following the deacon into the shop.</p> + +<p>"Did you hear it?" asked Deacon Bowman, with a troubled expression.</p> + +<p>"I heard part of it. Squire Moses is to lend you six hundred dollars, +and you are to give<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">[Pg 323]</a></span> him a note and mortgage on your house for seven +hundred—a bonus of one hundred, besides the interest," added Stumpy.</p> + +<p>"I did not agree to it, but I want the money very badly. My son, who is +in business in Portland, is in trouble, and I am raising this money for +him," replied the deacon, with a shudder. "If I don't furnish it, my son +will be—Did you hear the rest?"</p> + +<p>"No, sir, I did not, and I don't want to hear it."</p> + +<p>"I'm glad you don't."</p> + +<p>The deacon's son had forged an indorsement, and if the note was not +paid, exposure was certain; and Squire Moses was taking advantage of the +circumstances.</p> + +<p>"Make the note and mortgage for six hundred dollars to Sarah Wormbury, +administratrix, and here is the money," added Stumpy, taking the balance +of the proceeds of the hidden treasure from his pocket, rejoiced to be +able to help the worthy deacon, and at the same time to head off a mean +act of his grandfather.</p> + +<p>Deacon Bowman had heard all about the good fortune which had come to +Joel Wormbury's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">[Pg 324]</a></span> family, and he readily comprehended where the money in +the hands of the young man came from.</p> + +<p>"I promised to meet Squire Moses here in an hour, and give him my final +answer," added he. "I will have the papers ready as soon as I can."</p> + +<p>Herr Schlager put the money in his safe, as requested; but in less than +an hour Deacon Bowman came with his papers, the mortgage and note duly +signed, acknowledged, and witnessed. He received the money, and his +heart seemed to be glad. By the time the business was finished, Squire +Moses arrived, satisfied that the unfortunate deacon would be compelled +to accept his hard conditions.</p> + +<p>"I shall not want the money, Squire Moses," said Deacon Bowman.</p> + +<p>"Not want it!" exclaimed the old skinflint, taken all aback by this +announcement.</p> + +<p>Squire Moses was very anxious to re-invest the sum he had received for +the mortgage of Joel's place, and he was greatly disappointed to lose so +good a speculation as that he had proposed to the deacon.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">[Pg 325]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I shall not want it; in fact I have been able to make a better +arrangement," replied Deacon Bowman.</p> + +<p>"Where did you get the money?" demanded the squire.</p> + +<p>"Your grandson, here, loaned it to me on his mother's account."</p> + +<p>If Squire Moses was disappointed before, he was mad now. He looked +daggers at Stumpy, who was not afraid of him, now that the debt was +paid.</p> + +<p>"Of course you told him about your son," sneered the money-lender.</p> + +<p>"I did not," replied the deacon sadly.</p> + +<p>"People will be likely to know all about it now."</p> + +<p>"They will be likely to know at the same time that somebody required me +to mortgage my place for seven hundred dollars, in order to obtain six +hundred," added the deacon, sharply.</p> + +<p>Squire Moses was startled, for he valued his reputation more than his +character as known to God and himself.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps neither of us had better say anything," said he, biting his +lip, and leaving the shop.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">[Pg 326]</a></span></p> + +<p>"We will keep still till Squire Moses lets on," said Stumpy; and +everybody except the usurer was pleased.</p> + +<p>Stumpy went home, and told his mother what he had done in her name, with +which she was entirely satisfied. In due time the release and the +mortgage were recorded; Mrs. Wormbury was re-appointed administratrix +and guardian of her children, and all other necessary legal steps were +taken to prevent any future difficulty, if Squire Moses was disposed to +question the widow's proceedings.</p> + +<p>The first of July came. The New York party were still at the Sea Cliff +House, though nearly every day they made an excursion in the Orion. They +were still enjoying themselves to the utmost, and the hotel grew in +favor with them the longer they stayed. Mr. Bennington had quietly paid +every bill presented to him, without informing any one that he was "in +funds." Squire Moses had not been near him; in fact, the old man had +been to Bangor to look out for a piece of property on which he held a +mortgage, and about which there was "a hitch." In his absence, the +landlord's creditors, seeing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">[Pg 327]</a></span> that he was doing a good business, did not +disturb him. Even Jones kept away till the first day of the month; but +when he presented himself, his note was promptly paid.</p> + +<p>While he was still in the office of the hotel, Squire Moses, who had +just returned from Bangor, entered, with his mortgage note in his hand. +He was very cross and very ugly, for he was in peril of losing the whole +or part of the money he had loaned on the Bangor property. As he had +stirred up all the landlord's creditors, he was confident that Mr. +Bennington would not be able to pay him.</p> + +<p>"I want the interest money to-day," said he, sharply as he stepped up to +the counter, behind which the landlord stood.</p> + +<p>"Can't you wait till next week? When these New York folks leave, I shall +have more money than I have now," replied Mr. Bennington, who, knowing +just what his hard creditor wanted, was disposed to thorn him a little.</p> + +<p>"I must have the money to-day," added Squire Moses more mildly, for he +began to feel that the business was in just the condition he wished it +to be.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">[Pg 328]</a></span></p> + +<p>"It has been a pretty tight time with me for money," pleaded Mr. +Bennington.