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diff --git a/25577.txt b/25577.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..186bd64 --- /dev/null +++ b/25577.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8343 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of All Adrift, 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: All Adrift + or The Goldwing Club + +Author: Oliver Optic + +Release Date: May 23, 2008 [EBook #25577] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ALL ADRIFT *** + + + + +Produced by David Edwards, Josephine Paolucci and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net. +(This file was produced from images generously made +available by The Internet Archive.) + + + + + + + +[Illustration: THE BOAT BUILDER SERIES + +OLIVER OPTIC + +William T. Adams] + + + + +The Boat-Builder Series. + +I. + +ALL ADRIFT; +OR, +THE GOLDWING CLUB. + +II. +SNUG HARBOR; +OR, +THE CHAMPLAIN MECHANICS. + +III. +SQUARE AND COMPASS; +OR, +BUILDING THE HOUSE. + +IV. +STEM TO STERN; +OR, +BUILDING THE BOAT. + +V. +ALL TAUT; +OR, +RIGGING THE BOAT. + +VI. +READY ABOUT; +OR, +SAILING THE BOAT. + +[Illustration: "WHAT ARE YOU DOING UP THERE? DEMANDED PEARL." PAGE +252.] + +[Illustration: OLIVER OPTIC'S + +BOAT-BUILDER SERIES. + +ALL ADRIFT. + +BOSTON, LEE AND SHEPARD PUBLISHERS.] + + + + +_The Boat-Builder Series_ + +ALL ADRIFT + +OR + +THE GOLDWING CLUB + +BY + +OLIVER OPTIC + +AUTHOR OF "YOUNG AMERICA ABROAD" "THE GREAT WESTERN SERIES" "THE ARMY +AND NAVY SERIES" "THE WOODVILLE SERIES" "THE STARRY-FLAG SERIES" "THE +BOAT-CLUB STORIES" "THE UPWARD AND ONWARD SERIES" "THE YACHT-CLUB +SERIES" "THE LAKE-SHORE SERIES" "THE RIVERDALE STORIES" ETC. ETC. + +_WITH EIGHT ILLUSTRATIONS_ + +BOSTON +LEE AND SHEPARD PUBLISHERS +NEW YORK +CHARLES T. DILLINGHAM +1883 + +COPYRIGHT, 1882, +BY WILLIAM T. ADAMS. + +_All rights reserved._ + + + TO MY GRANDSON + + ROBERT ELMER RUSSELL + + This Book + + IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED. + + + + +PREFACE. + + +"All Adrift" is the first volume of a new set of books, to be known as +"THE BOAT-BUILDER SERIES." The story contains the adventures of a boy +who is trying to do something to help support the family, but who finds +himself all adrift in the world. He has the reputation of being rather +"wild," though he proves that he is honest, loves the truth, and is +willing to work for a living. Having been born and brought up on the +shore of Lake Champlain, he could not well avoid being a boatman, +especially as his father was a pilot on a steamer. Nearly all the scenes +of the story are on the water; and the boy shows not only that he can +handle a boat, but that he has ingenuity, and fertility of resource. + +The narrative of the hero's adventures contained in this volume is the +introduction to the remaining volumes of the series, in which this boy +and others are put in the way of obtaining a great deal of useful +information, by which the readers of these books are expected to profit. +Captain Royal Gildrock, a wealthy retired shipmaster, has some ideas of +his own in regard to boys. He thinks that one great need of this country +is educated mechanics, more skilled labor. He has the means to carry his +ideas into practice, and actively engages in the work of instructing and +building up the boys in a knowledge of the useful arts. He believes in +religion, morality, and social and political virtue. He insists upon +practice in addition to precept and theory, as well in the inculcation +of the duties of social life as in mechanics and useful arts. + +If the first volume is all story and adventure, those that follow it +will not be wholly given up to the details of the mechanic arts. The +captain has a steam-yacht; and the hero of the first story has a fine +sailboat, to say nothing of a whole fleet of other craft belonging to +the nabob. The boys are not of the tame sort: they are not of the +humdrum kind, and they are inclined to make things lively. In fact, they +are live boys, and the captain sometimes has his hands full in managing +them. + +With this explanation, the author sends out the first volume with the +hope that this book and those which follow it will be as successful as +their numerous predecessors in pleasing his young friends--and his old +friends, he may add, as he treads the downhill of life. + +DORCHESTER, MASS., AUG. 21, 1882. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + +CHAPTER I. PAGE +A GROWLING PASSENGER 13 + +CHAPTER II. +A SHORT AND DECISIVE CONFLICT 24 + +CHAPTER III. +A BRILLIANT SCHEME MADE POSSIBLE 34 + +CHAPTER IV. +IN THE CABIN OF THE GOLDWING 45 + +CHAPTER V. +A BOAT WITH A BAD REPUTATION 55 + +CHAPTER VI. +THE ROBBERY AT THE HOTEL 66 + +CHAPTER VII. +THE MAN THAT LOOKED THROUGH THE KEYHOLE 76 + +CHAPTER VIII. +THE COLCHESTER CLUB CHANGES ITS NAME 87 + +CHAPTER IX. +A WEATHER HELM AND A LEE HELM 98 + +CHAPTER X. +THE MISSISQUOI IN PURSUIT 109 + +CHAPTER XI. +THE BEGINNING OF THE CHASE 119 + +CHAPTER XII. +A ROUGH TIME OF IT 129 + +CHAPTER XIII. +SAFE UNDER A LEE 140 + +CHAPTER XIV. +EARLY IN THE MORNING 150 + +CHAPTER XV. +THE STRATEGY OF THE CHASE 161 + +CHAPTER XVI. +A GRAVE CHARGE AGAINST THE SKIPPER 172 + +CHAPTER XVII. +DORY DORNWOOD DECIDES TO "FACE THE MUSIC" 183 + +CHAPTER XVIII. +DORY LOCKS HIS PASSENGERS INTO THE CABIN 194 + +CHAPTER XIX. +PEARL HAWLINSHED RESORTS TO VIOLENCE 205 + +CHAPTER XX. +MR. PEPPERS FINDS THE TABLES TURNED 215 + +CHAPTER XXI. +Another Element in the Contest 226 + +CHAPTER XXII. +THE GAME AMONG THE SHALLOWS 237 + +CHAPTER XXIII. +HEADED OFF ON BOTH SIDES 247 + +CHAPTER XXIV. +THROUGH VARIED STRIFE AND STRUGGLES 257 + +CHAPTER XXV. +WIND SOUTH-SOUTH-WEST BLOWING FRESH 268 + +CHAPTER XXVI. +DORY DORNWOOD MANOEUVRES TO ESCAPE 278 + +CHAPTER XXVII. +DORY MAKES A HARBOR FOR THE NIGHT 289 + +CHAPTER XXVIII. +TERRIBLE INTELLIGENCE FROM HOME 300 + +CHAPTER XXIX. +CAPTAIN GILDROCK HAS DECIDED OBJECTIONS 310 + +CHAPTER XXX. +CAPTAIN GILDROCK DILATES UPON HIS NOTABLE SCHEME 321 + + + + +ALL ADRIFT; + +OR, + +THE GOLDWING CLUB. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +A GROWLING PASSENGER. + + +"Boy, I told you to bring me some pickles," said Major Billcord, a +passenger on a Lake Champlain steamer, to a boy in a white jacket, who +was doing duty as a waiter at dinner in the cabin. + +"Yes, sir; and I brought them," replied Dory Dornwood, as he took the +dish of pickles almost from under the passenger's nose, and placed it +quite under his nose. + +"No impudence to me, boy!" exclaimed Major Billcord, as he bestowed a +savage glance at the young waiter. + +"I beg your pardon, sir: I did not mean to be impudent," replied Dory +meekly. + +"Waiter, bring me a piece of roast beef rare. Now, mind, I want it +rare," said the passenger sitting next to the major. + +"Yes, sir; in a moment, sir," added Dory, to indicate that he heard the +order. + +"When I send you for any thing, you should put it where I can see it," +added Major Billcord sternly. + +"I thought I put the pickles where you could see them," answered Dory, +as he started for the pantry to obtain the roast beef rare. + +"Here, boy, stop!" called the major. "Where are you going now? Bring me +the boiled onions, and I want them well done." + +"Yes, sir," replied the waiter, as he darted after the onions, and +returned with them in an instant; for he found the dish in another part +of the table. "The boiled onions," he added, as he placed them beside +the snappy passenger's plate, so that he should be sure to see them. + +"Isn't it about time for my roast beef, waiter?" asked the next +gentleman. + +"In a moment, sir." + +"These onions are not half done, boy!" exclaimed the major. "I told you +to bring me onions well done, and not raw onions." + +"I don't cook them, sir; and I brought such as I find on the table," +pleaded Dory, as he started to fill the order of the next passenger. + +"Here! come back, boy! I want boiled onions well done, and I don't want +any impudence," snarled the major. + +Dory brought another dish of onions, and placed them by the side of the +gentleman's plate. He repeated the order of the next passenger to assure +him that he had not forgotten it, and was in the act of rushing for it, +when Major Billcord broke out again. + +"These onions are no better than the others: they are not half cooked. +Now go to the steward, and tell him I want boiled onions well done." + +"Get my roast beef first," added the next passenger. + +"Here, waiter! bring me a sidebone of chicken, some green pease, +string-beans, pickled beets, boiled cabbage, a plate of macaroni, and +any other vegetables you may happen to have; and don't be all day about +it," said the passenger on the other side of Major Billcord. + +"In a minute, sir," replied Dory. + +"Go to the steward at once, and tell him what I want," stormed the +major. + +"Waiter, bring me a plate of roast stuffed veal, with a specimen of all +the vegetables on the bill of fare. Don't leave out any. If you leave +out any of them, I will travel by railroad the next time I go north," +shouted another passenger. + +Dory did not wait to hear any more. He was not a waiter of great +experience, and he found that the confusion of orders was rather trying +to him. He went to the carving-table, delivered the message of Major +Billcord to the steward, and called for the orders he had received. +Before he had his tray ready, the steward brought him the onions; and he +carried them with the other articles to the table. + +"Your onions, sir," said he, as he placed the little dish where the +irate gentleman could not help seeing them. + +While Dory was serving the other passengers, whose orders he had taken, +and while half a dozen others were clamorous for every item on the bill +of fare, Major Billcord thrust his fork into one of the odoriferous +vegetables brought to him. + +"These are not a whit better done than the others were!" exclaimed Major +Billcord, dropping his knife and fork in disgust. "What do you mean, +boy, by bringing me such onions as these?" + +"The steward gave me those onions for you, sir," pleaded Dory, who was +certainly doing his best to please all the passengers at the dinner +table; and the young waiter had already learned that this was not one of +the easiest tasks in the world. + +"Don't tell me that, you young rascal! You haven't delivered my message +to the steward," growled the irate passenger. + +"Yes, sir: I told him just what you wanted, and he sent the dish of +onions to you, sir," Dory explained. + +"The steward would never have sent me such onions as these. You haven't +been to him as I told you. You are an impudent young cub, and you are no +more fit for a waiter than you are for a steamboat captain." + +"I brought the onions the steward sent; and it isn't my fault that they +are not right," said Dory gently, though he did not always speak and act +in just that way. + +"Is my dinner to be spoiled by the stupidity and carelessness of a boy?" +demanded Major Billcord. "If I have any influence on board of this boat, +such blockheads shall not be employed as waiters." + +"I will get any thing you wish, sir," added Dory, appalled at the remark +of the important passenger. + +"Don't come near me again! Go, and tell the steward to send another +waiter to me," was all the reply the major would give him. + +Dory Dornwood intended to deliver even this message to the steward; but +he was kept very busy by the wants of the other passengers, so that he +could not go at just that minute. He had been instructed to serve all +persons at the tables alike; and he was not quite old enough and +experienced enough to comprehend that his instructions were to be obeyed +in a Pickwickian sense on certain occasions. + +Major Billcord sat back in his chair, and watched the movements of the +boy-waiter for the full space of fifteen seconds, which he doubtless +interpreted as fifteen minutes. It was not to be expected that he could +finish, or even go on with, his dinner without the boiled onions well +done. Possibly he did not care so much for the aromatic vegetable as he +did for his own sweet will. At any rate, he would not touch another +morsel of food; and, when the fifteen seconds had fully expired, he was +ready to make another demonstration. + +"Boy, didn't I tell you to go and call the steward, and tell him to send +me another waiter?" demanded Major Billcord, as savagely as though Dory +had struck him in the face. + +"Yes, sir, you did, and I am going; but we are all very busy, and the +passengers want a great many things. I am going now, sir," replied Dory, +who thought it might be safer to let the rest of the passengers wait +than to anger so great a magnate as the major. + +Dory delivered his message, and the steward uttered an exclamation which +would have cost him his situation if Major Billcord had heard it. The +head of the culinary department went to the place occupied by the +important personage. + +"If you don't discharge that boy before supper-time, there will be +trouble," said the major when the steward presented himself. "He is +stupid, careless, and impertinent. He had the presumption to tell me +that he did not cook the onions, and it was not his fault that they were +not properly done." + +Possibly the steward might have voted on the same side of the question, +if he had considered it prudent to express an opinion; but he apologized +for the cook, and said nothing about the waiter. He explained that he +had been to the kitchen for the onions, and had sent the best on the +boat to the distinguished passenger. + +"Then the young rascal gave them to some other person!" exclaimed Major +Billcord. "The boy is not fit for a waiter." + +"He is only serving for a week or two, while one of our regular waiters +is away. He is the son of one of the second pilots." + +"Which one?" demanded the angry passenger. + +"Dornwood. He says the boy is a little wild, and he wants to get +something for him to do," added the steward. "The boy is rather more +than his mother can manage when his father is away, as he is all the +season." + +"This is not a reform-school, and we don't want any such scallawags on +the boat. But you needn't tell Dornwood that I said any thing about his +boy," added the major in a low tone. + +Of course the steward would not say any thing on such a delicate +subject. After dinner Dory Dornwood was called up and discharged. He +tried to explain that he had done his best, and had not spoken an +impudent word. The steward had been satisfied with him, but it was +impossible to resist the influence of such a man as Major Billcord. + +Perry Dornwood was the second pilot of one of the night boats for this +week; and Dory could not run to his father with his grievance, for he +felt that he had a grievance. Possibly it would have done no good if he +had. His father had had some trouble with him, and he was more inclined +to believe the worst that could be said of his son than the best. + +Perry Dornwood the pilot had rather forced himself into the position he +occupied. He was a good enough pilot; but he drank too much whiskey to +be fully reliable. He was never drunk, at least not when on duty; but he +was generally pretty well soaked in liquor. The captain of his steamer +did not believe in him, and Perry's position had been nearly lost +several times; but some kind of an influence still kept him in his +place. + +The pilot lived in Burlington. He had a wife and two children, a son and +a daughter. Mrs. Dornwood was a most excellent woman, but she was almost +discouraged under the trials and difficulties which beset her path in +life. Her husband did not half provide for his little family; and it was +all the poor mother could do to scrub along, feeding and clothing the +boy and girl. + +The pilot had work only a portion of the year on the lake, and he was +not disposed to find other employment when not so engaged. Even the +money he did earn did not all find its way into the expenditures for +taking care of the family. It was feared by the good woman that her +husband gambled. + +Dory--his name was Theodore--was now fourteen years old. His mother had +explained to him the condition of the family finances. They had nothing, +and Perry Dornwood owed many debts. The boy had been wild, but those +who knew him best said there was nothing bad about him. He had looked +for work, and his father had found it for him. Now he had lost his +place; and his discharge was a very heavy blow to him, though he was +wild. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +A SHORT AND DECISIVE CONFLICT. + + +Dory Dornwood appeared to be in no hurry to get home after his +discharge. The steamer stopped at Burlington after his fate had been +decided, and the steward expected him to take his things on shore. The +ex-waiter evidently had other views, for he kept out of sight until +after the boat had left the wharf. + +When the steamer reached Plattsburg, Dory Dornwood went on shore. He +visited all the hotels in the place, and endeavored to obtain a +situation as a waiter, or as any thing else--he did not care what--by +which he could earn some money to help support the family. He could +obtain no situation, though he heard of a place a few miles out in the +country where a boy was wanted. Dory had no money,--not a penny; for his +father collected his wages. He decided to visit the place at once, so as +to be the first to apply for the position. + +After he had walked a couple of miles, and had one more to go, he came +to a piece of woods through which the road extended. He began to feel +very tired, for he had done a day's work before he landed from the +steamer. It was now nearly eight o'clock in the evening. He had eaten no +supper, and not much dinner; for the events in the cabin had taken off +his appetite. With no money and no friends, he was not very clear as to +where his supper was to come from. The question of a lodging was +involved in quite as much doubt. + +The weather was warm; and, if he was compelled to lodge in the woods, it +would not be the first time he had slept in the open air. Though he had +rather more than his fair share of pride, any farmer would give him a +meal of victuals for the asking. But just now he was tired, and he +wanted rest. He walked a short distance from the road, and seated +himself on a rock. It was not comfortable; and he stretched his body +upon the ground, which was covered with a clean carpet of fine needles. + +Of course he could not help thinking of the great event of the day; and, +while he was considering it, he fell asleep. Possibly his slumber +continued an hour; and it might have continued another hour, or even all +night, if he had not been disturbed by footsteps near him. The nails in +the heel of a heavy boot grated upon a flat rock, and this was the noise +that awakened the tired sleeper. + +Dory half rose from his reclining posture, and discovered a man moving +stealthily towards the road. He was creeping with the utmost care: and +probably the scraping of his boot against the rock had admonished him to +be more careful; at any rate he acted as though such were the case. + +The seeker for a situation was wide awake as soon as he was awake at +all. He sat on the ground watching the stranger as he crawled towards +the road. It was quite dark, but the opening made by the highway +admitted some light from the stars. Dory thought the stranger had +something in his hand. If the man had walked right along, the boy would +have thought nothing of the fact that he was in the woods after dark; +but he was creeping like a cat, and Dory's curiosity was aroused. + +He got upon his feet, and walked after the mysterious stranger. He did +not care to show himself, and he kept one of the big trees between +himself and the man all the time. Near the road a fringe of bushes had +sprung up, and in their foliage the man concealed himself. Dory had +obtained a better view of what the stranger had in his hand; and, though +he was not sure of it, he thought it was a gun. Was the man out hunting +in the dark? There were no deer so near the town, and it was hardly +likely that the person was gunning in the darkness. + +Dory continued to creep from tree to tree until he could not have been +more than a couple of rods from the concealed night wanderer. If he had +not believed the man had a gun in his hand, he would have left his +concealment and gone about his business; for he had come to the +conclusion that the affair, whatever it was, did not concern him. But he +felt a little bashful about leaving, lest the gun might go off, and the +shot accidentally strike him. + +The next minute he was confident that he heard footsteps in the road. +Before he had time to satisfy himself fully on this point, the gun in +the hand of the stranger went off; and its going-off proved to Dory +that it was a gun, as he had supposed, and even believed. + +"Help! help!" shouted some one in the road; and the voice proved that +there was some one there. + +Scarcely had the word been uttered before the man in the bushes broke +from his place of concealment, and rushed towards the road. Dory was too +much interested in the affair to remain at a distance any longer. It was +none of his business; but it was plain enough that the mysterious +stranger had fired his gun at the person who shouted for assistance from +the road. Dory reasoned, that, as he had fired the gun once, he could +not fire it again without reloading it; and he had not had time to do +this. + +But there was some sort of wickedness in progress, and Dory ran with all +his might to the road; and, even if he had not run with all his might, +it would not have taken him a great while to accomplish two rods. When +he came to the opening, he saw one man spring upon another. The former +dropped the gun he carried in his hand, and it was plain that he had +fired the shot. + +The two men clutched each other, though one of them tried to say +something to the other. Dory had lots of blood in his veins, and it +began to boil as though it was over a hot fire. All his sympathies were +with the man who had been attacked. The other had crept upon him like a +thief in the night, had fired at him, and then had followed up the +attack with a hand-to-hand onslaught. + +"Don't, Pearl!" pleaded the man who had been attacked. "Consider what +you are doing! You will ruin yourself! You are sure to be discovered, +even if you kill me!" + +Dory did not wait to hear any more. He had a strong impulse to take a +hand in the affair, though it was none of his business. The stranger who +had wakened him from his slumbers was back to him, and the boy thought +his opportunity at the present instant was too good to be lost. + +The supperless wanderer flung himself upon the shoulders of the +assailant, and grappled him around the throat