</p> + +<p>"It has with everybody; but if you can't pay me my interest money, say +so."</p> + +<p>"But suppose I can't pay it; you won't be hard with me—will you?"</p> + +<p>"I expect folks to do just what they agree to do. I don't want any long +stories about it," added Squire Moses, who was secretly happy.</p> + +<p>"Waiting till next week won't make any difference with you."</p> + +<p>"I think I know my own business best. I understand you to say you can't +pay. Here is Jones, and in his presence, as a witness, I demand the +money."</p> + +<p>"Just so," replied the landlord; "but if—"</p> + +<p>"No buts about it, Mr. Bennington. I don't want to talk all day about +nothing. You can't pay; that's enough;" and the squire moved towards the +door, followed by Jones, who desired to pay his note.</p> + +<p>"Squire Wormbury," called the landlord, "one word."</p> + +<p>The usurer walked back to the counter, determined, however, not to +prolong the argument.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">[Pg 329]</a></span> Mr. Bennington took a well-filled pocket-book +from the iron safe, from which he counted out the amount due the squire.</p> + +<p>"I thought you said you couldn't pay it," growled Squire Moses, whose +heart sank within him when he saw the bottom drop out of the nice little +plan—a very stupid one, by the way—which he had arranged with Ethan.</p> + +<p>"I didn't say so. I only asked if you would wait till next week," +laughed the landlord.</p> + +<p>"Fooling with me—were you?" snapped the squire.</p> + +<p>"I understood a while ago that the Sea Cliff House was to have a new +landlord about the first of July, and I wanted to see how you felt about +it to-day."</p> + +<p>"Who said so?"</p> + +<p>"Well, you and Ethan talked it over together. You were to take +possession, if I didn't pay the interest, turn me out and put your son +Ethan in."</p> + +<p>"Who said I did?"</p> + +<p>"No matter about that. You and he had the talk in the parlor of your +house; and I can prove it, if necessary."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">[Pg 330]</a></span></p> + +<p>But the landlord did not wish to do so, for it would expose Stumpy, who +had given the information to Leopold.</p> + +<p>"I don't calculate to have anything which the law don't give me," +growled Squire Moses, as he picked up his money, and indorsed the +payment on the back of the note.</p> + +<p>"The law don't give you the Sea Cliff House, and it never will," added +Mr. Bennington, as the money-lender turned to leave.</p> + +<p>"Hold on, Squire Moses," interposed Jones; "I want to take up that note +of mine."</p> + +<p>"You needn't pay it yet," replied the usurer, who had over a thousand +dollars on hand now, which he had been unable thus far to invest, for he +did not believe in the government and the war, and refused to buy bonds.</p> + +<p>"I want to pay it now. I won't owe you anything after what I have heard +to-day. I'm afraid I shall lose my place," answered Jones.</p> + +<p>The debtor and creditor left together. Jones paid his note. People began +to believe that it was not prudent to borrow money of Squire Moses, for +he was "tricky" as well as hard.</p> + +<p>In the course of that day Mr. Bennington<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">[Pg 331]</a></span> paid every dollar of his +indebtedness in Rockhaven. Those who had refused him credit were profuse +in their apologies, and some of them confessed that they were "put up to +it" by Squire Moses.</p> + +<p>The next day the Orion departed, with all her party, for New York.</p> + +<p>Mr. Hamilton paid the bill, which amounted to over seven hundred +dollars, without a question, and promised to come again the next season. +Leopold assisted the party in going on board of the yacht, and shook +hands at parting with Rosabel. He watched the vessel, with the beautiful +girl waving her handkerchief to him, till she was out of sight. He was +sorry to have her go, for it was a pleasure for him to look at her. He +had sailed her to High Rock the day before, and she had said a great +many pleasant things to him. It was a quiet time at the Sea Cliff House +after the departure of the New York guests, but Leopold missed Rosabel +more than all others, and even then began to look forward to her +return.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332">[Pg 332]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER XVIII.</h2> + +<h3>THE COMING WAVE.</h3> + + +<p>By the middle of July the Sea Cliff House was full. The report of the +New Yorkers among their friends that this hotel was the best on the +coast, induced a great many families and others to seek accommodations +at the house. By the first of August Mr. Bennington was obliged to +"colonize" his guests in the neighboring houses. The season was a +decidedly successful one to him, and his profits more than realized his +anticipations. In the fall he paid off the mortgage on his furniture, +and the note he owed to the widow Wormbury, and still had a large +balance in the bank. The Island House had hardly any business, for +people preferred to go to the Sea Cliff, even if they had to take rooms +outside of the hotel. Ethan did not make any money that season.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333">[Pg 333]</a></span></p> + +<p>Leopold had all he could do in the boat, and made a small fortune for +himself by taking out parties. He raised his price to six dollars a day, +so that he could pay Stumpy two dollars a day for his services. The +affairs of Mrs. Wormbury were therefore in excellent condition.</p> + +<p>After the season was finished, a man came over from Rockland and took +rooms at the Sea Cliff House. He inquired if there was such a person in +the place as Joel Wormbury. The guest was very much surprised to learn +that he was dead, and in the course of the day went to see his family. +He had come to offer Joel a situation on a plantation in Cuba, where he +had first met and known the deceased. The visitor was an engineer, by +the name of Walker, and had instructed Joel in his business, so that he +was able to run an engine on a plantation. Joel had told him his story. +He had been picked up by a passenger steamer, and carried to Liverpool. +There, after he had been drinking, he was induced to ship as a seaman in +a bark bound to Havana, where he first met Walker. He ran away from the +vessel, and went with his new friend to the plantation where the latter +was employed.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334">[Pg 334]</a></span></p> + +<p>Joel was a mechanic, and understood an engine very well. Instructed in +the details of the business by Walker, he obtained a situation at very +good wages. He had written to his wife, but for some reason unknown his +letters failed to reach their destination. After working two years on +the plantation, he determined to go home, and ascertain what had become +of his family. Walker had gone with him to Havana, where Joel changed +his money into American gold, and embarked in the Waldo. That was the +last his friend had heard of him. Walker had come home on a visit to his +relatives in the interior of the state, and wished Joel to return with +him.</p> + +<p>The mystery was solved; and the visitor declared that his friend had not +drank a drop of liquor during the two years he was in Cuba.</p> + +<p>It was a great satisfaction to Mrs. Wormbury and her children to hear +this good report of the deceased husband and father; and Walker left, +sincerely grieved at the death of his friend, whom he highly esteemed.</p> + +<p>In the winter Leopold went to the "academy," and studied hard to improve +his mind and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335">[Pg 335]</a></span> increase his knowledge. He applied himself diligently to +German, under the instruction of Herr Schlager, so that he could talk in +that language with Rosabel when she came the next season, for it must be +confessed that he thought a great deal of her.</p> + +<p>The spring came, bringing nearer to Leopold the coming of Rosabel. In +June a letter from the honorable Mr. Hamilton arrived, announcing the +intended visit of the family to the Sea Cliff House, and fixing the time +at about the first of July. He engaged his own rooms, and three others +for his party and they were to come in the Orion. This was the best of +news to Leopold. He was a year older than when he had last seen Rosabel, +and had grown much taller and stouter. An incipient mustache was coming +on his upper lip,—though he was not yet eighteen,—on which he bestowed +some attention. The young ladies in the academy had declared among +themselves that he was the handsomest young man in Rockhaven; and with +this indorsement there can be no doubt that he was a very good-looking +fellow. He dressed himself neatly, out of his own funds, and was very +particular in regard to his personal appearance.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_336" id="Page_336">[Pg 336]</a></span></p> + +<p>As the first of July approached, he was even more particular than usual. +The dawning mustache was carefully trained, so that each hair was in the +most eligible position to produce an effect. For a boating dress, he +wore a gray woolen shirt, trimmed with pink, and secured in front with +black studs. But even in this garb, with his hair nicely combed, his +mustache adjusted, his broad shirt-collar, open down to his breast, and +held in place by a black handkerchief, tied in true sailor style,—in +this garb, even, he was a fellow upon whom a young lady would bestow a +second and even a third look, if the circumstances were favorable.</p> + +<p>From early morning till dark, on the first day of July, Leopold kept an +eye on the sea-board side of the town, looking out for the Orion. She +did not appear; but on the afternoon of the next day, he discovered the +yacht as she rounded the point on which stood the light-house. Captain +Bounce knew his way into the river this time, and in a few moments more +the Orion reached the anchorage off the wharf. As soon as Leopold +recognized the vessel, he hastened to the Rosabel, his heart beating +wildly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_337" id="Page_337">[Pg 337]</a></span> with the pleasant excitement of the occasion. Embarking in the +sloop, he was soon alongside the Orion. The accommodation-steps were +placed over the side for him, and he ascended to the deck.</p> + +<p>"I am glad to see you, Leopold," said Mr. Hamilton, extending his hand +to the boatman.</p> + +<p>"Thank you sir; we are all glad to see you and your family here again," +replied Leopold, as he glanced towards the quarter-deck in search of +Rosabel. "Are Mrs. Hamilton and your daughter on board?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, both of them; but I have a smaller party than I had last year."</p> + +<p>At this moment Leopold saw Rosabel emerging from the companion-way. His +brown face flushed as he approached her, and she was as rosy as a +country girl when she offered him her little gloved hand, which he +gratefully clasped in his great paw.</p> + +<p>"I am <i>very</i> glad to see you again, Miss Hamilton," said Leopold; and +certainly he never uttered truer words in his life.</p> + +<p>"And I am delighted to see you again, Leopold," she replied gazing +earnestly into his handsome<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_338" id="Page_338">[Pg 338]</a></span> brown face, and then measuring with her eye +his form from head to foot. "How tall and large you have grown!"</p> + +<p>We are inclined to believe, from the looks she bestowed upon him, that +she fully indorsed the opinion of the young ladies of the academy. +Rosabel was taller, more mature, and even more beautiful than when he +had seen her last. She was dressed to go on shore; but as soon as she +saw Leopold and the Rosabel, a new idea seemed to take possession of her +mind.