with all his strength. He +was well aware, that, if he failed at the first dash, his chance would +not only be gone, but he would be in danger of being entirely wiped out +by his intended victim. + +Dory was not a very heavy boy, but he was remarkably active. He dug his +knees into the back of the man, and in a moment he brought him to the +ground. The stranger then turned his attention to his assailant, and he +made short work of him. He seemed only to shake himself, and Dory went +half way across the road. + +The ex-waiter was on his feet again in an instant. He looked at the +assailant, and saw that he had a sort of cloth mask on his face. As the +boy sprang to his feet, the stranger was in the act of picking up his +gun. He snatched it from the ground, and then fled into the woods. The +conflict appeared to be ended. + +Dory puffed like a fish out of water. He had been laboring under +tremendous excitement, which is not at all strange; for it would have +stirred the blood of any one to see another attacked with a deadly +weapon. + +Dory watched the woods, and rather expected that a bullet would soon be +travelling from that direction towards him and the person who had been +attacked. But his companion in the road did not seem to be at all +alarmed: at least he did not make any haste to seek a safer position. + +"It is dangerous being safe just here," said Dory, when he had collected +his scattered thoughts, and realized that it was time something was +done. "I think we had better move on, or that gun will go off again." + +"I don't think it will go off again," replied the man in the road, in a +very sad, rather than an alarmed or indignant tone. + +"Didn't that man fire at you? Won't he do it again?" demanded Dory. + +"I don't think he intended to hit me; though he fired at me, or he fired +his gun. I don't believe he fired it at me," answered the stranger in a +confused manner. + +"If he fired at you, of course he meant to hit you. What in the world +should he fire at you for if he didn't mean to hit you?" asked Dory, +wondering at the reasoning of his companion in the road. + +"I am confident I am right; but we won't say any thing more about it +just now," added the stranger, who seemed to be struggling with other +emotions than those of fear or indignation. + +"That's very queer," said Dory, puzzled at the strange conduct of the +man who had been fired at. "I think you will get a bullet through your +head if you stay here much longer." + +"I am not afraid of a bullet; but I don't think I had better stay here +any longer," replied the stranger. "Which way are you going, young man?" + +"I was going over to a place they call Belzer's." + +"That is a mile from here. Were you going there when that gun was +fired?" asked the man eagerly. + +"Well, not just at that minute. I was tired out, and I lay down in the +woods to rest me. I was going over to Belzer's to see if I could get a +place to work. I"-- + +"You are too late: they hired a boy at Belzer's this afternoon," added +the man. + +"That's just my luck," added Dory, discouraged at this intelligence. + +"The luck shall not go against you this time. You have no errand at +Belzer's now; and, if you will walk to Plattsburgh with me, I will make +it all right with you; and you shall not be sorry that you did not find +a place at Belzer's, which is not a proper place for a boy like you." + +"If there is no place there for me, and it is not the place for me, I +shall return to Plattsburgh," answered Dory, as he started with the +stranger in the direction from which he had come when he took to the +woods. + +In a short time they came out into the open country; and there was no +longer any danger that the attack from the mysterious assailant would be +renewed. + +"Young man, you have done me a great service; and you have done a +greater one to another person," said the stranger. + +"Who's that?" asked Dory, puzzled by the strange speech of his +companion. + +"I mean the one who fired the gun at me," answered his fellow-traveller. + +"That's funny!" exclaimed Dory. "You and he seem to be fooling with each +other. He shot at you, and didn't mean to hit you; and now I have done +him a great service. I suppose you don't mean to pay me for the service +I did him," laughed Dory. + +"I should be willing to pay you more for what you did for him than for +what you did for me." + +Dory was bewildered. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +A BRILLIANT SCHEME MADE POSSIBLE. + + +Dory began to think his companion was a lunatic. Certainly he was a +Christian man, for he seemed to have nothing but kindness in his heart +towards his late assailant. + +"I don't want any pay for what I did for either," said Dory Dornwood, as +he saw his companion thrust his hand into his pocket, and he feared that +his joke had been taken in earnest. + +"We will talk about that when we get to Plattsburgh. Will you tell me +your name, young man?" + +"My name is Theodore Dornwood, though almost everybody calls me Dory. +But I don't care what they call me, if they don't call me too late to +supper, or don't call me at all, as nobody did to-night," replied Dory. +And an emphatic wrenching at his stomach, just at the moment he spoke, +compelled him to repeat that ancient witticism. + +"You have had no supper, Dory?" demanded his new friend, with much +sympathy in his tones. + +"Not a bit, and not much dinner," added Dory. "Major Billcord spoiled my +dinner. And I dare say he charges me with spoiling his dinner: but I +didn't; it was the cook." + +The curiosity of his companion was excited, and Dory told the whole +story of his experience as a waiter at dinner that day. In answering the +questions of the stranger, he told the history of himself and his +family. He enlarged upon his efforts to obtain a situation, and declared +that he wanted to do something to help his mother, and make things +easier for her. + +Just as he was finishing his narrative, they reached the front of a +farmhouse. The stranger led the way to the door, and knocked. Presently +the door was opened by a man with a lamp in his hand. Dory wondered what +his companion wanted there; for he had not spoken of making a call on +the way to the town. + +"Ah! is that you, Basil Hawlinshed?" said the occupant of the house, as +the light from his lamp fell upon the face of the stranger,--a stranger +to Dory, though he did not appear to be such to the man of the house. +"I am glad to see you. Come in!" + +"Thank you, Neighbor Brookbine. I am sorry to trouble you: but this +young man with me has not been to supper yet; and it makes my stomach +turn somersets to travel with any one who has not been to supper when it +is after nine o'clock in the evening." + +"Come in! come in, Neighbor Hawlinshed! though I suppose you are to be +no longer my neighbor. The boy shall have the best supper we can get up +for him at this time of night." + +Mr. Hawlinshed--for this appeared to be the name to which he +answered--and Dory followed him into the house. When he had gone to make +preparations for the supper, Dory's companion led him to one side of the +room. + +"Will you do me a favor, Dory?" said Mr. Hawlinshed. + +"I will try with all my might to do it," replied Dory. + +"Don't say one word about what happened in the woods while you are in +this house," said Mr. Hawlinshed earnestly, and with much emotion. + +"Oh, that's an easy one!" replied Dory gayly. "I could do that, and only +half try." + +"Be very sure you don't speak a word about the matter, or even hint at +it in the most distant manner," continued Mr. Hawlinshed with painful +emphasis. + +"Not a word or a hint, sir. No one shall squeeze it out of me with a +cider-press," protested Dory. + +Mr. Brookbine came into the room, and Mr. Hawlinshed tried to compose +himself. The talk of the two men was upon subjects in which the boy felt +no interest. He was more concerned about his supper than about the +affairs of the two speakers. But he learned that Mr. Hawlinshed had been +a farmer, and had just sold his farm for forty-five hundred dollars in +cash. He was going to another part of the State to engage in the lumber +business. + +Nothing was said which afforded Dory a clew to the strange event in the +woods. He fancied it had some connection with the money the farmer had +received for his farm. The hungry boy was called into another room by +Mrs. Brookbine to eat his supper. He found a plentiful meal on the +table, and he did ample justice to it. While he was eating, the farmer's +wife, who was a motherly sort of woman, plied him with questions; and he +answered all those that related to himself, but he was extremely careful +not to betray the confidence of his new friend. + +Dory felt like a new creature when he had finished his supper, which he +thought was quite good enough to have suited Major Billcord; though he +was sure that it would not have suited him, for the simple reason that +he was never suited with any thing. Mr. Hawlinshed offered to pay for +the meal, and Farmer Brookbine felt insulted by the proposition. The +visitor explained that he should not have offered to pay for his own +supper, but he had brought an entire stranger into the house. Mr. +Brookbine declared that he always gave a meal of victuals to any one who +needed it. With many thanks the visitors took their leave, and resumed +their walk to town. In less than half an hour they were at a hotel in +Plattsburgh. + +"I can't stay here, Mr. Hawlinshed," said Dory, as they entered the +house. "I have no money to pay my bill." + +"Do you think I am a heathen, that I won't pay your bill after the +service you have done me?" asked Mr. Hawlinshed with a smile. + +"I don't want anybody to pay for me," protested Dory. + +"Don't talk so, my boy," added his new friend. "Come to my room, for I +want to talk with you." + +Dory assented, though he had set his teeth against taking any thing that +looked like charity. He followed Mr. Hawlinshed up-stairs, where it +appeared that he had a room. It contained a trunk, a valise, and other +baggage. + +"Dory, you have rendered me a service that you cannot understand; and I +am glad you cannot. I should feel mean to the end of my life if I did +not attempt to make some slight return for it," said Mr. Hawlinshed, as +he seated himself at a table. "I don't think you saved my life, for I +don't believe my life was in danger for a moment." + +"I don't think I saved your life, but I think your life has been in +danger. Why, the fellow might have hit you by accident, even if he +didn't mean to," replied Dory. "But the villain went at you as though he +meant to tear you in pieces after he had fired the gun." + +"It is hardly worth while to argue the question. I am very confident of +what I say. My life has not been in danger, but my money was in great +peril. I had forty-seven hundred and fifty dollars in my pocket when +that person attacked me," continued Mr. Hawlinshed. + +"Jerusalem!" exclaimed Dory, who did not remember that he had ever +before been near so much money in all his life. + +"I should have lost that money if you had not saved it, Dory. This was +the point I was coming to. Don't ask me any questions, for I don't want +to answer them." + +"I won't ask any, if you don't want me to," added Dory, who was very +much mystified by the occurrences of the evening. + +"So far as I know and believe, you are the only person who saw the +affair in the woods. The three who took part in the affray are the only +persons on earth who know any thing about it," added Mr. Hawlinshed. + +"I did not see or hear anybody around while I was in the woods," replied +Dory. "I don't believe anybody else knows about it." + +"That is very lucky, and I am only sorry that you happened to witness +the sad affair. Now, Dory, I don't want any other person to know any +thing about it." + +"Nobody shall find out any thing about it from me," protested the boy. +"You used me very handsomely, and got a good supper for me when I should +have had to feed on wind if I hadn't come across you." + +Mr. Hawlinshed looked the boy in the face; for he suspected that Dory +was making game of him when he weighed so insignificant a thing as a +supper against the help he had given him in the woods. He took out a +large pocket-book, which appeared to be filled with bank-bills. From +them he selected several bills, and tendered them to Dory. + +"What's that?" asked the boy, as he looked suspiciously at the bills. "I +don't want any money for any thing I have done." + +"Here is one hundred and five dollars," continued Mr. Hawlinshed. "The +five dollars is to pay any expenses you may incur in getting home, so +that you may have the hundred when you get there." + +Dory looked at the money, and the temptation to take it was very great. +He could not bring himself to accept money for doing a kind act to a +person who needed his assistance. On this ground he stoutly refused to +touch the bills. + +"Not for saving my life or preventing me from being hurt, Dory, but for +saving my money. I shall be very unhappy, and feel mean, if you don't +take the money. If I were rich, I should insist upon your taking +thousands. This is a very small sum for the service you have rendered, +for saving me from a loss which would have defeated the business +enterprise I have in view. Take it, Dory, for my sake, if not for your +own. It will be a great help to your mother," persisted Mr. Hawlinshed. + +It looked easier to Dory than at first. He had saved his companion's +money, and prevented him from losing forty-seven hundred and fifty +dollars. But it took another half an hour of argument to satisfy Dory +that he was not doing a mean thing in taking the bills. He took them at +last, and his companion seemed to be happy in the fact that he had done +so. + +Dory felt rich enough to buy out the New York Central Railroad, or to +become the proprietor of half the land that bordered on Lake Champlain. +He had an idea of buying out the steamer on which Major Billcord had +caused his discharge. At any rate, he must buy out something that would +float on the lake, for he was about half boy and half boat. + +He put the money into the old wallet he carried; and he doubted if all +the money it had ever contained, even before it came into his +possession, would equal the amount he had just deposited in one of its +compartments. He had scarcely returned the treasure to his pocket, +before he thought of the use to which he would apply the whole or a part +of the money. It was a brilliant scheme. He had nursed it in his +imagination as an unattainable enterprise, but now the money in his +pocket rendered it possible. + +"I feel better now, Dory," said Mr. Hawlinshed. "I have given you a +feather's weight where I owe you a ton, but I hope the time will come +when I can do better. I am going to write a letter now, and I want you +to deliver it for me to-morrow. Will you do so?" + +"To be sure I will," replied Dory warmly. + +"I shall leave by the boat going south in the morning; and I want this +letter delivered after I am gone," added Mr. Hawlinshed, as he began to +write on a sheet of paper on the table. + +Dory considered his brilliant scheme. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +IN THE CABIN OF THE GOLDWING. + + +"Here is the letter, Dory," said Mr. Hawlinshed when he had sealed and +directed the envelope. "You will have to go about a mile beyond the +place where we met last night. Mr. Pearl Hawlinshed," he added, reading +the address upon the letter. + +"Pearl!" repeated Dory, as he took the letter and read the name for +himself. + +"That is the name; and the person to whom it is addressed is my son," +replied the writer of the missive. + +"Your son!" exclaimed Dory, looking intently into the face of his new +friend. + +"Yes: is there any thing very strange about that? He is my only son, my +only child; and his mother has been dead many years." + +"Your son!" repeated Dory, as though he was unable to comprehend the +relation. + +"Pearl Hawlinshed; and he is my son. Is there any thing very strange +about it?" asked the father, looking anxiously at Dory. + +"But he is the man who fired the gun at you, and then pitched into you," +added Dory. + +Mr. Hawlinshed manifested a great deal of emotion. He dropped into his +chair, from which he had risen when he finished his letter. He appeared +to be greatly astonished that his companion had discovered the +relationship between himself and the person to whom the letter was +addressed. + +"How do you know all that, Dory?" asked Mr. Hawlinshed, trying to calm +himself. + +"I heard you call him 'Pearl' before I took a hand in the affair," +replied Dory candidly. "I don't know that I should ever have thought of +the name again if you hadn't given me this letter." + +"Then it is very unfortunate that I gave you the letter; but I wished to +be sure that it reached him," said Mr. Hawlinshed, very much perplexed +at the situation. "You know more than I supposed, and I am very sorry +for it. The terrible truth is no longer a secret between my son and +myself." + +"I ought not to have let on that I knew his name," added Dory, who felt +that he had made a mistake. + +"Since you knew the fact, I am glad that you spoke. You know that it was +my son that attacked me, and who attempted to take the money from me," +continued the poor father bitterly. + +"But it shall be all the same as though I did not know any thing about +it," protested Dory. "After one year or ten you will find that I can +keep a secret." + +"I am willing to trust you, Dory; and I should be willing, even if I +could help myself, and were not entirely in your power," added the +unhappy father. "Now you will want to know something about the reason +why he attacked me, and tried to get my money from me." + +"No, sir: I will not ask any thing about the difficulty. I suppose you +and your son could not agree, and I know another case just like it. It +is your family affair, and it is none of my business." + +"It would take me hours to tell the whole story, and it is too painful +to dwell upon. You will keep the secret, Dory?" + +"I will never hint that I ever heard your name. I will leave you now, so +that no one shall know that I ever saw you, or at least that I ever had +any thing to do with you." + +"But, Dory, when you tell your mother about the money you have, you will +have to explain where you got it. I don't want you to tell any lies +about it." + +"I shall not give her all the money, and perhaps not any of it," said +Dory. + +"Not give it to her? I have taken you for a boy who wanted to help his +mother; and this view of your character has led me to trust you more +than I would if you had not told me your story." + +"But I shall use the money for her benefit. I am not going to fool it +away. I shall make a business with it which will enable me to help her," +replied Dory with enthusiasm. + +"What is the business, Dory?" + +Dory hesitated. There was a contingency about it, and he was afraid that +Mr. Hawlinshed would not approve his plan. He was not altogether clear +in regard to it himself, and he did not care to commit himself. + +"I should like to keep that as my secret. I am going to help my mother; +but I am not sure that I can make the plan work, and I don't want to say +any thing about it yet." + +"But you will have to explain where you got your money," suggested Mr. +Hawlinshed. + +"I will promise never to say one word about what happened in the woods. +I will give this letter to your son to-morrow morning, and then I will +bury the whole thing forever. No one shall ever know where the money +came from." + +Mr. Hawlinshed had a great many doubts, as well he might have had. But +he was in a very trying situation himself. His relations with his son +were unpleasant. He had no malice or ill feeling towards Pearl, and all +he wanted was to conceal the sad act of the young man. + +Dory was very tired; and he could not help gaping, he was so sleepy. He +shook hands with his new friend, who said they might never meet again. +If he returned to the vicinity of Burlington, he should certainly look +him up; and he hoped he should find him an honest, industrious, and +prosperous young man. Dory left the room. + +He kept one hand in his pocket on the wallet which contained the +treasure that was to open up the brilliant scheme by which he hoped to +support his mother and sister. He went out of the hotel without any +definite idea of where he intended to go. It was ten o'clock by this +time. He was not penniless now, as he had been before. He was rich +enough to spend the night, or even a week or a month, at the Witherill +House; but the idea of going there, or to any other public house, did +not occur to him. + +Though he had five dollars for "expenses," he could not think of paying +out a dollar, or even half a dollar, for a night's lodging. That would +do very well for Mr. Vanderbilt, but not for him. It would be throwing +money away. He walked down to the lake. He was not so sleepy as he had +been. Stirring himself had waked him up. As he came to the wharf, his +brilliant scheme leaped into his head again. + +During his stop at Plattsburgh the day before, he had seen a sailboat, +which was to be sold at auction with other effects of its deceased +owner. He had looked the craft over, and asked a great many questions +about her. Though she was twenty-five feet long, and was handsomely +fitted up, the knowing ones said she would not bring a hundred dollars +at auction. + +She could not have cost less than five or six hundred, but she had a bad +name. Her late owner had been drowned in consequence of her upsetting. +People said it was the fault of the boat. She carried a lee helm, and +upset when there was no excuse for her doing so. She had been known to +tip over three times, and she was sure to drown whoever bought her. + +Dory looked her over very carefully. He had been about all sorts of +boats ever since he was a small boy. In fact, he was a natural +water-bird, almost as much so as a duck. He was a born mechanic, and his +taste not less than his associations had led him to apply his mechanical +genius to boats and boating. + +The name of the boat was the Goldwing. Dory had examined her the day +before, and he "took no stock" in her bad name. He was very sure that +any boat would behave badly if rigged and ballasted as the Goldwing was. +He wished he owned her, or that he could obtain the use of her for the +season. He was confident that he could redeem her reputation. + +In connection with this boat had bubbled up his brilliant scheme. If he +had her at Burlington, or at several other points on the lake, he could +make five dollars a day, if not six or eight, by taking out parties. +Such a business was more to his taste, and afforded a better field for +his talents, than tending table in the cabin of a steamer. + +But it was no use to think of the Goldwing. If five dollars would have +bought her, he had not the money to invest in the enterprise. He had no +friend upon whom he could call for aid in such a speculation. He might +as well think of buying and running one of the large steamers on the +lake. + +But since dark that evening the whole aspect of his fortunes had +changed. He had over a hundred dollars in his pocket, and the Goldwing +was to be sold the next day. He did not wish to put all his little +fortune into a boat; but he was determined to have the boat, if she was +knocked down for a sum within his means. + +The Goldwing lay at the wharf. Dory surveyed her as well as he could in +the darkness, and then he stepped on board of her. She had been built +on purpose for her late owner, on a model somewhat different from her +class of boats on the lake; and this created a prejudice against her in +the boating fraternity. Dory had seen her frequently under sail, and he +was delighted with her. + +She was decked over forward, and had a little cabin in this part of the +craft. The doors which opened into this apartment were not locked, and +Dory went into it. He lighted a match, and discovered a lantern hanging +from a deck-beam. He lighted it, and found that the cabin was furnished +with two berths, in each of which was a berth-sack. As he looked over +this part of the fitting-up of the boat, he gaped again. + +He might as well sleep there as in any other place. He had no fear that +the ghost of the late owner would disturb him. He arranged the doors so +that they could not be opened without waking him, and then lay down in +one of the berths. He was going to think over his brilliant scheme; but, +before he had done much thinking, he fell asleep. + +He did not wake till the swash of the night boat from the south caused +the Goldwing to bump against the wharf. It was five o'clock in the +morning. He felt in his pocket, and found that his money was safe. He +slept another hour after this, and then went on shore. He got his +breakfast at a restaurant, and then started to deliver the letter. + +He reached his destination in about an hour. He inquired for Pearl +Hawlinshed, and found him without any difficulty. He was about +twenty-two years old. He did not look like the ferocious being he +expected to find in a man who was wicked enough to fire a gun at his +father. He was pale, thoughtful in his look, and was rather inclined to +melancholy. Dory thought he had enough to think about, and that it was +his duty to be melancholy. + +Pearl asked him where he got the letter, and Dory said it had been given +him by a man in Plattsburgh to bring out to him. He did not wait to +answer any questions; and he felt in honor bound not to inquire into any +thing relating to Mr. Hawlinshed, father or son. + +He returned in season to attend the auction. It was like a funeral +party. Dory made the second bid for the boat. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +A BOAT WITH A BAD REPUTATION. + + +People looked at the boy as he continued to bid on the Goldwing. The +auctioneer asked him some questions touching his ability to pay for the +boat if she should be knocked off to him. Dory declared he would pay for +the Goldwing on the spot if she was sold to him, and his bid was +accepted. + +There was only one other bidder, and he looked daggers at Dory every +time he increased upon his bid. This man evidently expected to buy the +boat for fifteen or twenty dollars, and that there would be no one to +bid against him. When the figures reached thirty dollars, the other +bidder protested that he was bidding against nothing, for no one +supposed that a mere boy could pay for the boat. Until this time Dory +had not seen the other person who wanted the Goldwing. + +"If he don't pay, Mr. Hawlinshed," said the auctioneer, "we will put it +up again, and then you can get the boat at your own price; for there +don't appear to be anybody else that wants the craft." + +When Dory heard the name of the other bidder, he turned, and saw that it +was Pearl Hawlinshed. He was greatly surprised, and in his confusion he +came very near letting the auctioneer knock off the boat to his rival in +the contest for the Goldwing. But he put in another bid; and Pearl +followed him up sharply until forty dollars was reached, when he +declared that he would not give any more for the boat. Then it was +knocked off to Dory at forty-two dollars. + +Pearl Hawlinshed looked at the purchaser very savagely, as though he had +done him an ill turn in bidding for the boat. But there was still a hope +that he could not pay for it. Dory went into the cabin of the Goldwing, +and counted out the money; for he did not care to show all he had in his +wallet. He was out of sight but a moment; for his money was all in +ten-dollar bills, except the five which he had changed to pay for his +breakfast. + +"Here is the money," said Dory, tendering the amount to the auctioneer. +"Please to give me a receipt." + +"You have lost the boat, Hawlinshed," said the auctioneer, as he took +the money. "If you will come into the steamer office, I will give you a +receipt, young man. What is the name?" + +"Theodore Dornwood." + +"Do you live in Plattsburgh?" + +"No, sir: in Burlington." + +"Are you buying the boat for yourself?" + +"You may make the receipt out to me," replied Dory. + +"He is buying her for some other person," said Pearl Hawlinshed. "I +should like to know who it is." + +The auctioneer did not ask any more questions, but led the way into the +steamboat office, where he gave the required receipt. Dory felt that he +was now the owner of the Goldwing. If he had owned one of the Champlain +steamers, he would not have felt any better. He was anxious to get on +board of her, and start her on the way to Burlington. As he went out of +the office, he found Pearl Hawlinshed at the door. + +"Are you not the boy that brought me a letter this morning?" asked he, +looking at the new owner of the Goldwing with a scowl. + +"I carried a letter to you this morning," replied Dory, not particularly +pleased with the manner of Pearl. + +"Where did you get that letter?" demanded Pearl in a very lordly and +overbearing tone. + +"A man gave it to me; and I promised to give it to you myself," answered +Dory. "That is the whole of it, and nothing more need be said about the +matter." + +"You said you were buying this boat for another man," continued Pearl. + +"I didn't say so. I have not said any thing about who I was buying her +for," replied Dory, moving towards the side of the wharf where the +Goldwing lay. + +"Yes, you did! Don't lie about it," said Pearl in a very offensive way. + +"I said nothing of the kind," added Dory. + +"Didn't he say he was buying the Goldwing for another man, Mr. Green?" +continued Pearl, appealing to the auctioneer. + +"No, he did not, Hawlinshed," answered the auctioneer. "I asked him if +he was buying the boat for himself, and he said I might make out the +receipt to him. That was all that was said about it." + +"Well, it is all the same thing: he gave the inference that he was +acting for somebody else. I should like to know who you bought her for," +persisted Pearl. + +"I have bought the boat, and paid for her; and I have nothing more to +say about the matter," replied Dory sharply, as he walked towards the +boat. + +"This is a matter that concerns me, and I want to know about it," added +Pearl, following the new owner of the Goldwing to the boat. "You brought +me a letter this morning; and now you have bought this boat, when I was +the only man in this vicinity that thought of such a thing as buying the +Goldwing." + +"What has the boat to do with the letter?" asked Dory, who thought it +was a little strange that he had come in contact with the son of his new +friend in connection with the Goldwing. + +"That is what I want to know," answered Pearl gruffly. "You see, I don't +believe that a boy like you--for you don't look like the son of a +gentleman--came over here from Burlington to buy that boat. If anybody +over there had wanted her, he wouldn't have sent a boy over here to buy +her for him." + +"You can believe any thing you like about it," added Dory, as he stepped +into the standing-room of the Goldwing. + +"I want to know who gave you that letter," said Pearl, pushing the +matter. + +"I suppose the man that wrote it gave it to me. You got the letter, and +you ought to know more about it than I do." + +"I know all about him." + +"Then I can't tell you any thing." + +"But I want to connect that man with this boat." + +"You can connect them if you like. Was there any thing about the +Goldwing in the letter?" asked Dory, who was quite as much puzzled as +Pearl appeared to be. + +"None of your business whether there was or not?" exclaimed Pearl +savagely; and the letter was evidently not a pleasant topic to him. "I +am not here to answer questions." + +"Nor I either; and here we are equal," replied Dory, as he took the +tiller of the sailboat from the forward cuddy, and inserted it in the +rudder-head. + +"The man that gave you that letter got you to buy this boat for him," +said Pearl. "He knew I wanted her, if you did not." + +"The man that wrote that letter never said a word to me about this boat, +or any other; and I did not buy her for him," replied Dory, startled by +the statement of the waspish young man. + +Dory was afraid the events of the day might connect him with the elder +Mr. Hawlinshed, who had taken the steamer for the south while he was +absent in delivering the letter. He had come to the conclusion that +Pearl Hawlinshed was a "hard case," as he must be, or he could not have +assaulted his father in the woods. There was plainly a quarrel between +father and son, and he did not wish to know any thing more about it. All +he cared about the matter was to keep the secret inviolate. + +"I suppose if you did it you would lie about it," added Pearl. + +"You should not judge me by yourself," added Dory quietly. + +"Don't give me any of your impudence, or there will be a broken head +round here somewhere," snarled Pearl. + +Dory did not want a broken head, and he did not want to give the son of +his friend a broken head; and he did not want to quarrel with the +waspish fellow. He concluded that it would be the wisest policy to say +no more, and he went on with his preparations for getting the boat under +way. The wind was blowing very fresh from the north-west. + +The Goldwing had a bad reputation in Plattsburgh, and he had his doubts +about going across the lake in her. He could see the white-caps down +Cumberland Bay, and he decided to put a reef in the mainsail. Pearl +Hawlinshed was not disposed to leave. He had obtained no satisfaction +from the purchaser of the Goldwing, and he evidently believed there was +some trickery by which he had been prevented from purchasing the boat at +his own price. + +"That boat will drown you if you go out in her to-day," said Pearl; and +he seemed to realize some satisfaction from the prospect. + +"I may not go out in her to-day," replied Dory, glancing at the +white-caps down the bay. + +"You were a fool to buy her," added Pearl. + +"Am I a greater fool than you would have been if you had bought her?" +asked Dory. + +"I know just what she wants to make her all right." + +"So do I." + +Just then a small steamer was seen coming up the bay. She was laboring +heavily in the rough waves, and both of them gave their attention to +her. She was evidently in the hands of a skipper who did not know how to +manage her. The wind had breezed up within an hour, and she had been +caught out in the lake. She was within half a mile of the wharf; but +Pearl Hawlinshed declared that she would go to the bottom before she +reached the pier. + +He was quite excited about the steamer, and left the Goldwing to walk +down to the end of the wharf, where he could get a better view of the +struggling craft. Dory was glad to see him move off. He was as glad to +get rid of him as Sindbad was of the Old Man of the Sea. He did not like +Pearl: in fact, from what he knew of him, he hated him. + +Dory had already hoisted his reefed mainsail. It was shaking and +pounding with tremendous energy, as he sat in the standing-room, waiting +to decide whether or not he should put out into the lake. But he wanted +to get rid of Pearl, and he hoped he should never see him again. While +his disagreeable companion was walking down the wharf, he cast off the +bow line which held the Goldwing to the pier, and hoisted the jib. + +The sails caught the breeze, and the Goldwing darted off from the wharf +as though she had been shot from a gun; but she did not exhibit any +tendency to go over under her present sail. He ran her outside of the +breakwater; and, when he had the boat in a sheltered place, he let go +the anchor. + +He had got rid of Pearl Hawlinshed, and he was entirely satisfied with +himself on this account. He had the Goldwing by himself now, and he +immediately proceeded to make another examination of the boat and her +furnishings. He got at the ballast, and arranged it to his mind. The +fault in the rig he could not correct, but he thought he could overcome +the difficulty in this direction in carrying sail. + +"Hallo, Dory Dornwood!" + +It was the voice of Corny Minkfield; and it came from the little +steamer, which had now passed out of danger under the breakwater. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +THE ROBBERY AT THE HOTEL. + + +Pearl Hawlinshed found that his prediction in regard to the little +steamer was not verified. She did not go to the bottom in spite of her +bad management. It was no fault of her skipper that she did not, for he +had certainly done his best to sink her. Dory recognized her as a boat +that had been kept for all sorts of uses at Burlington. + +If Pearl was not satisfied with what had passed between him and the new +skipper of the Goldwing, it was too late to do any thing about it now. +The boat was off, and he was confident that her skipper had left the +wharf to avoid him; for why should he prefer to lie at anchor at the +breakwater when her former moorings were so much more convenient? + +Pearl Hawlinshed had been a wayward boy. He had worked on his father's +farm; he had tended bar at a saloon; he had worked on the steamers on +the lake; and now he evidently desired to try his hand at boating. If +the Goldwing was worth any thing, she was certainly worth forty dollars; +and it is difficult to see why he limited himself to this sum. Perhaps +he had no money to buy her, since he had failed to relieve his father of +the amount in his possession. + +The Goldwing was gone, and there was nothing to keep him on the wharf. +He walked up to the Witherill House, where his father had stopped the +night before. He was well acquainted there, and he immediately found +himself in demand as soon as he entered the office. There appeared to be +a considerable excitement about the house. + +"You are just the man I want to see, Pearl Hawlinshed," said the +landlord, as he entered the office. + +"Well, what is wanted of me?" asked Pearl. + +"Where has your father gone, Pearl?" asked the landlord, as though he +felt a great interest in the question. + +"That is more than I know," replied Pearl. + +"But he took the boat going south this morning. Don't you know where he +has gone?" + +"He is going into a lumber speculation in Lawrence County: that's all I +know about it. He is going to lose all his money if he can; and I reckon +he can," replied Pearl roughly. + +"Do you know who the boy was that was with him last night, Pearl? He was +a young fellow about fourteen years old. He came into the house with +your father, and went up-stairs with him." + +"I don't know who he is. What's the matter?" asked the graceless son, +wishing to know more before he committed himself. + +"A man was robbed of a hundred and fifty dollars in the house last +night. He had the room next to your father; and the boy was seen in the +hall about ten o'clock in the evening. We thought he might know +something about the money," replied the landlord. + +"I have no doubt he knows all about it," added Pearl, delighted to +connect the purchaser of the Goldwing with a crooked transaction; for he +had no doubt that the boy who was with his father had obtained the money +with which he bought the boat by stealing it. "This explains the whole +matter. It is all as clear as any thing can be now." + +"What is clear, Pearl?" asked the landlord. + +"The boy who was with my father last night has just purchased the +Goldwing, poor Lapham's boat; and very likely she will drown the boy +before noon, as she did Lapham." + +"What has all this to do with the robbery? I would rather have given a +hundred and fifty dollars than have the thing happen in my house. What +has the boat to do with the money lost, Pearl?" + +"Why, the boy paid cash for the boat; planked it right down on the nail +the moment the boat was knocked off to him," answered Pearl, chuckling +his satisfaction at finding Dory in such a scrape. + +"Paid cash for the boat, did he? But who is the boy? Does he belong in +Plattsburgh?" asked the landlord, beginning to see the relation of the +boat to the money. + +"The boy says his name is Theodore Dornwood, and that he lives in +Burlington." + +"Dornwood!" exclaimed the landlord. "That was the name of the pilot that +wrecked the Au Sable last night." + +"Wrecked the Au Sable?" repeated Pearl curiously. + +"Haven't you heard the news?" + +"I haven't heard any such news as that. Is she really wrecked? I used to +work on that boat," added Pearl, opening his eyes very wide. + +"Where have you been all the morning? It has got to be an old story by +this time. The Au Sable was run on shore, and sunk. No one was lost; but +several were injured,--how many, I don't know." + +"But how came she ashore? It wasn't even foggy last night," said Pearl. + +"That's the mystery. The boat ran on to a point of rocks. The report +thinks the pilot in charge was trying to run the boat over the land. His +name was Dornwood; and he must have been either drunk or asleep, or +both. But all this is neither here nor there. What about this boy? He +may be the son of this pilot for aught we know." + +"I don't know any Dornwood. He was not a pilot in her when I was on the +Au Sable." + +"How do you know that the boy who was with your father bought the +Goldwing, Pearl?" inquired the landlord, who had told his news and lost +his interest in it till another uninformed person came along. "I don't +want to accuse any person of robbing my house without the means of +proving the charge." + +"Oh, it's all straight, you may depend upon it!" replied Pearl. "I +thought the boy looked like a young rascal, and now I know that he stole +the money. Of course it is no sale, so far as the boat is concerned. How +is that?" asked Pearl, who seemed to realize for the first time, that, +if the money paid for the Goldwing was stolen, it would have to be +returned to the rightful owner. + +"I should say it would be no trade under the circumstances. But you +don't tell me how you know it was this boy that was with your father +last night in my house," said the landlord impatiently. + +"I don't know that he was in your house with my father. He was with my +father last night, for he told me so. He brought me a letter from my +father this morning. When we were bidding on the Goldwing, I found it +was the same boy. That's how I know it; and there is no mistake about +it," added Pearl. + +"It looks as though there might be something in it. At any rate we will +have the thing looked into. Where is the boy now? What has become of +him?" + +"The last I saw of him he was in the Goldwing, at anchor off the +breakwater, on the outside. I have no doubt he is going to Burlington in +the boat as soon as the weather is fit for him to sail." + +"Perhaps he has gone by this time," suggested the landlord. + +"I don't believe he has. It is blowing heavy out on the lake; and the +boy knows what sort of a boat the Goldwing is, for I warned him that she +would drown him." + +"There seems to be no doubt that the boy is the same one that went to +your father's room last night, though that don't prove that he robbed +the room of one of my guests. I should like to see the boy, and have him +explain what he has been about," added the landlord. + +"We will have him arrested if he can't tell a straight story," said +Pearl. "If you authorize me to do it, I will bring the boy up here; but +I may have to get a steamer to chase him, and there will be some expense +about it." + +"I will pay any reasonable expense," replied the landlord. "You are not +an officer, and of course you can't arrest him." + +"But I will bring him up here, whether I am an officer or not," +continued Pearl. "I am as much interested in getting him back as you +are." + +"How is that?" + +"I wanted to buy the Goldwing; and I expected to get her for about +twenty dollars, though her sails cost more than that. The young rascal +tricked me out of her. If he stole the money, it is no trade, and the +boat will have to be put up again." + +The landlord was satisfied that Pearl would bring the boy to the hotel +if it were possible. Pearl was very sure that he would do it. Without +knowing any thing particular about the Burlington boy, he had taken an +intense dislike to him; but he had no suspicion that he was the person +who had interfered with his operations in the woods the night before. He +hastened down to the wharf, where he found the little steamer that he +had seen struggling with the big waves in the lower bay. + +"You have had a rough time of it," said Pearl to a man he found on the +deck of the boat. + +"Rather rough; but we came through all right," replied the man. + +"What boat is this?" inquired the thief-taker, as he already regarded +himself. + +"This is the Missisquoi. A man in Plattsburgh bought her, and I came to +fetch her over; but he won't be here till to-morrow night," replied the +temporary skipper. "I fetched over a lot of boys from Burlington, and +they made things lively on the way." + +"Do you know a boy in Burlington by the name of Theodore Dornwood?" +asked Pearl. + +"Well, I guess I do. Everybody that has any thing to do with boats in +Burlington knows all about him. He is a little wild, but he is as smart +as a steel trap," replied Captain Vesey, as he was called by courtesy. + +"Is he an honest boy?" asked Pearl, as though that were a matter of the +utmost consequence to him. + +"I guess he is. He is worth two of his father, who was the pilot on duty +on board of the Au Sable last night, and tried to take the boat across a +p'int of land. He didn't make out, and I guess it will be a bad job for +him." + +"Where are the boys you brought over?" inquired Pearl, looking about the +boat for them. + +"You see, they came over here on a lark, and will have to get back the +best way they can. We found Dory in a sailboat, anchored off the +breakwater. The boys wanted me to put them aboard of her, and I did. +Dory says he is going to sail the boat to Burlington, and the rest of +the boys are going with him. They are the wildest set of boys on the +lake." + +"I suppose you don't object to earning five dollars with this boat +before you deliver her to her owner?" suggested Pearl in an indifferent +sort of way. + +"I guess not," said Captain Vesey, with a broad grin on his face. "I +never object to making five dollars, or one dollar, for that matter." + +"I want to see Dory Dornwood on some particular business; and, if you +will put me on board of his boat, I will give you five dollars," said +Pearl in an insinuating tone. + +Captain Vesey was ready to do it. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE MAN THAT LOOKED THROUGH THE KEYHOLE. + + +Pearl Hawlinshed had not looked to see if the Goldwing was where he had +last seen her, outside of the breakwater. The water was unusually low on +the lake; and, though he saw the topmasts of several boats beyond the +breakwater, he was unable to determine whether or not any of them +belonged to the Goldwing. Captain Vesey had seen no boat go out, and +Pearl concluded that she was still at anchor. + +Pearl made his trade with the acting skipper of the little steamer, +which was hardly more than a steam-launch. Mr. Button the engineer, who +was to remain in the employ of the new owner, was wiping the water off +the machinery. He was called, and informed of the arrangement with +Pearl. To the astonishment of both, he refused to move the Missisquoi +from the wharf. + +"I reckon the boat is in my care until she is delivered to the new +owner," argued Captain Vesey. + +"It don't make any difference to me whose care she is in. I won't go out +with a man who don't know any more about handling a boat than you do, +Captain Vesey," replied Mr. Button warmly. "It was only by a miracle +that we got over here at all. I expected to go to the bottom every +minute of the time until we got inside of the breakwater." + +"I reckon I know how to handle a steamboat as well as the next man," +returned Captain Vesey indignantly. + +"That depends upon how much the next man knows about a tug-boat. If the +next man don't know any more about it than you do, I don't want to run +the engine for him." + +Pearl could not help being on the engineer's side of the controversy. He +and Dory had agreed that the captain of the Missisquoi did not +understand his business. But Pearl Hawlinshed believed that he knew all +about a steamer, and all about the lake. He considered himself competent +to command one of the large steamers. + +"I am going with you, Mr. Button, and it will be five dollars in your +pocket, as well as the captain's," interposed Pearl, who was disposed to +be liberal with the landlord's money. + +"My life is worth something to me; or at any rate it is to my family," +replied Mr. Button doubtfully. "Do you know about handling such a boat +as this?" + +"I know all about it: I used to sail in the Au Sable," replied Pearl +confidently. + +Mr. Button was doubtless a good engineer, but he was not a very shrewd +man. If he had been, he would have asked in what capacity the applicant +for the use of the Missisquoi served on board of the Au Sable. Possibly +Pearl would have evaded the question, or lied about the matter, for he +had simply been a waiter in the cabin for a few weeks. But Pearl thought +he knew all about a steamer, and all about the navigation of the lake. + +"If you are a steamboat man I have no objection to taking the boat out," +added the engineer. "It is a very rough day on the lake, and one has to +know something about handling a boat in such big waves." + +"But I am the captain of this boat, and I reckon I don't want any boss +over me," interposed Captain Vesey at this point. + +"We shall have no trouble," added Pearl, as he walked aft with the +captain. "I shall not meddle with your management of the boat. I only +said what I did to quiet the engineer." + +But the boat had to take in a supply of fuel, for which Pearl promised +to pay out of the landlord's pocket. She could not leave for a couple of +hours. Pearl wanted to go back to the hotel, and attend to some matters +in connection with his mission which he had forgotten. + +"I am to pay you five dollars, and the engineer five dollars, when you +put me on board of the Goldwing," said Pearl, as he was about to leave +the boat. "Is that the trade?" + +"That's it," replied the engineer; and so answered the captain. + +Pearl walked up the pier, and then went down the railroad till he could +see outside of the breakwater. He found the Goldwing lay at anchor in +the place she had chosen at first. Ten dollars would be a good sum to +pay if the Missisquoi was obliged to take him only out to the +breakwater. But, the sooner he brought Dory on shore, the sooner the +Goldwing would be put up at auction again. + +He walked to the Witherill House, and informed the landlord of what he +had done, and declared that the boy who had stolen the money should be +handed over to him in a couple of hours. The hotel-keeper did not object +to the expense; but he wished his representative to be careful how he +managed the business, for it was by no means certain that the boy had +taken the money. + +"I am as certain of it as I am of my own existence," replied Pearl +warmly. "I have found out something about the boy since I was here. He +has the reputation of being wild, and no one sent him over here to buy a +boat. And a fellow like him don't have forty or fifty dollars to invest +in boats." + +"All that may be; but you can be careful just as well as not," added the +landlord. + +"He is nothing but a young cub, and has no friends, so that nothing will +come of it if he shouldn't happen to be the thief." + +"If he has no one to defend him, so much the more reason why he should +be fairly dealt with," replied the hotel-keeper,--a sentiment with +which Pearl Hawlinshed had no sympathy. "I have seen Moody since you +went out, and he says a man was looking into the keyhole of the room +next to his about ten o'clock last evening. That was your father's room. +Have you any idea who that man was, Hawlinshed?" + +"I haven't the least idea in the world," answered Pearl; and possibly +the landlord did not notice his confusion when he replied, "Very likely +it was this same boy." + +"It wasn't a boy, but a man: I asked Moody particularly about this +matter." + +"I don't know any thing about the matter at all," protested Pearl. "If +the man that lost the money saw any thing of this kind, why didn't he +tell of it before?" + +"I asked him this question, and he says he did not think of it before. +The fact of it is, that Moody had been drinking, though he sticks to it +that he wasn't drunk. He went into his room at about ten o'clock, and +put the money into his trunk, for he was afraid he might lose it. He saw +the man looking in at the keyhole of your father's room when he went +into his own to put the money in a safe place. He heard voices in the +next room when he opened his trunk. The boy was with your father at that +time very likely." + +"If the man had been drinking, it is not probable that he knows much +about the boy or the man," added Pearl. + +"He had not got very tipsy, or he would not have thought to look out for +his money. But bring the boy up, if you can get him without violence or +outrage. If he explains where he got the money to buy the boat, that is +the end of the matter so far as he is concerned. In my opinion the man +who was looking in at the keyhole of your father's room is more likely +to be the thief than the boy." + +"Where did the boy get forty-two dollars to pay for the boat, then?" +demanded Pearl. + +"I give it up," laughed the landlord. "But we are likely to know +something more about the case before dinner-time. I called in Peppers, +who used to be a detective in New York City; and he is at work on the +case now." + +"What did you do that for?" demanded Pearl, who did not seem to relish +the information. "You set me at work on the case; and now you have +called in another person to attend to it, after I have engaged a +steamer." + +"All I asked you to do was to bring the boy in to be questioned. Peppers +won't interfere with any thing that you may do," replied the landlord, +not a little surprised at the objection of Pearl. + +"What is Peppers doing?" asked Pearl uneasily. + +"I don't know what he is doing: at least, I don't know much about it, +and he told me not to tell what I did know." + +"But you can tell me, for I am at work on the case," said Pearl in a +coaxing tone. + +"No: I won't tell you any thing. You won't interfere with each other, +and it is best for each of you to work on his own hook," replied the +hotel-keeper, as he turned to attend to a guest who wished to speak to +him. + +Pearl saw that it was useless to press the matter any farther; and he +was evidently very much disturbed about the turn the investigation had +taken during his absence. He was particularly anxious to know what the +detective was about, but he was unable to obtain any information from +any person. He returned to the steamboat wharf. When he came in sight of +the breakwater, he was not a little startled to see the Goldwing dart +out from behind the structure, with only a small jib and a reefed +mainsail. + +He was startled; because not more than an hour had elapsed since he left +the Missisquoi, and he expected it would be another hour before she +would be ready to go in pursuit of the Goldwing. The latter could sail +like the wind if she would only keep right side up, and she would get a +long start of the steamer. Besides, Pearl did not like the looks of the +big waves on the lake any better than Mr. Button had; and he was not +altogether sure that he could manage her any better than Captain Vesey +had done. + +The Goldwing was running from the end of the breakwater over towards the +main shore, and it was possible that Dory intended to make a landing at +Plattsburgh. But it was not more than a quarter of a mile from the +breakwater to the shore, and he could soon tell what she intended to do. +He hastened down the railroad to settle this point. In the furious +breeze that was blowing, the Goldwing seemed to leap over the water. If +she intended to go up to the wharf from which she had started, she would +have to tack in a moment. + +Pearl ran with all his might; for it occurred to him that if he could +induce Dory to come on shore and go up to the hotel with him, he might +save the ten dollars he had agreed to give the captain and engineer, and +contrive some way to have it stick in his own pocket. The Goldwing ran +within a hundred feet of the shore, and Pearl got behind a car on a side +track to ascertain what she intended to do. + +Gradually her main sheet was let off, and the Goldwing was headed to the +southward. This settled the matter. The boat was not going back to the +wharf. Her skipper had evidently run her over in that direction in order +to get her under the lee of the shore, where she would not get the full +force of the wind. + +"Hallo! on board of the Goldwing!" shouted Pearl, as he ran to the +water's edge, yelling as loud as he could. + +"On shore!" replied Dory, "what do you want?" + +"You are wanted at the hotel," replied Pearl. + +Dory discovered by this time who it was that hailed him; and he took no +further notice of Pearl, who hastened to the wharf. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +THE COLCHESTER CLUB CHANGES ITS NAME. + + +"What in the world are you doing over here, fellows?" asked Dory +Dornwood, as the four passengers of the Missisquoi tumbled in over the +stern of the Goldwing. + +"And what under the breezes of Lake Champlain are you doing in this +boat?" shouted Thad Glovering, who was the first to get a footing in the +standing-room of the Goldwing. + +"What boat is it?" asked Nat Long in a blustering manner. + +"What are you going to do with her, Dory?" demanded Dick Short. + +"Can't you take us over to Burlington in her?" queried Corny Minkfield. + +"How many questions do you think I can answer at once, fellows?" replied +Dory. "I am going over to Burlington as soon as the weather is fit; and +you can go with me if you like." + +"All right, Dory! Hurrah for Dory Dornwood! You are all right, and so +are we: only we are half starved, for we haven't had any breakfast this +morning," said Thad Glovering. + +It must be confessed that the party that arrived in the Missisquoi were +not very promising-looking boys. They had a wild, harum-scarum +appearance and manner, which fully justified the description Captain +Vesey had given of them. In a word, they were evidently wild boys; and +in this respect they did not differ much from Dory himself. + +They are the boat-builders whose exploits and achievements are to be +recorded, and they may as well be introduced at this as at any other +time. Thad Glovering was an orphan, who lived with his uncle. As this +relative had several children of his own, the added one was a burden to +him, for he had but small wages. Thad declared that he was willing to +work; but up to this time nothing had been found for him to do. The +worst that could be said of him was that he was wild. + +[Illustration: "THE FOUR PASSENGERS TUMBLED IN OVER THE STERN OF THE +GOLDWING." PAGE 87.] + +Nat Long's father was a deck-hand on a steamer; and, as he was away most +of the time, Nat was permitted to have his own way. His mother was dead; +and his older sister, who had the care of the family, found herself +unable to control him. He was not a confirmed bad boy, and had worked +for a year in one place, and done very well. A change in the business +had thrown him out of work, and he had been unable to find another +situation. Idleness led him into mischief; and, without some kind of +control, it was only a question of time when he got into the hands of +the law for some crime. + +Dick Short and Corny Minkfield were the sons of widows, both of whom had +some property. Their mothers were able to support them without work; but +work was the one thing they needed, whether it was with the head or the +hands. + +These five boys lived near together, and they had been cronies from +their earliest school-days. Two of them were usually well dressed; and +the others were somewhat ragged, and considerably patched, showing the +efforts of their protectors to keep them decent. They had all been to +school up to the present time, and now it was vacation; and the next +thing to be decided by their friends was what should be done with them. +Dick and Corny were to go to the high school; but the others must go to +work, and earn their own living,--do something for the support of their +parents. + +Dory had gone to work before the school closed for the summer, and all +the boys talked as though they intended to do something. But they did +not feel like going to work in vacation time. They had always had great +larks on the lake when school did not keep, and they were not disposed +to dispense with the good time the present year. + +It could not be said that one of these boys was really bad. But they +kept all kinds of company; and, in the absence of any strong controlling +force, they were in great danger of becoming "hard boys." Sometimes they +assisted about the steamers and other vessels; and, by making themselves +useful, they obtained the privilege of sailing on the lake. Their +associations were not always of the best character. They were all "smart +boys;" and wise and steady people who knew them wished they might be put +to some useful labor, or be subjected to some salutary control. Mrs. +Short and Mrs. Minkfield had both been warned of the peril of their +sons; and both had considered the means of redeeming them from the bad +company into which their habits threw them. But they had not done any +thing beyond reasoning with the boys, who always promised to mend their +ways. + +Assisted by his four cronies, Dory Dornwood had built a sort of bateau, +a flat-bottomed craft, in which they used to row about the lake near the +shore. It was a rude boat; for the young boat-builders had few tools, +and very inferior lumber for the construction of the bateau. But it +would carry them all, and Dory was the captain of the craft. She was +called the Colchester; and the boys formed a club for aquatic sports, to +which they gave the name of the boat. + +Doubtless the Colchester Club gave a great deal of satisfaction to its +members. Unfortunately the Colchester broke adrift in a September +squall, and went to pieces on Colchester Reef, as reported by the +light-keeper. No other boat could be obtained; but the members all said +that as soon as they got to work they should give a portion of their +earnings for the purchase of a suitable craft for the association. Up +to this time they had not gone to work, and the successor of the +Colchester did not appear. + +Dory proceeded to answer the questions of his fellow-members of the +Colchester Club. The boat in which they found him belonged to him; and +this was the most astounding statement he made in the course of the +interview. They opened their eyes, and stared at Captain Dory, as they +called him, in silent wonder. Then they looked the boat over with +renewed interest, and seemed to be unable to believe the statement of +their companion. + +"The Colchester Club shall have the use of her when I am on board," +added Dory magnanimously. + +"That's handsome; and we shall have the biggest kind of times," added +Thad Glovering. "I'll tell you what we'll do, fellows. We will change +the name of the club, and call it after this boat. What is her name, +Dory?" + +"You will find it on the stern, and also on the bowsprit," replied the +skipper of the Goldwing. "It isn't a bad name either." + +Two of the members of the club looked over the stern, and two others +rushed to the bow. The name was of the utmost consequence, and Dory +thought it was better for them to read it for themselves than for him to +tell it. Besides, there was a good deal of style in the way the name was +put on in the three places. + +"Goldwing!" shouted Corny Minkfield, who was the first to read the name +on the stern. "And there is a gold wing under it." + +"Goldwing!" repeated Dick Short, as he read the name on the heel of the +bowsprit. "And there is a gold wing here too." + +"Isn't that a splendid name for a boat! Goldwing!" exclaimed Nat Long. +"I don't think you could find any thing better than that if you should +study for a month." + +"Or any thing better for a club," added Thad Glovering. "The Goldwing +Club! How do you think that sounds, fellows?" + +"I don't believe any thing could sound any better," added Dick Short. +"But we haven't looked the boat over yet." + +All hands proceeded to attend to this duty at once. The Colchester had +been a rough, flat-bottomed craft, with neither shape nor comeliness +about her. Whatever first-class sailboats the members of the club had +seen had been only at a distance; and consequently their ideal of +beauty, symmetry, comfort, and convenience in a boat was not very high. +The Goldwing was perfection itself to them, though it might not have +been to more experienced observers. They were ecstatic in their praises +of the Goldwing, and did not believe there was a finer sailboat on the +lake than she was. + +"You don't mean to say that you own this craft, Dory Dornwood!" said +Thad when the party had exhausted their vocabulary of fine words +applicable to a beautiful sailboat. + +"I have said it once, and I will say it again if it will do any good," +replied Dory. "The Goldwing is mine, and she don't belong to anybody +else. You can go the last cent you've got on that." + +"Get out, Dory!" exclaimed Dick Short, punching the skipper in the ribs. +"You are selling us too cheap, Dory." + +"I'm not selling you at all!" protested Dory. "I wouldn't take +twenty-five cents apiece for you, though that would make a dollar." + +"You can't expect us to believe that you own such a magnificent boat as +this, Dory, unless you tell us where you got her," said Corny Minkfield +very seriously. + +"I can expect it, and I do expect it," added Dory, taking the +auctioneer's receipt from his pocket. "I shall prove to you that she is +mine, and without saying another word." + +Dory handed the receipt to Corny, and said nothing more. The sceptic +read the paper out loud, and of course that settled the question. There +was no room for a doubt after the reading of the receipt. + +"Forty-two dollars!" exclaimed Corny, as he handed the receipt back to +the skipper. "Judging by the cost of the Letitia, she ought to be worth +four or five hundred dollars." + +"Forty-two dollars is nothing for a boat like this," added Dick Short, +whose mother was worth money, and therefore he had less respect for +forty-two dollars than most of the other members. + +"But where did you get the forty-two dollars?" asked Thad, who had +hardly ever possessed even half a dime at one time. + +"Haven't I proved that the Goldwing is mine?" demanded Dory rather +warmly; for he did not want his fellow-members of the Goldwing Club +skirmishing about in the region of the great secret of his lifetime. +"All I have to say about it is, that I came honestly by the money, and I +don't want any more questions asked." + +Dory Dornwood, though he was rather wild, scorned to invent a lie to +explain where the money came from, as perhaps some of his companions +might have done under similar circumstances. + +The other members of the Goldwing Club looked at one another; and Nat +Long winked at Corny Minkfield, as much as to say "There is a cat in the +meal somewhere." After the imperative warning from the skipper that +nothing more was to be said about the forty-two dollars, no more +questions were asked; but it was evident that the members all kept up a +tremendous thinking on the subject. But even this matter became stale in +a few minutes in the excitement of the hour. + +"Forty-two dollars is dirt cheap for a boat like the Goldwing," said +Dory, breaking the silence. "I have no doubt she cost four or five +hundred dollars; but I ought to tell you that she has a bad name." + +"A bad name! The Goldwing?" exclaimed Thad; and all of the party seemed +to think it quite impossible that such a splendid boat as the Goldwing +could have any thing but a first-class reputation. + +"She drowned the man that owned her. She upset, and then went to the +bottom. Now, if any of you want to go on shore, you can." + +The members of the Goldwing Club looked aghast at one another. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +A WEATHER HELM AND A LEE HELM. + + +"Is the Goldwing in the habit of upsetting? Does she make a regular +thing of it?" asked Thad Glovering. + +"I have heard of her doing it twice before; though I believe she never +drowned any one but her owner," replied Dory candidly and seriously. +"But I don't want any fellow to sail in her that don't want to." + +"We can stand it as well as you can, Dory," added Corny Minkfield. "I +suppose she would drown you as easily as she would any of the rest of +us." + +"There is nothing to make any of us stand it if we don't want to," +continued Dory. "I have told you the worst of it, and there isn't any +law to make any of you sail in the Goldwing." + +"But we want to sail in her; and this is the Goldwing Club now. But we +don't want to be drowned," said Thad. "I think my uncle would like to +get rid of me, but I don't believe he would want to have me drowned." + +"I don't want to be drowned any more than you do, and I know my mother +wouldn't want any such thing to happen to me. Of course I wouldn't go +out in the Goldwing if I thought she was going to spill me into the +lake," added Dory. "I have told you the worst of it, and now you can go +ashore at Plattsburgh if you want to." + +"I am willing to take my chances if you are, Dory," replied Thad with +some hesitation. "It is blowing a young hurricane to-day, and you said +you should not go till the weather was fit." + +"I am not going to drown myself or you either, if I can help it, +fellows," Dory proceeded. "I heard about the Goldwing the last time I +was up here. I asked all about the drowning of the man that owned her, +and a boatman who saw the whole of it told me all about it." + +"How long ago was it that the man was drowned?" asked Nat Long. + +"It was about three weeks ago. The boat lay on the bottom a week before +they raised her," replied Dory. + +"Was it blowing hard when he was drowned?" inquired Corny. + +"No: it was just a good sailing-breeze. I think I know what the matter +was with the boat. I believe I can make her all right, if I have not +already done it; for I have been at work on her this morning." + +"What was the trouble with her?" asked Thad, who considered the skipper +competent to put any thing to rights about a boat. + +"She was ballasted so that she carried a lee helm," answered Dory, as +solemnly as though he settled the fate of a nation by his words. + +"Carried a lee helm!" exclaimed Dick Short. "Is that what the matter +was?" + +"Carried a lee helm!" repeated Thad. "That was bad!" + +"Carried a lee helm! If it was bad for her, she ought to have left her +lee helm on shore." + +"What did she carry it for?" asked Nat Long. + +"She carried it because she couldn't leave it behind," replied Dory. "It +is a bad habit, such as some men carry with them through life, for the +reason that they can't get rid of it." + +"I say, Dory, what is a lee helm?" asked Thad. "You know that we don't +know any thing more about sailing a boat than we do about making a +watch." + +"You used to sail Mr. Jones's boat: but we never went with you then, +Dory; and we never had any chance to learn how to sail a boat," added +Corny. "I have no more idea what a lee helm is than I have what the man +in the moon had for dinner to-day." + +"That's what's the matter with all of us," added Thad, laughing. + +"I didn't mean to bother you, fellows; but that is just what ailed the +Goldwing, and she had it bad. But any boat would have behaved in the +same way if she was not properly trimmed. I don't think Mr. +Lapham--that's the man that owned the Goldwing, and was drowned; I +couldn't think of his name before--understood a boat very well. Look +here, fellows!" + +Dory Dornwood pointed to a mast-hole in the deck, which had been +stopped. The foremast had been moved nearly two feet aft of the place +where it had been stepped by the builder. + +"The boatman told me that Mr. Lapham had changed the place of the +foremast, so that he could make room for a locker in the head. If she +had a bigger jib, it would be all right. The ballast was badly stowed, +and that is what made her carry a lee helm." + +"Now we know all about what did it, but we don't know what a lee helm +is," added Thad, laughing. "I wish you would tell us what the thing is +before you say any thing else." + +"A boat ought to carry a weather helm, though not too much of it," +replied Dory, knitting his brow as though he was struggling with a big +idea, though he was only thinking how he should make his companions +understand him. + +The other members of the Goldwing Club could pull an oar or handle a +paddle; and that was really all they knew about boating, though they +were very ambitious to learn. + +"I believe that. A boat ought to carry a weather helm. I think the +legislature ought to make a law that a boat should carry a weather helm, +and make it a state-prison offence to carry a lee helm, which is very +bad," said Corny Minkfield. + +"If you are going to do all the talking, I haven't any thing more to +say," replied Dory with dignity. + +"Don't get mad, Dory. We don't know what a weather helm is any better +than we do what a lee helm is," added Corny, as an apology for the +interruption. + +"I was going to tell you what a weather helm is; for, when you know what +one is, you will understand the other: but you keep putting your oars +in, fellows, so that I don't get a chance." + +"We won't say another word until we know what a weather helm is, and +what a lee helm is," said Thad. "Dry up, fellows! not another word." + +"A boat ought to carry a weather helm," Dory began again; and then he +paused to give his companions a chance to interrupt him. + +Corny was just going to remind him that he had said this before, when +Thad put his finger on his lips, and the remark was suppressed. Dory +looked at them all, and found that they intended to "give him the +floor;" and then he proceeded with his explanation. + +"The wind don't always blow just the same," Dory proceeded; and Corny +could hardly help making a comment on this sage remark. "I don't mean on +different days, but within the same hour. In other words, the wind don't +come steady. To-day it comes down in heavy flaws. You can see the +effect of the puffs on the top of the water. A vessel keeps tipping a +little in almost any breeze." + +The members of the Goldwing Club nodded all around to indicate that they +understood the matter so far. + +"When a flaw or puff comes," Dory continued, "it changes the course of +the boat. The helm has to be shifted to meet this change. Almost always +the tiller has to be carried to the weather side of the boat. Do you +know which the weather side of the boat is, fellows?" asked the +expounder of nautical matters. + +"It is the side the weather is on, of course," replied Corny. + +"It is the side from which the wind comes," added Thad, who thought it +was not quite fair to make fun of the remarks of the skipper when he was +doing his best to have them understand the difficulty with the Goldwing. + +"And what do you call the other side?" asked Dory. + +"The lee side, I think," answered Thad. + +"Right, Thad; and Corny was not so far out of the way as he meant to +be, for to a sailor the wind is about all there is of the weather. When +a flaw comes, and you have to carry the tiller to the weather side of +the boat to keep her on her course, that is a weather helm," Dory +proceeded. + +"I see it!" exclaimed Nat Long, as though he had made a great discovery. + +"I don't believe you do, Nat," interposed the skipper. "Suppose you +don't carry the tiller to the weather side, what will happen then?" + +"I don't know that any thing will happen," answered Nat, rather abashed +at his own ignorance. + +"That's the point of all that has been said," added Dory. + +"Well, what will happen? Will she tip over?" asked Nat. + +"That is the very thing she won't do; and that's the reason why a boat +ought to carry a weather helm, so that she won't tip over if the +helmsman don't happen to have his eyes wide open tight. If you don't put +the helm to the weather side, the head of the boat will come up to the +wind. As she comes up into the wind, it spills the sail." + +"Spills the sail!" exclaimed Corny, who could hold in no longer. "I have +heard of spilling the milk, but not of spilling a sail." + +"It means to spill the wind out of the sail," added Dory. "In other +words, it takes the wind out of the sail, and it don't press against the +sail any longer. And, if the wind don't press against the sail, of +course it won't tip the boat over." + +"That's plain enough. I understand that first-rate," said Thad. "If a +puff brings the boat up into the wind, then the wind don't bear hard on +the sail, and it won't upset the boat." + +"Now let us see how it works when a boat carries a lee helm. Instead of +coming up into the wind when a flaw strikes the sail, some boats go the +other way. The flaw crowds them off from the wind. The more she falls +off, the harder the wind presses against the sail. If the puff throws +the head of the boat far enough from the wind, it will blow square +against it; and, if there is enough of it, it will upset any boat. Then, +if you have to put the helm away from the wind in order to keep the +course, that's a lee helm; and it's a dangerous thing in any boat, +though it can generally be easily corrected if the skipper understands +the matter." + +"I see it," said Thad. "I suppose the owner of this boat did not +understand it." + +"They say he was obstinate about it, and would not take the advice of +those who did understand the matter," added Dory. "I have shifted the +ballast; and I think the Goldwing will work all right now, though I wish +the foremast was in the old hole." + +The members of the club declared that they understood the matter +perfectly. They were willing to return to Burlington in the Goldwing if +it could be shown that she carried a weather helm. When the skipper had +finished his explanation, he went forward, and took another look at the +hole which had been stopped. He found a shingling hatchet in the cuddy, +and with this he attempted to drive out the filling of the mast-hole. +After a deal of pounding, he succeeded in the attempt. + +He lost no time in demolishing the locker in the head which Mr. Lapham +had fitted there. For an hour he worked very diligently, assisted by all +the other members of the club; and the foremast was transferred to the +hole the builder had intended it should occupy. The stays were adjusted +again with the greatest care on the part of the skipper, and made +strong enough for the heavy weather that prevailed on the lake. + +"Isn't there any thing to eat on board, Dory?" asked Thad. "We are +almost starved." + +There was not a morsel of food on board, but Dory said he would go over +to the town if he could. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +THE MISSISQUOI IN PURSUIT. + + +Of course Dory Dornwood had no suspicion of what had transpired on shore +since he departed in the Goldwing. The hunger of the other members of +the club reminded him that he might make a long passage to Burlington, +or that he might be compelled to lie at anchor for a whole day before it +was safe to cross the lake in the present state of the weather. He might +be hungry himself as well as his companions, and he had not thought to +lay in a stock of provisions for the voyage. + +For this reason he was all the more willing to land at Plattsburgh. He +hoisted the reefed mainsail again, and directed a couple of the party to +get up the anchor. The Goldwing darted off at a furious rate, as she had +before, when the fresh breeze filled her sails. She took the wind on her +quarter at first; but Dory soon braced her up as she rounded the +southerly beacon at the end of the breakwater, and headed the boat for +the main shore. + +"How does she work now, Dory?" asked Thad when the boat was on her +course. "Does she carry a lee helm?" + +"Not at all. It takes all my strength to keep her from luffing up," +replied the skipper. + +"There's another new word," added Corny Minkfield. "What in the world +does 'luffing up' mean?" + +"'To luff' is to come into the wind. I mean by that, to turn the head of +the boat in the direction from which the wind comes," replied Dory. "But +what she does under her present sail don't settle the question. I took +the bonnet off the jib before I left the wharf this morning." + +"The bonnet!" shouted Corny. "Does the boat wear a bonnet?" + +"Of course she does. You never made the mistake of putting a boat in the +masculine gender. You always say 'she' in speaking of a boat; and of +course she wears a bonnet when she goes out." + +"But when the weather is bad you take the bonnet off; and that is not +the way the ladies do," suggested Thad. + +"In rough weather the bonnet makes it all the rougher," added Dory. "The +bonnet is a continuation of the jib, laced to the lower part of the +sail. Taking off the bonnet amounts to the same thing as reefing the +sail." + +"Reefing the sail is taking in a part of the sheet by tying it up in a +fold," said Nat Long, looking very wise. + +"Not much!" answered the skipper. + +"That's what my father told me; and he is a deck-hand on board of the +Champlain," persisted Nat. + +"I don't believe he said any thing of the kind, Nat. Taking up a part of +the sheet by tying it into a fold would be a queer operation. Do you run +away with the idea that the jib is a sheet?" + +"I don't run away with the idea; but of course a sail is a sheet." + +"Not at all. This is a sheet," answered Dory, raising the main sheet, +the end of which he held in his left hand, while he steered with his +right. + +"How can that be a sheet when it is a rope?" demanded Nat incredulously. + +"You are thinking of the sheets between which you sleep. In a boat all +sheets are ropes. This is the main sheet, because it is fastened to the +main boom,--the stick at the lower part of the sail. This is the jib +sheet," continued Dory, indicating the rope attached to the lower part +of the jib, which led aft into the standing-room, where the helmsman +could haul it in or let it off as occasion required. + +"There is a man hailing us from the shore," said Thad, as Pearl +Hawlinshed called to Dory from the railroad. + +"I don't want to see that man," said Dory, recognizing the voice of the +disagreeable man from whom he had fled when he left the wharf. + +"Do you know him?" asked Thad. + +"I never saw him until this morning. He bid against me for this boat, +and he is mad because he didn't get it," replied the skipper. "I think +he means to do me mischief if he can, and he can't if I keep out of his +way." + +He could not answer any questions without endangering his great secret. +He was on the point of tacking when he heard the call. To go up to the +wharf would be to fall into the company of Pearl, and he decided not to +do it. Instead of coming about, he let off the sheets, and headed the +Goldwing to the southward. + +"You are going the wrong way, Dory," said Thad. + +"I don't care about going on shore at Plattsburgh again, fellows; but we +will get something to eat at Port Jackson," replied Dory, without +explaining his reason for not wishing to land at the town. + +"But we shall starve to death before you get there," protested Corny. +"We have not had a mouthful of any thing to eat to-day. Captain Vesey +said we might go with him if we would be on board at five o'clock in the +morning, and we had no chance to get any breakfast." + +"I am sorry I can't do any thing for you just now; but it is only six +miles to Port Jackson, and I think we shall be there in about an hour," +replied Dory. "I think the fellow that hailed me is wicked enough to get +this boat away from me if he can; and I don't care about meeting him +again." + +The members of the Goldwing Club settled down in the most comfortable +places they could find. A couple of them took possession of the berths +in the cuddy, and two others stretched themselves on the seats in the +standing-room. They were not so wild as Captain Vesey had reported them +to be on the passage from Burlington. They were faint and hungry; for it +was now nearly noon, and the voyagers in the Missisquoi had fasted the +greater part of twenty-four hours. + +The Goldwing was under the lee of the land, where there was no sea; but +the wind came in very sharp puffs, as the openings in the shore exposed +the boat to the unsteady blast. But she carried so little sail that she +went along very easily, and showed no more tendency to upset than any +well-built boat would in such puffy weather. The party on board saw +nothing in her behavior to warrant the bad reputation she had +established. + +Three miles brought the boat to Bluff Point; and the shore was so +elevated here, that the skipper stood farther out into the lake so that +he might not lose the wind. The Goldwing behaved so well, that Dory was +beginning to have a great deal of confidence in her, so that he did not +hesitate to venture farther from the shore. + +The schooner appeared to be making about six miles an hour. Passing +between Valcour's Island and the main land, the Goldwing arrived at +Port Jackson inside of an hour; but, before the boat entered the little +bay on which the port is situated, the boys had another sensation. Dory +had hardly thought of looking astern in the run of the Goldwing down +from Plattsburgh. + +"There's a steamer coming down the same way we did," said Dick Short, as +he rose from his place on the seat, just as the schooner was going into +the port. "It looks just like the Missisquoi." + +"It is the Missisquoi," added Thad, after he had surveyed the boat. + +"It certainly looks like her," said Dory, who was trying to make out +what this appearance meant. + +His companions had told him the destination of the Missisquoi; and he +was satisfied that she could have no business in this part of the lake, +as she was to be used in towing lumber in the north. He had seen the +little steamer go up to the wharf where the Goldwing lay. He could not +get rid of the idea that her present trip to the southward was in some +way connected with him, and that Pearl Hawlinshed was on board of her. + +But he could not disappoint the hungry clubbists again, and he ran the +schooner into the bay. He immediately informed his passengers that he +could remain at the port but a few minutes. He was going up to the store +to obtain provisions for the boat, and would give them something to eat +as soon as she was under way again. Then it appeared that only one of +them had any money,--Corny Minkfield, whose mother had given him +permission to make the trip over to Plattsburgh,--and he had only half a +dollar. + +Corny went with Dory to the store. They bought a large supply of bread +and crackers, a salt fish, and finally the storekeeper offered to part +with a ham he had cooked for the use of his own family. Half a small +cheese was added to the stock of provisions, which Dory paid for, and +they hastened back to the wharf. + +"Have you seen any thing of that steamer?" asked Dory, as he came within +hailing distance of his companions. + +"She has not shown herself yet," replied Thad. + +"We have been gone longer than I intended, for the boiled ham took more +time than all the rest of the things," replied Dory, as he and Corny +deposited their joint burden on the forward deck of the Goldwing. "The +Missisquoi was this side of Crab Island when I saw her, and she can't be +far off." + +"What do we care for the Missisquoi now?" asked Corny. + +"Cast off that bow line, Dick Short," added Dory, without answering the +question. + +The skipper shoved the schooner off from the wharf, and told Dick to +hoist the jib. Heading the Goldwing to the eastward, Dory stood out of +the harbor. The boat was hardly under way before the Missisquoi put in +an appearance at the northern entrance of the bay. Dory kept on his +course after he had calculated the point at which the steamer was likely +to come nearest to him. + +"There she is!" exclaimed several of the club in the same breath. "She +is striking in ahead of us." + +The Missisquoi was less than a quarter of a mile from the Goldwing. It +could plainly be seen that there were two men in her pilot-house; and +Dory was confident that Pearl Hawlinshed was one of them. His intentions +were certainly very serious if he had gone to the expense of hiring a +steamer to chase him. Probably he had found some way to break up the +sale of the Goldwing. But, whatever his mission, the skipper did not +want to see him. He was too closely connected with the secret of the +night before to come any nearer to him. He decided, that, if the son of +his liberal friend succeeded in "interviewing" him, he would have to run +for it. + +"I don't understand what that fellow wants of you, Dory," said Corny +Minkfield. + +"And I don't understand it any better than you do," replied Dory. "All I +have to say about it is, that I don't like the looks of the fellow, and +I mean to keep out of his way. Pass round the grub, Corny." + +Dory thought the food would stop their mouths, and it did. His +fellow-voyagers asked no more questions, for they were too busy with the +provisions to give attention to any thing else. + +As the Goldwing went out from the land, she began to feel the force of +the wind, and she darted ahead under the influence of the sharp puffs. A +few minutes later the Goldwing passed the bow of the Missisquoi not more +than forty rods from her. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +THE BEGINNING OF THE CHASE. + + +"Goldwing, ahoy!" shouted Pearl Hawlinshed from the bow of the +Missisquoi. "I want you, Dory Dornwood!" + +The skipper of the Goldwing decided to take no notice of the dangerous +man. The other members of the club were so deeply interested in filling +their empty stomachs that they gave no attention to the call of Pearl. +The provisions had been taken into the cuddy, and Corny was helping his +companions. Those who were not in the cabin were sitting on the floor of +the standing room, and they could not see the Missisquoi. + +"Don't you hear me? I say, I want to see you, Dory Dornwood!" shouted +Pearl again with all his might. + +Dory could see that those in charge of the Missisquoi were not managing +the chase very well. Instead of steering the steamer to a point ahead +of the Goldwing, Captain Vesey had run her directly for her. If the +schooner had come to when directed to do so, as the captain of her +evidently expected, it would have been all right. As it was, the +Goldwing had made the eighth of a mile by the blunder. + +Dory had practically intimated to his pursuer, that, if he wanted him, +he must come after him. He knew that the steamer could not make more +than eight miles an hour at her best, and she was not likely to do as +well as this in the heavy sea of the lake out from the shore. The +skipper of the Goldwing did not expect to outsail the Missisquoi under +his present short sail. + +When Pearl saw that Dory had no intention of coming to and waiting for +him to go on board of the schooner, he called to Captain Vesey to follow +the Goldwing. Instead of doing so, he rang his bell to stop the engine. +Dory could not hear what passed between the captain and his passenger; +but he was aware that an animated discussion was in progress on board of +the steamer. + +The Goldwing was certainly behaving very well for a boat with such a bad +reputation. Dory had been gaining confidence in her ability every +moment of the time since she left the breakwater. It was evident to him +that sailing on the wind was her weak point, or rather her dangerous +one. But she had the wind on her port quarter at present; and Dory did +not care to run her directly before the wind, as he would have been +obliged to do if he had taken a direct course for Burlington. + +The skipper no longer doubted the ability of the Goldwing to cross the +lake, violent as the sea was at a distance from the shore. He headed her +for Garden Island, nearly half a mile south of Valcour's Island, which +sheltered the boat from the full force of the strong wind. From Garden +Island to Providence Island, off the south-western extremity of South +Hero, it was only two miles and a half. Not more than half of this +distance would be through the roughest water; for Valcour's sheltered a +considerable portion of the course. + +Dory wondered what the discussion between the captain and the passenger +of the Missisquoi was all about. He judged that the master of the +steamer was not willing to follow the Goldwing any farther. He hoped +they would continue the dispute for a while longer. If they did, he +should be out of their reach in a short time; for he was confident the +schooner was making at least six miles an hour. + +But the skipper was not to be fully gratified; for the next time he +looked about at the steamer, she was under way again, and with her bow +pointed to the Goldwing. She was half a mile astern of the schooner, and +this was a considerable distance for her to gain. But Dory began to feel +the excitement of the race, for it was evident that there was to be a +race. + +The high land at the southern end of Valcour's Island was making it +altogether too mild for the Goldwing, for the Missisquoi was evidently +gaining very rapidly upon her. Dory started the sheets, and ran to the +southward, where he could get more wind. The steamer promptly changed +her course, and followed the schooner. It was plain that Captain Vesey +or Pearl Hawlinshed, whichever was managing the steamer, had no idea of +using any thing like tact or stratagem in the chase. Probably the pilot +did not consider that any thing of the kind was necessary, and that the +steamer ought to overhaul the sailboat simply by outsailing her. + +By this time the other members of the Goldwing Club had eaten all they +could, and their occupation became uninteresting. Corny put the +provisions into a locker in the cabin, and there was enough left for two +or three meals more. First one stood up, and then another, until all had +taken a view of the Missisquoi. + +"The steamer is chasing you, Dory," said Thad, as though he had made a +discovery. "She is following us with all her might." + +"I know it," replied Dory, looking behind him at the steamer. + +"What is she chasing us for?" asked Corny. + +"She wants to catch us," added Dory. + +"Is it to find out whether she can beat the Goldwing?" asked Nat. "She's +a steamer, and she ought to beat her every time." + +"Perhaps she ought to, but I don't intend that she shall." + +"You don't expect to run away from a steamer, do you, Dory?" said Dick +Short. + +"I don't expect to let her catch us; but it will depend upon how fast +that steamer can go," added Dory. + +"But what does she want to catch us for, Dory?" persisted Corny, +repeating the question he had put before. + +"I thought I told you about it. The man in the bow wanted to buy the +Goldwing. I bid over him, and got the boat. That made him mad. This is +all I know about the reason for his chasing us. He is a wicked fellow, +and I think he means to do me harm. All I want to do is to keep out of +his way," replied Dory. "I don't know what he wants of me, and you are +just as wise as I am. We won't say any thing more about that matter." + +"Of course he will catch you," added Thad. "Who ever heard of such a +thing as a sailboat running away from a steamer?" + +"No matter whether we ever heard of such a thing or not, we are going to +try it now," replied Dory. "But I can't have you fellows flying about +all over the boat any longer. Two of you sit on each side of me, and I +think there will be fun in this thing before we get through with it." + +"All right, Dory: you are the captain of this ship, and we will do just +what you say," replied Corny. + +The boys disposed of themselves as the skipper directed, and sat as +still as they could, which was not saying much. But Dory was satisfied +that they would keep still enough as soon as the boat got a little more +to the eastward, where she would feel the full force of the strong +breeze. + +"She is gaining on us, Dory," said Thad; and he and his companions were +watching the Missisquoi all the time. They were beginning to get excited +over the race, though they seemed to be sure that it would soon come to +an end by the steamer overtaking the Goldwing. + +"I expect her to gain on us while we are here in still water; but I +think she will roll a great deal more than the Goldwing when we get out +into the lake," replied Dory. + +"Creation! didn't she roll coming over from Burlington?" exclaimed +Corny. "I thought she was going to roll clear over. Mr. Button the +engineer said Captain Vesey did not know how to handle her." + +"Don't you expect that the Goldwing will roll in the big waves?" asked +Thad. + +"Of course she will; but she sits lighter on the water than that +steamer, and she won't dive into the waves so deep. But wait, and we +shall soon see what we can do," replied Dory. "You fellows have eaten +all you can, and I have not had any thing since my breakfast early this +morning." + +"I will steer for you, Dory, while you eat your dinner," proposed Corny. + +"Did you ever steer a sailboat, Corny?" asked Dory with a smile. + +"I never did; but I think I can do it," replied the volunteer. + +"I would rather have you make a beginning when it don't blow quite so +hard. If the Goldwing is going to upset, I want to know how it is done." + +No one in the party had ever sailed a boat, and the skipper was not +willing to resign the helm to any of them. At his request Corny brought +him something to eat, and he disposed of it while he kept his place at +the helm. By the time he had finished his first slice of ham, and a +corresponding portion of bread and cheese, the Goldwing was up with +Garden Island. The skipper, for his own purposes, had run to the west of +it. Although he felt like disposing of another slice of ham, he was too +much interested in his occupation to attend further to the question of +rations just then. + +Dory did not tell his companions what he had been thinking about; but he +hoped to leave the Missisquoi at this point, or to get a better start of +her. He preferred to explain his plan after he had carried it out if it +were a success, or to keep silent if it were a failure. He watched the +Missisquoi very closely, for his own movements would depend upon hers. +There was plenty of water to the northward of the island, but there was +a shoal to the southward. + +If the captain of the steamer had been wise, if he had had his eyes +open, he would have kept to the eastward; but he followed directly in +the wake of the Goldwing, and was within less than a quarter of a mile +of her. + +"Do you know how much water the Missisquoi draws, Thad?" asked Dory, as +the Goldwing came up with the island. + +"I heard Captain Vesey say that she drew six feet when she had her coal +in," replied Thad. + +"I heard him say so when we were off Apple-Tree Shoal," added Corny. "I +asked him why he didn't go close up to the buoy; and he said there was +not more than six feet of water on the shoal, and the boat might touch +bottom." + +"I thought she didn't draw over five feet. If she draws six, so much the +better," added Dory. + +"Why is it so much the better, Dory?" asked Thad. + +"Hold on all, and don't ask any more questions!" said Dory, laughing. "I +have business on my hands just now, and I will tell you all about it in +about ten minutes." + +The skipper had gybed the boat under the lee of Valcour's; but the wind +was too fresh where he was now to repeat the manoeuvre. It was a gale +in this part of the lake, and the Goldwing worked very lively. + +"Corny, I want you to handle that jib-sheet," said he when he was ready +for his next move. + +"But I don't know how," pleaded Corny. + +"Do what I tell you, and do it in a hurry when I give the word. This is +the jib-sheet, fast to this cleat. When I shift the helm, the jib will +shake. Haul in upon it as fast as you can, and get all you can, and keep +it when you get it. I shall do the same with the main-sheet." + +The skipper put the helm down. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +A ROUGH TIME OF IT. + + +The instant the helm was put down, the head of the boat promptly swung +up in the direction of the wind. Both of the sails began to flap and +bang in the fierce gale. + +"Now haul in, Corny!" said Dory, as he did the same by the main-sheet. +"No, Thad! He don't want any help. Let him alone! Take a turn on the +cleat," added the skipper, when one of the party wanted to help. + +It was necessary only to take in the slack line of the sheet, and no +hard pulling was required. The boat was now headed to the westward, +which was the opposite course from that which she had been sailing when +he headed her to the southward. + +"Now we are on the wind, which is said to be the dangerous course in the +Goldwing's sailing," added the skipper; and this was the first time he +had her close-hauled. + +He watched her with the most intense interest, but he had no fault to +find with the boat. It took all his strength at the long tiller to keep +her from coming up into the wind. There was no lee helm now, with only a +jib and mainsail; though she might exhibit this failing when she had all +sail on. In fact, she carried too much weather helm; for it impeded her +progress. + +"She works like a lady!" exclaimed Dory with enthusiasm. + +Having satisfied himself in regard to the working of the boat, he turned +his attention to the Missisquoi again. He saw that Pearl Hawlinshed was +at the wheel of the steamer. He had evidently learned wisdom from the +movements of the Goldwing. He had turned the helm of the steamer, so +that she was now headed to the westward. + +Probably Pearl had begun to do some reasoning by this time. Instead of +running directly for the schooner, he had taken a course to intercept +her when she attempted to go to the northward, as he doubtless believed +she intended to do. + +The Goldwing was now on the starboard tack; and the Missisquoi was +running abreast of her, towards the west shore of the lake. Dory +contrived to cramp her so that she did not make much headway, and the +steamer gained so rapidly on her that she was soon a considerable +distance ahead of her. + +"Now, Dick Short, we are going about. When Corny lets go of the weather +jib-sheet, I want you to haul on the lee-sheet," said the skipper when +he was ready for the next move. + +"Where are we going next, Dory?" asked Thad, confused by the many +movements of the skipper. + +"No questions now, Thad. Keep your eyes wide open, and you will see for +yourself. Let go, and haul! Let go the sheet, Corny! Haul in, Dick! Be +lively about it! You must get the sheet in while the sail is shaking, or +you can't do it at all," said Dory sharply, as he put the helm down. + +The Goldwing whirled around like a top, when her helm went down. The +hands in charge of the jib-sheets were zealous to do their duty +promptly, and in an instant the sails were drawing on the port tack. + +But this did not give the course the skipper wanted. He handled the +boat very cautiously on account of her bad reputation. + +Gradually he let off the main-sheet, while Dick was directed to do the +same with the jib-sheet. At the same time Dory kept the helm up, and the +boat fell off until she was headed for the southern side of Garden +Island. She took the wind over her port quarter. It came in heavy gusts, +the Goldwing careening until her gunwale went under at every flaw. + +"I don't know about this," said Thad. + +"About what, Thad?" asked Dory quietly. + +"We are about half under water. This is shaky sailing, in my opinion," +added Thad, as a wave broke against the side of the boat, and drenched +most of the members of the club to the skin. + +"We may get wholly under water before we get through with this trip," +replied Dory. "But she will come up every time she goes down. For my +part, I never saw a boat work any better than the Goldwing is doing." + +"But you will drown the whole of us, Dory!" protested Thad. + +"She is working first-rate, Thad; and this isn't more than half as +lively as it will be before we get across the lake." + +"Are you going across the lake now, Dory?" asked Corny. + +"Certainly I am. We are bound for Burlington, aren't we? Didn't you want +me to take you home?" + +"But we don't want you to drown us, and this boat has a bad habit of not +keeping on the top of the water." + +"She will keep on the top of the water most of the time, and the worst +you have to fear is a wet jacket." + +Just as the schooner was going in under the lee of Garden Island, +another wave broke against her side, and about half a barrel of water +dropped into the standing-room. + +"There it is again!" exclaimed Thad. + +"That's all right," added Dory. "No boat can keep all the water on the +outside of her in such a sea as this. But she is working beautifully. Do +you see that rope, Thad?" continued the skipper, pointing to the line by +which the centre-board was handled. + +"I see it, but I haven't the least idea what it is for." + +"I want you and Nat to haul up the centre-board, for we don't need quite +so much of it while we are going free." + +The two boys named cast off the line, and pulled with all their might; +but they could not start the board, as Dory did not suppose they could +while the whole force of the wind was acting against it. The two hands +at the line did not know what the centre-board was, or where it was; but +the skipper thought, as they seemed to be a little concerned about their +safety, that it was better for them to be employed. + +"It's no use!" cried Thad. "I don't know what we are pulling at; but, +whatever it is, it won't come." + +"What is there down there?" asked Nat Long, looking into the pump, which +was at the end of the centre-board casing. + +"Now try it once more, fellows," said Dory, as he luffed the boat up, +and thus relieved the centre-board from the pressure. + +"Now it comes," added Thad. "Shall we haul the thing through that hole?" + +"No: that will do. Make the line fast to the cleat, as you found it." + +"But what does all that mean? I never saw a boat that had a thing like +that in it," inquired Nat Long. + +"You will learn all about it by and by. I have no time now to explain +any thing," answered Dory, looking behind him to ascertain the position +of the Missisquoi. + +The steamer had come about. Pearl had found that he had been reckoning +wrong in regard to the movements of the Goldwing. Judging from his +present career, he was disgusted with strategy; for he was again running +directly for the schooner. The Missisquoi was laboring heavily in the +big waves, and her pilot did not appear to know how to favor her. At any +rate, he followed the schooner without regard to the wind or the waves. + +"She is after us," said Corny, as the Goldwing went into the +comparatively smooth water under the lee of Garden Island. "She is going +to catch us, too, in the course of the next fifteen minutes." + +"When she catches us, you tell me of it: will you, Corny?" added Dory. + +"I think you will know it as well as I do, Dory. What's the use of +keeping this thing up? Let us hold on, and see what the fellow wants of +you," replied Corny. + +"We will have the fun of the race if we don't have any thing more," said +Dory. "This is smooth sailing just here, but we shall have it rough +enough in about two minutes more. If any of you fellows don't want to go +back to Burlington, I will put you on shore at Garden Island." + +"We might have to stay there a week," suggested Corny. + +"I couldn't help that," answered Dory. "I told you not to come with me +if you were afraid of the boat." + +"She is as safe for us as she is for Dory," added Dick Short. + +"We shall get under the lee of Providence Island in about twenty +minutes. If you can stand it for that time, you will be all right," +continued the skipper, who did not wish to waste his time, and lose the +race, by putting any of his crew on shore. + +"I don't want to go ashore," said Nat Long. "I can stand it as long as +Dory can, and I shall not back out." + +This exhibition of pluck had its effect on the others, and no one was +willing to admit that he wished to go ashore. But the appearance of the +lake ahead was appalling to most of them, though they had crossed it +that day in the little steamer. The bad reputation of the Goldwing was +what made it look so dubious. Dory had been as doubtful about crossing +as any of them; but he had tested the boat under her present sail, and +all his doubts had been removed. For a boy of his age he had had a great +deal of experience in sailing a boat; and he knew by the feeling, rather +than by any thing he could see, that the schooner was working well. He +believed that she was entirely safe. + +He had ascertained the draught of the Goldwing at the wharf, and he was +perfectly familiar with every part of the lake. When the boat came up +with the island, he ran within a few rods of it. He looked astern at the +Missisquoi as he came into the still water under the lee of the island. +She had been gaining rapidly upon him; and, if his strategy failed, +Pearl Hawlinshed would soon be alongside of the Goldwing. + +But he could hardly conceive of such a thing as its failing. He watched +the steamer with the most intense interest as he increased his distance +from the island. The schooner passed out into the open lake. The gusts +of wind increased in fury, and even the reefed mainsail seemed to be +more sail than she could carry. + +More than once, under the pressure of the savage gusts, the boat heeled +down till the water rolled in over the lee gunwale. The heavy waves +broke continually over the other side; and, before the Goldwing was half +way across the open part of the lake, the water rose above her bottom +boards. + +"This is awful, Dory," said Thad. "I don't believe we shall ever get to +the other side of the lake. If I had thought it was half as bad as this, +I wouldn't have come." + +"It is very wet; and that is the worst you can say of it," replied Dory. +"We are going over all right, but we must keep more of this water on the +outside of the boat. Thad, you may man the pump; for it is getting +rather damp in the standing-room." + +The members of the Goldwing Club looked decidedly shaky, with the +exception of the skipper. No one responded to the timid sentiment of +Thad; but probably all of them felt it, and wished they were on shore, +though that shore were the one they had just left. + +"The Missisquoi has stopped!" cried Corny, when the Goldwing was about +half way over to Providence Island. "She has chosen a quiet place under +the lee of that little island." + +"She has stopped, that's a fact," added Thad. + +"I thought she would," replied Dory, as he let off the sheet when a +heavy gust struck the sails. "The Missisquoi is aground." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +SAFE UNDER A LEE. + + +"How do you know she is aground, Dory?" asked Corny, after a careful +examination of the position of the Missisquoi. + +"She wouldn't have stopped there if she hadn't got aground. She has done +the very thing I wanted her to do, and the very thing I did my best to +have her do," replied Dory triumphantly. + +"Do you mean to say that you did it, Dory?" asked Thad, still pumping +away with all his might. + +"I don't mean to say that I got the steamer aground. I saw that neither +Captain Vesey nor the other fellow knew much about the lake; for the +Missisquoi followed the Goldwing wherever she went," Dory explained. "I +ran close to the island, hoping the steamer would follow me, as she has +been doing, because there is not more than four feet of water close up +to the land where I went. She had either to follow us in a straight +line, or to go to the southward of the shoal. I was sure to make +something in getting away from her." + +"What will she do now?" inquired Dick Short. + +"She must either work off the shoal, or stay there; and I am sure I +don't care what she does," added Dory, as he looked ahead at the savage +waves that were piling up in the path of the schooner. + +The Goldwing was more than half way across the lake: and, the farther +she went, the rougher the lake was; for the longer was the sweep of the +wind. But Dory was not in a hurry when he found the steamer could no +longer follow him. He had been very careful not to lose any thing by +letting off the main-sheet, except when it was absolutely necessary to +do so in order to keep the boat right side up. + +Going nearly before the wind, it took a long sweep to reduce the +pressure on the mainsail; and the water flowed in over the lee side +about as fast as Thad could pump it out. The boys looked at each other, +and there is no doubt that they all wished they were on shore. They kept +an eye on the skipper's face, to note any anxiety or alarm on his part. +Dory was confident the boat would not take in water enough to swamp her +while he could control her with the helm; but he felt that he had his +hands full, and that he should be very fortunate if nothing happened to +cripple the boat. + +"I have got about enough of this thing," said Thad. + +"Nat, you take Thad's place at the pump," interposed Dory. "One hand +needn't do all the hard work." + +"All right! I am ready to do my share of the work," replied Nat, as he +took Thad's place at the pump. + +"I didn't mean that. I am not tired," added Thad. "The farther we go the +worse it is, Dory; and I have had about enough of this sort of sailing." + +"Well, what are you going to do about it?" asked Dory pleasantly. "Are +you going to get out, and walk the rest of the way? Or will you swim +ashore? I don't think you will find it is any easier walking or +swimming, or any safer." + +"Can't we turn about and go back?" inquired Thad, looking with dismay +at the waves ahead, and at the water that poured in over both rails. + +"We are more than half way over, and it is hardly worth while to go +about," replied Dory. "If we return, we shall have to beat back; but we +are in no hurry now, and perhaps we can ease off a little more." + +"I don't see how you are going to ease off, Dory," said Thad. "Here we +are right in the thick of it; and we must take it as it comes, unless +you go back." + +"Do you see those cleats on the mainmast, Thad?" asked Dory, making +ready to do something,--"one on each side of the mast, with a rope +leading up? Do you see them?" + +"I don't know what cleats are," answered Thad. + +"Those brass things, with ropes around them." + +"I see them. These are what you hoist the sail with," added Thad, as he +grasped the ropes. + +"Now let go both ropes together when I give the word. Not yet! All the +rest of you, grab the sail when it comes down, and mind the gaff don't +hit you in the head." + +"What are you going to do, Dory?" asked Thad. "I have the ropes in my +hands." + +"I am going to take in the mainsail. That will ease her off; and I can +work her before it with the jib alone." + +At this moment a tremendous gust struck the mainsail, and Dory crowded +the helm down; but the schooner took in a large quantity of water over +the lee side as she careened. + +"Let go the halyards, Thad!" shouted the skipper as the boat swept +around. "Look out for the sail, all of you!" + +But the sail did not readily come down, the pressure upon it causing it +to bind. But Dory continued to luff until it was released. + +"Haul down the sail lively!" called Dory with energy, when the canvas +began to thrash and beat about as though it was bound to tear itself +into shreds. + +Under the direction of the skipper the sail was secured after a great +deal of difficulty. Dory let her off again under the jib alone. This +proved to be a decided change for the better. The Goldwing kept on a +tolerably even keel, and drove ahead almost as fast as she did before. + +"She's doing a good deal better," said Thad, who began to breathe freer +than he had since the boat went into the worst of it. "Why didn't we do +that before?" + +"Because we were trying to keep out of the way of the Missisquoi +before," replied Dory. + +But it was not baby play, even with nothing but the jib set. The +mainsail had steadied the boat to some extent; but now she began to roll +tremendously, and was not so readily controlled by the helm. The waves +broke over her on the weather side, but she did not scoop up the water +on the lee side. + +The Goldwing had taken in so much water that it was swashing about in +the standing-room. Dory directed Nat to keep pumping. Dick Short was +told to take a pail which belonged to the boat, and Corny was armed with +a tin dipper. The members of the club were glad to have something to do, +as almost any nervous person is; and they worked with tremendous zeal. +In a short time the pump sucked, and not another dipperful of water +could be taken up in the well. + +"Now we are all right," said Dory. "We can take it easy now." + +"We are almost over to Providence Island," added Corny. + +"We shall be in smooth water in ten minutes more." + +"But we are a long way from Burlington," suggested Thad. + +"At least a dozen miles," said the skipper. "Of course you know that we +can't get there, fellows, without going outside of Colchester Point. All +the rest of the way is quite as bad as, if not worse than, we have been +having for the last twenty minutes." + +"Are we going right along to Burlington, Dory?" asked Thad in dismay at +the information given by the skipper. + +"I think not at present," replied Dory. "But you have been through this +once before to-day." + +"It wasn't half so bad as it is now," protested Corny. "It didn't begin +to blow very hard until we got to Valcour's Island." + +"Did the Missisquoi make better weather of it than the Goldwing?" asked +Dory. + +"The lake didn't begin to be as rough as it was a little while ago," +replied Corny. "The steamer pitched tremendously, and we all had to pump +after we got beyond Valcour's." + +"Do you see any thing of the Missisquoi?" asked Dory, who had been too +busy to give any attention to the steamer. + +"I can just see her at the south of the island. She has not got off +yet," replied Corny. + +"She is under the lee of the two islands; and they can be very +comfortable on board of her for the rest of the day,--a great deal more +comfortable than they would be out in the lake where we have been," +added Dory. + +The Goldwing was abreast of Providence Island by this time. The waves +swept furiously along the south-west shore of the land. + +As soon as she reached the south-east point, the skipper luffed up; but +the boat was not inclined to make any headway on the new course. + +"Let off the centre-board, Thad," said the skipper, as the boat began to +make more leeway than headway. + +Thad had got the hang of this rope; and, as the centre-board went down, +the boat came up to the work. With the help of an oar and a great deal +of coaxing, the skipper got her close up to the shore in seven feet of +water. He had instructed Corny how to get the anchor overboard. The boat +was entirely out of the heavy sea, though the water rose and fell under +the influence of the waves which were rolling along the other side of +the island. + +"Here we are as safe as though we had the boat on the top of Mansfield +Mountain," said Dory, after he had secured the cable, and stowed the +jib. + +"I never expected to come out of it alive," said Thad, as the skipper +seated himself in the standing-room to recover from the excitement of +the perilous run across the lake. + +"Nor I either," added Nat Long. + +"It looked very shaky," said Corny; "but I didn't give it up at any +time." + +"Now, really, Dory, did you expect to get out of that scrape?" asked +Thad. "Be honest about it, and tell us what you actually thought." + +"Of course I knew that something might break, just as I know that a +horse may run away with me when I'm out riding. The wagon or the harness +might break, and that would spoil the best calculation," replied Dory. + +"But, without any thing breaking, didn't you expect the boat would go to +the bottom?" urged Thad. + +"I didn't expect any thing of the kind. I have been out in a sailboat +when it was as bad or worse than it is to-day. If nothing broke, I knew +we should come out of it all right; and I never thought of such a thing +as going to the bottom. It looks a good deal worse to you fellows who +were never out in a sailboat when it blew hard than it really is. I +didn't think there was any great danger when we started out: if I had, I +shouldn't have come over," said Dory quietly. + +The members of the Goldwing Club had the idea that they had had a narrow +escape, and the skipper was not inclined to allow them to make heroes of +themselves. The motion of a boat in a heavy sea seems terrible to those +who are not accustomed to it, and the boys were disposed to make the +worst of it. + +"I wouldn't try it again if you would give me the Goldwing," said Thad +with emphasis. + +"After you have been through that sort of thing a few times, you will +not mind it at all. It was what I call a lively time: that's all," added +Dory. "I went down to St. John with Bill Pitts in a sailboat, and we had +a rougher time than this all one day." + +Dory thought he should like the rest of his dinner by this time. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +EARLY IN THE MORNING. + + +The skipper of the Goldwing had an excellent appetite, and the other +members of the club had regained theirs by this time. + +Fortunately they had plenty of provisions, for there was nothing for +them to do but eat during the rest of the day. It continued to blow as +fresh as it had since the middle of the forenoon till dark. + +Dory thought it would abate at night, but there were no signs of a +change. The party were pretty thoroughly tired out after the labor and +the excitement of the day. The boys gaped until they had nearly thrown +their jaws out of joint. + +There was room enough in the cabin for four of the club,--two in the +berths, and two on the floor between them. Dory decided to sleep in the +standing-room, where he was most likely to be waked by any change in the +position of the schooner. By eight o'clock all hands were fast asleep. +Half of them had nothing better than "the soft side of a board" to sleep +on, but they were too tired to need beds of down. + +The skipper was the most wakeful sleeper in the party, but he slept for +several hours without waking. When he did wake, he sprang to his feet as +if conscious that he had neglected his duty as a faithful skipper. He +had no idea of what time it was when he sprang to his feet. All was +still around him, and the Goldwing appeared to be in precisely the +position he had left her when he turned in. + +He could no longer hear the roar of the big waves as they dashed against +the south side of the island. The violent wind had subsided, and the +lake seemed to be as calm as the dream of an infant. + +He looked all about him in the darkness, but there was nothing to demand +his attention. His companions were all sleeping, and some of them were +snoring, on their hard beds. Dory began to gape when there proved to be +no grounds for excitement. He concluded that he could not do any better +than finish his night's rest. Taking the most comfortable position he +could find in the standing-room, he turned in again, and was soon fast +asleep. + +When he woke in the morning, it was after sunrise. The rest of the club +were still fast asleep. The skipper felt like a new man after his long +rest. A gentle breeze was rippling the surface of the lake. It came from +the westward, and the promise was that the day would be fine. Without +calling his companions, he loosed the sails, and turned out the reefs +from the fore and main sails. He laced on the bonnet of the jib, and +shipped the short tiller, instead of the long one he had used the day +before. + +So far he had not seen how the sails set when all spread, and he was +interested in his present operation. He hoisted the mainsail. It was not +so large but that he could handle the throat and peak halyards at the +same time. He was entirely satisfied with the set of this sail. The set +of the foresail pleased him equally well. + +The anchor-rope was rove through a block made fast near the heel of the +bowsprit, so that the anchor could be weighed without any difficulty. He +succeeded in getting it up without waking his shipmates, though he took +no especial pains to avoid arousing them. They had got up at four +o'clock the morning before, and probably had not slept much lest they +should oversleep themselves, and lose the excursion to Plattsburgh. + +Dory hoisted the jib. He was delighted with the appearance of the +Goldwing with all sail set. There was hardly a puff of air behind the +island, and it was some time before he got fairly under way. But he +enjoyed the sight of the boat so much, that he was in no haste to get +home. So far as he knew, his mother supposed that he was still waiting +on the table in the cabin of the steamer; and she could not be anxious +about him. He had not heard of the loss of the Au Sable, and he had no +suspicion that his father was not still piloting her up and down the +lake. + +After a while he succeeded in getting to the southward of Providence +Island, so that he could catch the breeze from across the lake. He got +just enough to fill the sails; and this afforded him the opportunity to +test the working of the boat after he had shifted the ballast, and +changed the position of the foremast. There was hardly wind enough for +a fair test, but he was delighted to find that the boat carried a +weather helm. + +As he went farther out from the land, he got more breeze; and the result +was entirely satisfactory. Indeed, he had been practically sure that he +could remedy the defect in the working of the Goldwing before he bought +her. If he failed to do so, he had thrown his money away; for parties +would not employ him if he had an unsafe boat. He intended to invite two +or three prominent boatmen to sail with him when he had put the boat in +first-rate condition, and get their opinion as to her safety and her +sailing qualities. + +Dory was so much absorbed in the beautiful appearance of the Goldwing, +that he neglected to do what an old sailor is continually doing when +afloat. He had not looked about him to see what beside the Goldwing was +afloat on the lake. He had headed the boat to the south, so as to pass +to the west of Stave Island. He was looking ahead, and dreaming of the +future. + +In the quiet of the still morning he heard a puffing sound at a +distance. He turned to see what it was, and discovered a small steamer +about a mile to the westward of him. He had seen a boat in that +direction when he came out from behind the island, but he took no notice +of her. He had forgotten all about the Missisquoi: he had not even +thought to look and see if she was still aground on the Garden Island +shoal. + +The sight of the little steamer, like a dozen others on the lake, +reminded him of his pursuer of the day before. He looked with interest +in the direction of Garden Island. The Missisquoi was not there. She had +got out of that scrape. Then he noticed that the little steamer in the +middle of the lake was headed directly for the Goldwing. She looked just +like his late pursuer. + +Dory was rather excited at the thought of a continuance of the chase; +for with the light breeze he had no chance at all, and he did not like +to come in collision with Pearl Hawlinshed. He looked the boat over very +carefully. He had often sailed in her, and steered her; but she was too +far off for him to be entirely sure in regard to her identity. But he +was confident that it was the Missisquoi. + +Certainly Pearl Hawlinshed had some very strong motive for continuing +the chase a second day. What could he want of him? Dory concluded that +he either expected to recover the Goldwing, or that he connected him in +some manner with his father. Whatever his motive, Dory did not want to +see him. + +He was confident that the steamer he saw was the Missisquoi, and that +Pearl was still in pursuit of him. He had led the steamer into a trap +the day before, and possibly he might do it again. He could at least run +into shoal-water, where the Missisquoi could not follow him. He was +familiar with the soundings in all parts of the lake, for his father had +instructed him in the navigation. + +Dory was assured that the wind would freshen as the sun rose higher; but +it would make little difference to him how much wind there was by and +by, if the steamer overhauled him before it came. He thought he was +making about four miles an hour, but the steamer was good for at least +six. She had a mile to gain, and that would take her ten minutes. +Following out the calculation, Dory thought the steamer would overhaul +him in fifteen minutes. In that time he could make a mile. + +"Hallo, Dory! You are up and dressed," exclaimed Thad Glovering, +thrusting his head out at the cabin-door. + +"Dry up, Thad! I am busy now," replied Dory impatiently; for he was in +the midst of his calculation of what he should do to avoid the +Missisquoi. + +"You don't seem to be doing any thing, Dory," added Thad, as his body +followed his head out at the door. + +"Don't disturb me, please, but call the fellows. I want them in the +standing-room, so as to trim the boat, and make her sail better," +answered the skipper, as he went on with his calculation. + +He had time to make only a mile before the steamer would be down upon +him. He was about abreast of Stave Island now. Less than a mile south of +it were two ledges, on which the water was not more than six feet deep. +Going to the southward, vessels must keep Juniper Light open to the +westward of Colchester Reef Light, in order to avoid these reefs. There +were no buoys on them, for they lay outside of any usual course of +vessels bound up and down the lake. + +The experience of the Missisquoi in getting aground the day before would +render her pilot wary about following the Goldwing. The two reefs were +half a mile apart; and the pursuer must either keep away from them, or +run the risk of getting aground on one of them. The Goldwing could go +over either of them in perfect safety, for she drew only three feet with +her board up. + +Dory was satisfied with his calculation, and he was reasonably confident +that the Missisquoi would not get within a quarter of a mile of the +Goldwing; but, if this expedient failed, he had another to which he +intended to resort. + +The other members of the club had come out into the standing-room, and +seated themselves as they had been required to do the day before. They +were all wide awake; but they had been cautioned by Thad not to disturb +the skipper, and they were silent till he spoke to them. + +"You have come to life again, fellows," said he when he had fully +arranged his plan. + +"So have you, Dory," replied Corny. "Thad said we were not to speak to +you, or we should bust your calculations. We all thought you had the +blues." + +"I suppose you know the steamer that is following the Goldwing," replied +Dory. "It is the Missisquoi, and she is after us again to-day. I have +been thinking how we should keep out of her way." + +"How are you going to do it?" asked Corny. "We may enjoy the fun if we +know something about it." + +The skipper explained his plan in full, and his companions were quite +interested in it. There was no chance for a race while only a four-knot +breeze favored the Goldwing. With a good stiff breeze the skipper +believed he could beat the steamer; but, in the absence of such a wind, +he must resort to strategy. But strategy was quite as exciting to his +companions as a race. It afforded the opportunity for one craft to come +out better than the other. + +The wind was sensibly freshening, but the Goldwing did not need any more +wind just then. She was almost up with Stave Island Ledge, and her +skipper was disposed to wait and see what his pursuer would do. As he +approached the dangerous reef,--dangerous to any craft drawing more than +five feet,--he started his sheets, and stood to the eastward of the +rocks. + +The Missisquoi was within an eighth of a mile of the Goldwing, and the +skipper saw that Captain Vesey was at the wheel. He seemed to know about +the reef, and sheered off. Probably he had discovered by this time that +Pearl Hawlinshed knew even less than he did about the difficulties of +navigation in Lake Champlain. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +THE STRATEGY OF THE CHASE. + + +Dory Dornwood had accomplished all that he intended by his plan. The +pilot of the Missisquoi would not dare to cross the ledges, and it would +be necessary for her to go nearly a mile to the southward to get around +them. Dory calculated that his manoeuvre had given him two miles the +start of the steamer. + +Captain Vesey and Pearl Hawlinshed seemed to be holding a consultation. +Dory imagined that Pearl was trying to persuade the captain to venture +in among the rocks. If so, he was not successful; for the Missisquoi did +not come any nearer to the ledge. + +"What is she going to do next, Dory?" asked Corny Minkfield, while the +boys were waiting for the next move of the steamer. + +"That's more than I know," replied Dory, chuckling at the success of his +plan. "I think Captain Vesey had enough of getting aground yesterday, +and he don't want to spend the day laid up on one of these ledges. I +believe the steamer would go over Champion Rock all right; but her +captain is shy, and I don't think he will come any nearer than he is +now." + +Dory had headed the Goldwing to the east. As he had predicted, the wind +was increasing, and the schooner carried quite a bone in her teeth. It +looked a little like a game of chess, where each player has to wait a +long time for the other to make his move. The captain and his passenger +appeared to be still engaged in the discussion in the bow of the boat. +Dory thought he could quicken their movements; and, hauling in his +sheets, he stood to the south. + +"There she goes!" exclaimed Thad, as the steamer started her propeller +again. + +"I think we can keep her moving," replied Dory. "She will go to the +southward as fast as we do, to head us off. We can play this game as +long as she can." + +"But who wants to stay here all day fooling with that steamer?" said +Corny. + +"I don't know that we have any thing better to do," added Dick Short. +"We have got enough to eat to last us all day." + +"I think we shall have some variety in this thing. Captain Vesey has to +deliver the Missisquoi to her new owner to-night, and he can't stay here +much after noon," replied Dory. + +In fifteen minutes the steamer was well to the southward of Champion +Rock, and began to turn to the eastward. + +"She is coming around to pick us up on this side of the rocks," said +Thad. + +"That's all right, but she won't pick us up," answered Dory. "I am +afraid it will get very monotonous before she overhauls us by her +present tactics." + +Dory put the boat about, and stood to the north. He continued on this +tack until the Missisquoi was directly south of Stave Island, and of +both ledges, which were in a line with the island. She had gone half a +mile farther to the southward than was necessary to avoid Champion Rock; +but her pilots were not well posted, and they seemed to be determined to +keep on the safe side. + +The skipper waited until the steamer was half a mile to the eastward of +the ledges, and then he proceeded to beat across the dangerous ground. +He took a southerly tack first, so as to bother the pilot of the steamer +as to his intentions. The Missisquoi kept on her course, and Pearl was +evidently bothered. + +The pursuer had not thought there could be any difficulty in capturing +the owner of the Goldwing when he had a steamer to use in chasing her. +He had found out his mistake. The captain and engineer had not earned +their five dollars apiece yet, for they had not put the passenger on +board of the schooner. Doubtless they were continuing the chase for the +purpose of obtaining their money, for the boys were satisfied that +Captain Vesey had no other interest in the pursuit. + +As the Missisquoi put her helm to