</p> + +<p>"I want to go to High Rock this minute!" exclaimed the fair girl. "I +have been thinking about the place every day since I was here last year; +and I want to go there before I land at Rockhaven."</p> + +<p>Her father objected, her mother objected, and the grim old skipper of +the Orion declared there would be a shower and a squall, if not a +tempest, before night. But Rosabel, though a very good girl in the main, +was just a little wilful at times. She insisted, and Leopold was engaged +to convey her to the romantic region. He was seventeen and she was +fifteen; and no young fellow was ever happier than he was as he took<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_339" id="Page_339">[Pg 339]</a></span> +his place at the helm with Rosabel opposite him in the standing-room.</p> + +<p>No other member of the party was willing to join her in the excursion, +for Belle Peterson and Charley Redmond were not passengers in the yacht +this time. If Leopold had been a young New Yorker, perhaps her father +and mother would have objected to her going alone with him. As it was, +they regarded him, in some sense, as a servant, and they intrusted her +to his care as they would have done with a conductor on the train, or +with the driver of the stage. He was simply the boatman to them—a very +good-looking fellow, it is true, but not dangerous, because he was not +the young lady's social equal. He always treated her with the utmost +respect and deference.</p> + +<p>The breeze was fresh, and in a few moments Leopold landed her on the +narrow beach beneath the lofty rock. The maiden left the boat, climbed +the high rock, and wandered about among the wild cliffs and chasms, all +alone, for Leopold could not leave the inanimate Rosabel—which the rude +sea might injure—to follow the animate and beautiful Rosabel in her +ramble on the shore.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_340" id="Page_340">[Pg 340]</a></span></p> + +<p>She was gone an hour, and then an other hour. He called to her, but she +came not, and even the warning of the muttering thunder did not hasten +her return. But she came at last, and Leopold hastened to get under way, +though he feared that the storm would be down upon him before he could +reach the Orion.</p> + +<p>"We are going to have a tremendous shower," said Leopold, anxiously, as +he shoved off the boat.</p> + +<p>"I'm not afraid; and if I get wet, it won't hurt me," replied Rosabel, +who actually enjoyed the flashing lightning and the booming thunder, and +gazed with undaunted eyes upon the black masses of cloud that were +rolling up from the south-east and from the north-west.</p> + +<p>"It looks just exactly as it did on the day the Waldo was wrecked," +added Leopold. "It blew a perfect hurricane then, and it may to-day."</p> + +<p>"If you are alarmed, Leopold, we can return," suggested Rosabel.</p> + +<p>"We can hardly do that, now, for the tide has risen so high that the +beach is nearly covered, and my boat would be dashed to pieces, if we +have much of a squall."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_341" id="Page_341">[Pg 341]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Do you think there is any danger?" asked the fair maiden, who was +deeply impressed by the earnest manner of the boatman.</p> + +<p>"I hope not," replied he, more cheerfully, for he did not wish to alarm +her. "If I can only get into Dipper Bay, which is hardly half a mile +from here, we shall be all right; and we may have time to run into the +river."</p> + +<p>Dipper Bay was a little inlet, almost landlocked, in which the water was +deep enough to float his sloop at this time of tide, and its high rocky +shores would afford him a perfect protection from the fury of any +squall, or even hurricane. But Leopold felt that his chances of reaching +this secure haven were but small, for the breeze was very light.</p> + +<p>The Rosabel was but a short distance from the shore when the wind +entirely subsided, and the long rollers were as smooth as glass. The +lightning glared with fearful intensity, and the thunder boomed like the +convulsions of an earthquake. By this time Rosabel, who had before +enjoyed the sublimity of the coming storm, now began to realize its +terrors, and to watch the handsome boatman with the deepest anxiety.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_342" id="Page_342">[Pg 342]</a></span> +The sails flapped idly in the motionless air, and Dipper Bay was still +half a mile distant.</p> + +<p>"Don't be alarmed, Miss Hamilton," said Leopold, as he threw off his +coat and vest, dropped his suspenders from his shoulders, and rolled up +his shirt sleeves above the elbows. "If the squall will keep off only a +few moments, we shall be in a safe place."</p> + +<p>The skipper evidently "meant business;" and, shipping the long oars, he +worked with a zeal which seemed to promise happy results, and Rosabel +began to feel a little reassured. But the sloop was too large and too +broad on the beam to be easily rowed, and her progress was necessarily +very slow.</p> + +<p>"Can't I help you, Leopold?" asked the maiden, when she saw what a +tremendous effort the boatman was making.</p> + +<p>"You may take the tiller and steer for Dip Point, if you please," +replied Leopold, knowing that his beautiful passenger would be better +satisfied if she could feel that she was doing something.</p> + +<p>Leopold plied his oars with all the vigor of a manly frame, intent upon +reaching the little<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_343" id="Page_343">[Pg 343]</a></span> bay, where the high rocks would shelter his craft +from the fury of the storm. Then a breeze of wind came and he resumed +his place at the tiller. He had almost reached the haven when he saw +coming down over the waters a most terrific squall. Before he could haul +down his mainsail, the tempest struck the Rosabel. He placed his fair +charge in the bottom of the boat, which the savage wind was driving +towards the dangerous rocks. Before he could do anything to secure the +sail, the main-sheet parted at the boom. He cast off the halyards; but +the sail was jammed, and would not come down.</p> + +<p>The Rosabel was almost upon the rocks. Seizing an oar, Leopold, +satisfied that he could do nothing to save the boat, worked her away +from the rocks, so that she would strike upon the narrow beach he had +just left. The fierce squall was hurling her with mad speed upon the +shore. By the most tremendous exertion, and at the imminent peril of his +life, he succeeded in guiding her to the beach, upon which she struck +with prodigious force, crushing in her keel and timbers beneath the +shock. Without a word of explanation, he grasped the fair<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_344" id="Page_344">[Pg 344]</a></span> Rosabel in +his arms, and leaped into the angry surges, which were driven high upon +the rocks above him. The tide had risen so that there was hardly room +under the cliff for him to stand; but he bore her to this only partial +refuge from the fury of the storm.</p> + +<p>The tempest increased in violence, and the huge billows rolled in with +impetuous fury upon him. Grasping his fair burden in his arms, with +Rosabel clinging to him in mortal terror, he paused a moment to look at +the angry sea. There was a narrow shelf of rock near him, against which +the waves beat with terrible violence. If he could only get beyond this +shelf, which projected out from the cliffs, he could easily reach the +Hole in the Wall, where Harvey Barth had saved himself in just such a +storm. He had borne Rosabel some distance along the beach, both drenched +by the lashing spray, and his strength was nearly exhausted. The +projecting shelf was before him, forbidding for the moment his further +progress.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 627px;"> +<img src="images/ill-368.jpg" width="627" height="450" alt="The Coming Wave. Page 345" title="" /> +<span class="caption">The Coming Wave. Page <a href="#Page_345">345</a></span> +</div><p>.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_345" id="Page_345">[Pg 345]</a></span>Placing his left foot on a rock, his fair but heavy burden on his knee, +clasping her waist with his left hand, while his right was fastened for +support in a crevice of the cliff, he paused for an instant to recover +his breath, and watch for a favorable chance to escape from his perilous +position. Rosabel, in her terror, had thrown her arms around his neck, +clinging to him with all her might. When he paused, she felt, reposing +on his powerful muscles, that she was safe—she confessed it afterwards; +though, in that terrible sea, and near those cruel rocks, the strength +of the strongest man was but weakness. Leopold waited. If the sea would +only recede for an instant, it would give him the opportunity to reach +the broader beach beyond the shelf, over which he could pass to the Hole +in the Wall. It was a moment of hope, mingled with a mighty fear.</p> + +<p>A huge billow, larger than any he had yet seen, was rolling in upon him, +crested and reeking with foam, and might dash him and his feeble charge, +mangled and torn, upon the jagged rocks. Still panting from the violence +of his exertion, he braced his nerves and his stout frame to meet the +terrible shock.</p> + +<p>With every muscle strained to the utmost tension, he waited <span class="smcap">The Coming +Wave</span>. In this<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_346" id="Page_346">[Pg 346]</a></span> attitude, with the helpless maiden clinging to him for +life, with the wreck of his fine yacht near, he was a noble subject for +an inspired artist.</p> + +<p>The coming wave buried him and the fair maiden in its cold embrace. It +broke, and shattered itself in torrents of milky foam upon the hard +rocks. But the larger and higher the wave, the farther it recedes. +Leopold stood firm, though he was shaken in every fiber of his frame by +the shock. The retiring water—retiring only for an instant, to come +again with even greater fury—gave him his opportunity, and he improved +it. Swooping like a strong eagle, beneath the narrow shelf of rock, he +gained the broader sands beyond the reach of the mad billows. It blew a +hurricane for some time. The stranded yacht was ground into little +pieces by the sharp rocks; but her skipper and his fair passenger were +safe.</p> + +<p>On the identical flat rock in the Hole in the Wall where the steward of +the Waldo had seated himself, after the wreck, Leopold placed his +precious burden. He sat down by her side, utterly exhausted, and unable +to speak. He<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_347" id="Page_347">[Pg 347]</a></span> breathed very hardly, groaning heavily at each +respiration, for he had exerted himself to the verge of human endurance.</p> + +<p>"O, Leopold," gasped poor Rosabel, gazing with tender interest upon her +preserver, "you have saved me, but you have killed yourself!"</p> + +<p>The gallant young man tried to speak, but he could only smile in his +agony. Taking her hand, he pressed it, to indicate his satisfaction at +what he had done.</p> + +<p>"What shall I do?" cried the poor girl.</p> + +<p>Leopold could only press her hand again; but she felt that she must do +something for him. Throwing off her wet gloves, she began to rub his +temples, to which he did not object. But in a few minutes more he was +able to speak.</p> + +<p>"I am only tired," gasped the boatman. "I shall be all right in a few +moments."</p> + +<p>Then the rain began to pour down in torrents. Leopold rose from the +rock, and conducted Rosabel to an overhanging cliff, in the ravine, +which partially sheltered them from the storm. The wind continued to +howl, as though the squall had ended in a gale; but the rain soon ceased +to fall, and Leopold helped his fair companion to the summit of the +cliff.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_348" id="Page_348">[Pg 348]</a></span></p> + +<p>"There is nothing left of the Rosabel," said Leopold, as he gazed down +upon the white-capped billows which lashed the jagged rocks below. "She +went to pieces like an egg-shell."</p> + +<p>"Never mind the boat, Leopold. I am so thankful that our lives were +spared," replied Rosabel.</p> + +<p>"O, I don't care for the boat. I only thank God that you were saved. I +thought we should both be dashed in pieces on the rocks."</p> + +<p>"I should have been, if you had not been so strong and brave, Leopold. +You might have left me, and saved yourself, without much trouble."</p> + +<p>"Left you!" exclaimed Leopold, gazing into her beautiful face. "I would +rather have been ground up into inch pieces on the rocks, than do that, +Miss Hamilton!"</p> + +<p>Rosabel believed him, and the tears flowed down her cheeks, as she +brushed away from her eyes the auburn locks, soaked with salt water, and +gazed into his earnest, manly face.</p> + +<p>Before the storm had subsided, the Orion, bearing the agonized parents, +was floundering in the billows off High Rock, with only a close-reefed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_349" id="Page_349">[Pg 349]</a></span> +foresail set. Leopold and Rosabel both made signals, to assure the +father and mother of their safety. An hour later, when the waters were +comparatively still, there was a joyous scene in the cabin of the Orion. +Hot tears dropped from the eyes of father and mother, and convulsive +embraces were exchanged. Leopold's right hand was nearly twisted off by +the overjoyed parents and friends of her who had been saved from the +Coming Wave.</p> + +<p>The yacht sailed into the river again, and on the passage, Leopold, +assisted by Rosabel, related all the particulars of the loss of the +Rosabel, and of their narrow escape from the rocks and the billows on +the beach under High Rock.</p> + +<p>If Mr. and Mrs. Hamilton had before regarded Leopold, in any sense, as a +servant, or even a boatman, they no longer considered him as anything +but a social equal, a noble and dear friend, who had risked his life to +save their beloved daughter. If they were grateful and devoted to him, +not less so was Rosabel herself.</p> + +<p>The party stayed a fortnight at the Sea Cliff House, and enjoyed +themselves even more than during the preceding season. Every pleasant<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_350" id="Page_350">[Pg 350]</a></span> +day a party went out in the Orion, and, having no boat of his own now, +Leopold was glad to go with them. On the day after the storm, the mate +of the yacht had left Rockhaven for New York, and the late skipper of +the Rosabel was requested to perform his duty on board, which he did to +the entire satisfaction of Captain Bounce. After the mate had been +absent a week, the mate <i>pro tem.</i> of the Orion, as the yacht was +running out of the river, discovered a small sloop, headed for the +light. Her hull and her sails were intensely white. She was a beautiful +craft, and appeared to be entirely new. She was evidently a yacht, and +Leopold knew that she did not belong to any of the places in the lower +bay. The word was passed aft that a yacht was approaching, and all the +passengers came forward to see her.</p> + +<p>"That's her, Mr. Hamilton," said Captain Bounce, mysteriously after a +little talk with his owner.</p> + +<p>"Where is she from?" asked Leopold.</p> + +<p>"New York," replied the ex-congressman, chuckling.</p> + +<p>"What's her name?"</p> + +<p>"The Rosabel."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_351" id="Page_351">[Pg 351]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I didn't know there was any craft with that name, except mine," replied +Leopold, as Rosabel placed herself by his side.</p> + +<p>"She is new, and has not had that name more than a week," added Mr. +Hamilton.</p> + +<p>"Whom does she belong to?" inquired Leopold.</p> + +<p>"She belongs to Leopold Bennington now."</p> + +<p>This announcement was followed by a silvery laugh from the merchant's +daughter.</p> + +<p>"She is to take the place of the boat you lost."</p> + +<p>"Here's a go!" grinned Stumpy, who was doing duty on board as assistant +steward.</p> + +<p>"We don't care to mystify you, Leopold," laughed Mr. Hamilton. "The mate +of the Orion is in charge of her. She is a new boat, finished just +before I left New York, and offered for sale. On the day after you lost +your sloop, I sent the mate to purchase her for you. There she is, and +she is yours. You can go on board of her now, if you please."</p> + +<p>"Let me go, too," interposed Rosabel.</p> + +<p>The new yacht came up into the wind, when the Orion did so, and one of +the boats of the latter conveyed Rosabel, Leopold, and Stumpy<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_352" id="Page_352">[Pg 352]</a></span> to the +sloop, bringing back the mate and the man who had come with him from New +York. The new Rosabel was thirty-two feet long, with a large cabin, +furnished with berths, and a cook-room forward. Leopold and Stumpy were +enraptured with the craft, and looked her over with the utmost delight. +They followed the Orion all day, and kept up with her, for the new +Rosabel was even faster than the old one.</p> + +<p>But our story is nearly told, and we cannot follow these pleasant +parties on their excursions on the bay. Leopold and Stumpy sailed the +new Rosabel the rest of the season, and the money flowed freely into +their separate treasuries. The Sea Cliff House prospered beyond the +expectation of the landlord, and he was abundantly able to pay off the +mortgage on the hotel when it was due. Squire Moses dropped dead one day +in a fit of apoplexy, and, having neglected to make a will, as he had +often declared that he intended to do, his property was equally divided +among his heirs. Stumpy found his mother independent by this event, but +he continued to sail with Leopold in the Rosabel.</p> + +<p>The next winter after the stirring incidents at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_353" id="Page_353">[Pg 353]</a></span> High Rock, Leopold went +to New York on a visit, and was heartily welcomed by the Hamiltons, who +treated him with as much consideration as though he had been a foreign +duke. Rosabel was delighted to see him, we need not add. The result of +this visit was, that the merchant invited Leopold to take a position in +his mercantile establishment, to which his father reluctantly consented. +Stumpy took his place as boatman for the Sea Cliff House.</p> + +<p>Leopold gave his whole energy to business, and when he was only +twenty-two he was admitted as a partner to the firm. He was a +splendid-looking fellow and no one would have suspected, after noting +his elegant appearance, his fine manners, and his energetic business +habits that he was not an original New Yorker. Of course he made +frequent visits to the house of Mr. Hamilton, and was always a welcome +guest. His relations with Rosabel were of the most interesting +character; and now at twenty-six, he is a happy husband, educated and +wealthy, and, with his wife to nerve his soul, he stands braced against +the Coming Wave of Temptation and Sin, which is always rolling in upon +the pilgrim of earth.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>OLIVER OPTIC'S BOOKS.</h2> + + + + <h2>IN DOORS AND OUT:</h2> + + <h4>OR,</h4> + + <h3>VIEWS FROM A CHIMNEY CORNER.</h3> + + <h4><b>12mo. Numerous Illustrations, $1.50.</b></h4> + + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<p>Differing from other books of this popular author in that it Is intended +for adult readers, while the others are written for young people.</p> + +<p>It contains about thirty bright and interesting stories of a domestic +order, directed against the follies and foibles of the age. They are +written in a kindly, genial style, and with a sincere purpose to promote +happiness, good feeling, and right dealing in domestic, business, and +social relations.</p> + +<p>Many who have not time and patience to wade through a long story, will +find here many pithy and sprightly tales, each sharply hitting some +social absurdity or social vice. We recommend the book heartily after +having read the three chapters on "Taking a Newspaper." If all the rest +are as sensible and interesting as these, and doubtless they are, the +book is well worthy of patronage.—<i>Vermont Record.</i></p> + +<p>As a writer of domestic stories, Mr. William T. Adams (Oliver Optic) +made his mark even before he became so immensely popular through his +splendid books for the young. In the volume before us are given several +of these tales, and they comprise a book which will give them a +popularity greater than they have ever before enjoyed. They are written +in a spirited style, impart valuable practical lessons, and are of the +most lively interest. We have seen these stories likened to Arthur's +domestic tales; but while they instil equally as valuable lessons, we +think them written with much more force and spirit.—<i>Boston Home +Journal.</i></p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + <h2>YOUNG AMERICA ABROAD.</h2> + + <h4>SECOND SERIES.</h4> + +<p class="center">A Library of Travel and Adventure In Foreign Lands, 16mo.<br /> +Illustrated by Nast, Stevens, Perkins, and others.<br /> +Per volume, $1.50.</p> + + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">1. UP THE BALTIC;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">Or, Young America in Norway, Sweden, and Denmark.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">2. NORTHERN LANDS;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">Or, Young America in Russia and Prussia.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">3. CROSS AND CRESCENT;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">Or, Young America in Turkey and Greece.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">4. SUNNY SHORES;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">Or, Young America in Italy and Austria.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">5. VINE AND OLIVE;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">Or, Young America in Spain and Portugal.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">6. ISLES OF THE SEA;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">Or, Young America Homeward Bound.</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>"Oliver Optic" is a <i>nom de plume</i> that is known and loved by almost +every boy of intelligence in the land. We have seen a highly +intellectual and world-weary man, a cynic whose heart was somewhat +imbittered by its large experience of human nature, take up one of +Oliver Optic's books and read it at a sitting, neglecting his work in +yielding to the fascination of the pages. When a mature and exceedingly +well-informed mind, long despoiled of all its freshness, can thus find +pleasure in a book for boys, no additional words of recommendation are +needed.—<i>Sunday Times.</i></p> +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + + <h2>YOUNG AMERICA ABROAD.</h2> + + <h4>FIRST SERIES.</h4> + +<p class="center">A Library of Travel and Adventure In Foreign Lands. 16mo.<br /> +Illustrated by Nast, Stevens, Perkins, and others.<br /> +Per volume, $1.50.</p> + + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">1. OUTWARD BOUND;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">Or, Young America Afloat.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">2. SHAMROCK AND THISTLE;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">Or, Young America in Ireland and Scotland.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">3. RED CROSS;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">Or, Young America in England and Wales.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">4. DIKES AND DITCHES;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">Or, Young America in Holland and Belgium.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">5. PALACE AND COTTAGE;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">Or, Young America in France and Switzerland.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">6. DOWN THE RHINE;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">Or, Young America in Germany.</span><br /> +</p> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<p>The story from its inception and through the twelve volumes (see <i>Second +Series</i>), is a bewitching one, while the information imparted, +concerning the countries of Europe and the isles of the sea, is not only +correct in every particular, but is told in a captivating style. "Oliver +Optic" will continue to be the boy's friend, and his pleasant books will +continue to be read by thousands of American boys. What a fine holiday +present either or both series of "Young America Abroad" would be for a +young friend! It would make a little library highly prized by the +recipient, and would not be an expensive one.—<i>Providence Press.</i></p> +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h2>THE GREAT WESTERN SERIES.</h2> + +<h4>Six Volumes, Illustrated, Per vol., $1.50.</h4> + + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">1. GOING WEST;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">Or, The Perils of a Poor Boy.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">2. OUT WEST;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">Or, Roughing it on the Great Lakes.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">3. LAKE BREEZES;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">Or, The Cruise of the Sylvania.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">4. GOING SOUTH;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">Or, Yachting on the Atlantic Coast.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">5. DOWN SOUTH;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">Or, Yacht Adventures in Florida. (In Press.)</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">6. UP THE RIVER;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">Or, Yachting on the Mississippi. (In Press.)</span><br /> +</p> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<p>This is the latest series of books issued by this popular writer, and +deals with Life on the Great Lakes, for which a careful study was made +by the author in a summer tour of the immense water sources of America. +The story, which carries the same hero through the six books of the +series, is always entertaining, novel scenes and varied incidents giving +a constantly changing, yet always attractive aspect to the narrative. +"Oliver Optic" has written nothing better.</p> +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h2>WOODVILLE STORIES.</h2> + +<h4>Uniform with Library for Young People. Six vols, 16mo. Illustrated. Per vol., $1.25.</h4> + + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">1. RICH AND HUMBLE;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">Or, The Mission of Bertha Grant.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">2. IN SCHOOL AND OUT;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">Or, The Conquest of Richard Grant.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">3. WATCH AND WAIT;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">Or, The Young Fugitives.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">4. WORK AND WIN;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">Or, Noddy Newman on a Cruise.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">5. HOPE AND HAVE;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">Or, Fanny Grant among the Indians.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">6. HASTE AND WASTE;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">Or, The Young Pilot of Lake Champlain.</span><br /> +</p> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<p>Though we are not so young as we once were, we relished these stories +almost as much as the boys and girls for whom they were written. They +were really refreshing even to us. There is much in them which is +calculated to inspire a generous, healthy ambition, and to make +distasteful all reading tending to stimulate base desires.—<i>Fitchburg +Reveille.</i></p> +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h3>FOR ADULT READERS.</h3> + + +<h2>LIVING TOO FAST;</h2> + +<h4>OR,</h4> + +<h3>THE CONFESSIONS OF A BANK OFFICER</h3> + +<h4>12mo. Cloth. Illustrated. $1.50.</h4> + + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<p>This is a most entertaining story, and it also carries with it an +excellent moral, self-evident to almost any reader. It is beautifully +printed and graphically illustrated. The scene of the story is laid in +Boston; and the author's experience with his mother-in-law is very +readable, as is also his reckless expenditures for his wife's sake, he +harboring a false pride which inclined him to think that keeping up +appearances was nearly the whole life. <i>If you want to place a +thoroughly entertaining and profitable book in your library, do not fail +to send to the publishers of this charming story, who will promptly +furnish it on receipt of the price.</i>—<i>Boston Cultivator.</i></p> + +<p>"Here is the last and best work of that instructive author. It is full +of incidents of a fast life, the expedients to keep up appearances, +resulting in crime, remorse, and the evil opinion of all good men. The +narrative is replete with startling situations, temptations, and all +that makes up a thrilling story, in the semblance of an autobiography +well rendered, sprightly, pathetic, with a dash of sensation.</p> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Coming Wave, by Oliver Optic + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE COMING WAVE *** + +***** This file should be named 23773-h.htm or 23773-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/3/7/7/23773/ + +Produced by David Garcia, Josephine Paolucci and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net. 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