starboard, in order to run to the +north, Dory tacked the schooner, and stood off to the north-east. This +course would carry him directly over Stave Island Ledge. The effect of +this move was soon apparent, for the steamer stopped her screw again. +Her pilots could see that it was useless to go any farther on her +present course. By the time she got a mile farther, the Goldwing would +be on the other side of the ledges. Another discussion seemed to be in +progress between the captain and the passenger. But it was not continued +long; for the Missisquoi put about, and stood to the westward. + +"She has got enough of that," said Thad. "I don't believe she will keep +it up much longer." + +"It is cool and comfortable here, and I think we can stand this sort of +thing as long as she can," added Dory. + +"Of course we can; but the game is ended, and the Missisquoi is going +back to Plattsburgh," suggested Corny. + +"The game is not ended yet," replied Dory: "in fact, it has but just +begun." + +"What's the reason it isn't ended?" demanded Corny, who did not like to +have his conclusions disputed. "What is the steamer going off in that +direction for, if there is to be any more fun?" + +"Is that the way to Plattsburgh, Corny?" asked Dory quietly. + +"She has gone off and left us, whether she is bound to Plattsburgh or +not. If she means to catch us, why don't she stick to it?" continued +Corny. + +"She is sticking to it. The way to catch a pigeon is to put salt on his +tail, you know," answered Dory, laughing. "She is beginning to play her +game now. If she had gone to the north-west, instead of to the west, I +might believe she had given it up; and I should be ready to head the +Goldwing for Burlington as soon as I saw her to the eastward of +Valcour's Island." + +"What do you think she means to do, Dory?" asked Thad. + +"I am very clear what she means to do. I wouldn't give anybody two cents +to write it down for me," replied the skipper confidently. "She has gone +to the west so that she can coax us out from these ledges. If she could +get us away from these dangers, where she could chase us, she would soon +be up with us." + +"There are plenty of rocks and shoals south of us," suggested Thad. + +"But there are buoys on them, and a hundred feet of water between them. +Very likely Captain Vesey knows his way among them. We can very soon see +whether she has given up the chase or not," said Dory, as he put the +boat about, and headed her to the south. + +"Are you going to run for Burlington, Dory?" asked Corny. + +"We are headed in that direction now," replied the skipper. + +"But the steamer does not change her course," continued Corny. + +"And she won't change her course until we have gone a couple of miles +farther to the southward. They are getting smart on board of the +Missisquoi," added Dory, like one who is driving a winning horse. + +All hands watched the steamer very closely, and Corny would have given +something handsome to have it made out that Dory was mistaken in his +calculations. He was loyal to the skipper, but he did not like to have +statements of the latter prove true every time. The steamer did not +change her course, but she did not seem to get ahead very fast. + +In half an hour the Goldwing was off Colchester Reef Light. The +Missisquoi was still headed to the west; and Corny was beginning to feel +triumphant, though he was not confident enough to say much. The steamer +was three miles distant; but Dory was satisfied by this time that she +had stopped her propeller, and was only waiting for the schooner to get +a little farther to the southward, where she could not dodge in among +the dangerous rocks. + +"She is coming about!" shouted Thad. + +"It is about time for her to do something," replied Dory. "But she is +not coming down this way." + +"How do you know she isn't, Dory Dornwood?" demanded Corny, who was +rather indignant when the skipper made another prediction. + +"I think I understand her little game," answered Dory mildly; for he +felt that he could afford to disregard the sharp tones of Corny. + +"Where is she going?" asked Corny, wishing to make the skipper commit +himself fully. + +"She is going to the eastward," replied Dory without any hesitation; for +it was all a plain case to him. + +"How do you know she is, Dory?" demanded Corny. "She is still turning; +and she isn't headed any way yet." + +"I think it is easy enough to see what she is about, Corny. Can't you +see it with your eyes shut?" + +"No: I'm sure I can't; and I don't believe you can, Dory Dornwood," +added Corny. + +"She is now just as far west of Champion Rock as we are south of it. She +is going to the eastward, so as to cut us off if we try to reach the +ledges again. I think she has got her course now." + +It was plain enough to all the members of the Goldwing Club, that, as +they could see the whole of the starboard side of the Missisquoi, she +was headed to the eastward. Corny gave it up when he saw that he could +hold out no longer. From the smoke that poured out of the smoke-stack of +the little steamer, it was plain that she was crowded to her best speed. + +"She is in a hurry now," said the skipper, laughing. + +"She is going to do a big thing now," added Thad. "She is going to catch +us, sure." + +"But I think we had better be doing something," continued the skipper, +as he put the Goldwing before the wind. + +"What are you going to do now, Dory?" asked Corny. + +"That will depend upon circumstances," replied Dory, who suddenly +appeared to be disposed to keep his own counsel. + +As soon as the schooner was up with the light-house, the skipper hauled +in his sheets again, and headed the Goldwing to the north-east. This +course seemed to bother the steamer, for it made it evident that the +boat did not intend to go near Champion Rock. + +"She's after you again," said Corny a few minutes later. "She has +altered her course, and is coming down this way to head you off." + +"All right! Let her come," replied Dory. + +"But we are getting pretty close together," added Thad. "She is going to +catch us this time. At least, I am afraid she is." + +"Don't worry about it, Thad. She isn't going to catch us on this tack." + +The Missisquoi was coming in between Hog's Back Island and the reef of +the same name. She kept the red buoy on her starboard, and the black on +her port hand. She was hardly more than a quarter of a mile from the +Goldwing, and running for a point ahead of her. It began to be very +exciting for the boys, for they believed she would overtake the +schooner in a few minutes more. + +But the Goldwing came out just a little ahead; and the steamer was +astern of the boat, but not more than a hundred yards. She gained on her +every minute, until suddenly the Missisquoi stopped. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +A GRAVE CHARGE AGAINST THE SKIPPER. + + +The Missisquoi was aground. This result was exactly what the skipper of +the Goldwing intended and expected, if the pilots of the steamer +followed the schooner. Colchester Light is about west of a point having +the same name. Extending north from Colchester Point is a shoal, on +which, at the present low stage of the water, there was a depth of from +two to eight feet. It was two miles and a half long from its northern +extremity to the point. + +Dory struck the shoal not more than a quarter of a mile north of Law +Island, where the water was only about four feet deep. The Goldwing went +over it without any difficulty; but there was not water enough for the +steamer. Ordinarily a small steamer could have crossed any part of the +shoal, but the lake had not been so low before for years. + +The skipper of the schooner had calculated upon using this shoal in the +same manner that he had used Champion Rock and Stave Island Ledge. If he +had not depended upon this shallow water, he would not have left the +ledges. But he did not expect that Captain Vesey would attempt to follow +him where there was not more than four feet of water. It was evident +enough that neither the captain nor Pearl was a competent pilot. + +"Here we are," said Dory quietly, as he put the helm down, and came up +into the wind. + +"What's the matter now?" asked Corny. + +"Nothing the matter; but the Missisquoi has concluded not to come any +farther in this direction just now," replied Dory, as he headed the +schooner to the north-west. + +"She has stopped!" exclaimed Thad. + +"That is just what she has done," added the skipper. + +"What has she stopped there for?" asked Corny. + +"She couldn't very well help it, for she is hugging the bottom." + +"Hugging the bottom! What do you mean by that?" demanded Corny. + +"In plain English, she is aground." And the skipper proceeded to explain +the situation to his companions. + +"Then, you knew what you were about all the time, Dory," said Thad, with +something of admiration in his tones and manner. + +"I thought I did all the time; but I did not expect the Missisquoi would +try to go over a place where the bottom is so near the top as it is on +this shoal," answered Dory. "There is nearly seven miles of deep water +to the eastward of this shoal to the head of Mallett's Bay. The lake is +thirteen miles wide on just this line." + +"Were you going up Mallett's Bay?" + +"Not at all. I expected to run back and forth over this shoal until the +Missisquoi had enough of it, and then I was going to Burlington." + +"Will the steamer get off the bottom?" + +"She was running at her best speed when she struck the bottom; and I +don't believe she will get off in a hurry," replied Dory. + +"All we have to do is to go to Burlington, then," added Corny. + +"We won't be in a hurry about it," said Dory. "I want to see if she can +get off. They are backing her now, and there is Captain Vesey at work +with a pole. The steamer seems to stick hard. Her bow is about a foot +out of water, but I think she is afloat at the stern. They may work her +off if they manage it well." + +"That other chap has gone to work with a pole too," said Dick Short. + +"I hope they will have a good time," added Dory, as he put the schooner +about, and headed her across the bow of the Missisquoi. + +The skipper wished to obtain a better view of the position of the +steamer, to enable him to decide whether it was safe for him to proceed +to Burlington. With the wind on the quarter, he ran within ten yards of +the stem of the Missisquoi. As he approached her, he saw that her +water-line was lifted at least a foot above the surface of the lake, +indicating that she was firmly fixed on the hard bottom. + +"Hallo there, Dory Dornwood!" shouted Pearl Hawlinshed when the Goldwing +came within hail of the steamer. "Come alongside! I want to see you." + +"What do you want of me?" asked the skipper. + +"I want to see you about that money," added Pearl. + +"What money?" + +"You know what money as well as I do!" roared Pearl with a string of +oaths. "The money you stole at the hotel!" + +"The money Dory stole!" ejaculated Corny Minkfield, with a look of +horror on his face. + +"What hotel? I didn't steal any money at any hotel," returned Dory, +startled at the charge. + +"Yes, you did! It's no use to deny it. The landlord sent me off after +you; and you'll have to pay for it, for the wild-goose chase you have +led me on," cried Pearl, who had evidently lost his patience and his +temper. + +"I didn't know any money had been stolen from a hotel; and I didn't +steal it," cried Dory, as the Goldwing passed out of easy talking +distance from the steamer. + +"You stole the money to buy that boat, and it's no sale!" yelled Pearl. + +"Stole the money to buy the boat!" exclaimed Corny, looking at his +fellow-members of the Goldwing Club. + +"I don't believe it!" ejaculated Thad Glovering. "Dory isn't that kind +of a fellow. He wouldn't do such a thing." + +Nat Long and Dick Short said nothing. They seemed to be in doubt. All of +them wondered where Dory could have got the money to pay for the +Goldwing, and the charge of Pearl Hawlinshed appeared to explain the +whole matter. Certainly the astonishing statement of Pearl made it look +very bad for the skipper of the Goldwing. When they asked where he got +the forty-two dollars to pay for the boat, Dory had refused to explain, +and had insisted that no more questions should be asked about the +subject. + +Nat had winked at Corny to intimate that this disposition of the matter +was not satisfactory; but, as they were expecting a fine sail in the +schooner, they had been politic enough to keep silence. Now they looked +from one to another, for they did not like to say just what they +thought. + +Dory was silent also. His heart was swelling with emotion. He was +accused of stealing, and he could not help seeing that he was in a very +uncomfortable situation. Pearl's father had given him the money, and he +had promised not to say a word about it. There seemed to be some +terrible secret between Pearl and his father. The latter had given Dory +one hundred and five dollars for the service he had rendered him in the +woods, and wished him not to tell where he got the money lest it should +lead to the exposure of the secret. + +Pearl evidently had something against him. It might be nothing more than +the fact that he had outbid him at the sale of the boat. But the son +plainly suspected that Dory had some relations with his father, for he +had intimated as much as this. + +The skipper of the Goldwing was considering what he should do. He was +ready to meet the charge against him, though he could not explain where +he got the money to pay for the boat. Pearl was after him for stealing +the money at a hotel,--what hotel he did not know. Was Pearl a constable +or a police-officer? + +If his pursuer was an officer of the law, he was ready to give himself +up. He was anxious to know in what manner he was connected with the +theft. But it might be all a trick on the part of Pearl to get the boat +away from him. He did not mean to put his head into any trap. While he +was considering the situation, Corny could hold in no longer. + +"I want to know about this business," said Corny, after he and his +companions had been looking at each other in silence for full five +minutes. + +"What do you want to know, Corny?" asked Dory. + +"I want to know where you got the money to buy this boat," replied +Corny, rather more warmly than the occasion seemed to require. + +"I shall not tell you," answered Dory firmly, but very quietly. + +"You won't?" + +"No, I won't," repeated Dory. "That is my secret. I have to keep it, not +on my own account, but for the sake of a person who was very kind to me, +and gave me a meal when I was hungry. That is all I can say about the +case. I didn't steal a dollar or a cent, and I am willing to face any +man that says I did." + +"That fellow in the steamer says you did; and we have been running away +from him since yesterday morning," replied Corny. + +"That man, whose name is Pearl Hawlinshed, has something against me; +and I don't care about putting myself into his hands," answered Dory. + +"I suppose you don't," added Corny with a sneer. "I don't like this +thing a bit. We have been with you since yesterday morning, and they say +the receiver is as bad as the thief." + +"Do you believe I am a thief, Corny?" said Dory, looking his accuser +squarely in the eye. + +"I don't see how I can believe any thing else. I don't want to believe +such a thing of you, Dory. Fellows like you and me don't have forty-two +dollars in every pocket of their trousers; and you won't tell us where +you got the money," answered Corny a little more moderately. + +"You talk and act just as though you did want to prove that I stole the +money I paid for the boat," added Dory. "All I ask of the fellows is to +believe that I am innocent until I am proved guilty." + +"That's the talk! that's fair! I don't believe Dory did it!" exclaimed +Thad. + +"Let him tell where he got the money, then," replied Corny. + +"That's his business, if he don't choose to tell," argued Thad. "It +don't prove that Dory is a thief because that fellow says so. We don't +know any thing about that fellow." + +"Do you believe that he would chase us for two days in a steamer if +there wasn't something serious the matter?" asked Corny. + +"Yes, if he wanted to get this boat," replied Thad. + +"Well, I have had enough of this thing. Here we are cruising all over +the lake with a thief, running away, and dodging a steamer sent after +him; and we are getting into it as deep as he is," blustered Corny. + +"Shut up, Corn Minkfield, or I'll smash your head!" exclaimed Thad, +leaping to his feet, and moving towards the sceptic. + +"None of that, Thad!" interposed Dory, putting his arm between the two +belligerent members. "I don't want any fight over it." + +The skipper put the helm up, and gybed the boat. + +"What are you going to do now?" demanded Corny when Thad had resumed his +seat. "I am not going to be carried all over the lake with one who is +running away from the officers." + +Thad sprang to his feet again, but Dory quieted him. + +"I am going back to Plattsburgh to face the music," said Dory. + +Corny looked more disgusted than ever. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +DORY DORNWOOD DECIDES TO "FACE THE MUSIC." + + +"I'm not going back to Plattsburgh!" exclaimed Corny Minkfield. "My +mother will want to know what has become of me by this time." + +"What are you going to do, Corny?" asked Dory in the gentlest of tones. + +"I am going back to Burlington," answered Corny. + +"All right! I don't object," added Dory, as he headed the boat for +Plattsburgh. + +Thad laughed, and Nat and Dick smiled. Corny talked and acted as though +he "owned things;" and the others were rather pleased to see him taken +down a peg when he was in this mood. + +"You promised to take us back to Burlington, Dory; and now you are going +to drag us back to Plattsburgh," growled Corny. + +"But you don't want to sail all over the lake with a thief. If I go to +Burlington now, I shall be running away from the officers. I must go to +Plattsburgh, and face the music." + +"Hurrah for Dory!" shouted Thad. "Is that the way a thief does it?" + +"Hurrah for Dory!" added Dick Short. "That isn't the way a thief does +it." + +"But I want to go home. I don't want my mother to worry about me," added +Corny. + +"You called me a thief just now, and I can't run away from the place +where they accuse me. I will put you ashore at the light-house, or on +Colchester Point." + +"You might as well put me ashore on Stave Island. I want to go back to +Burlington." + +"We are bound to Plattsburgh now; and I shall not stop to rest until I +have seen the men that charge me with stealing that money," replied Dory +very decidedly. + +"The man that charges you is in that steamer, and you run away from +him," retorted Corny. + +"The Missisquoi is hard and fast aground. If I give myself up to him, I +shall only have to stay on board of her all day; for he may not get off. +I may be in Plattsburgh before he is." + +Corny grumbled a while longer, but the skipper took no further notice of +him. The course of the Goldwing carried her within a short distance of +the stern of the Missisquoi. Captain Vesey and Pearl had tugged at the +poles until they saw that it was useless to attempt to get the steamer +off in that way. + +Pearl was plainly disgusted with the situation. The bow of the boat was +as far out of water as when the schooner passed her before, and the +efforts with the poles had not started her a hair. When the enterprising +extra pilot of the steamer saw the Goldwing coming, he hastened to the +stern. + +"Come alongside, Dory Dornwood! I will make it as easy as I can for you +when we get to Plattsburgh. Take me on board," shouted Pearl. + +"I am going to Plattsburgh to face the music," replied Dory. + +"Take me with you!" called Pearl. + +"I don't want you," answered Dory. + +"I can get you off, and make it all right with you." + +"No, I thank you," added Dory; and he declined to take any further +notice of his persecutor. + +For the present the excitement was ended. It was about seven in the +morning, as Dory judged by the height of the sun. Thad got out the +provisions; and, though there was not much variety to the repast, the +boys ate heartily. After the meal some of them went to sleep. Before ten +o'clock the Goldwing was alongside the wharf, in the position where Dory +had first seen her. + +The skipper lowered the sails with the help of the rest of the club, +though Corny was still too much disgruntled to do any thing. Every thing +was put in order on board, and Dory locked the cabin. Before he had +finished, Corny went off alone. Just as the party were going to leave +the wharf, a couple of men came down. They walked directly to the boat, +as though they had seen her coming up the bay, and had business with +her. + +"Is this the boat that went off from here yesterday morning?" asked one +of the men. + +"Yes, sir: this is the boat," replied Dory, hoping that the men's +business related to the charge against him. + +"Are you the boy that bought her?" continued the man who did the +talking. + +"Yes, sir: I am the one that bought her and paid for her," answered +Dory. "Do you know of anybody in this town that wants to see me?" + +"I can't say I do," said the man, looking at the other one, and +laughing. + +"There was a little steamer here in the forenoon." + +"That was the Missisquoi." + +"A man went off in her to look up this boat. Have you seen any thing of +the steamer?" asked the man. + +"Yes, sir: she is hard and fast aground on the Colchester shoal, near +Law Island. The man that went in her to look up this boat was Pearl +Hawlinshed. I don't believe in him, and I kept out of the way of him and +his steamer." + +"How could you keep out of the way of a steamer in a sailboat?" + +"I managed it. But I didn't know till he hailed me from the steamer that +I was charged with stealing some money from one of the hotels. Can you +tell me any thing about the matter, sir?" + +"I think we can tell you all about it," replied the speaker. "This is +Mr. Moody, the man that lost the money." + +"And this is Mr. Peppers, the detective, who is looking up the case," +added Mr. Moody. + +"As soon as I heard about it, I came back to face the music," said Dory. + +"Your name is Dory Dornwood, I learn," said Mr. Peppers. + +"Theodore Dornwood is my name, but I am called 'Dory.'" + +"Just now we are rather more anxious to find the other man than we are +to get hold of you," continued Peppers. "I don't believe there will be +much music for you to face, Dory." + +"But Mr. Hawlinshed said I was wanted here, and I have come. Is he an +officer?" asked Dory. + +"He is no officer, and he had no right to arrest you." + +"Hallo, fellows!" shouted Corny Minkfield, coming down the wharf: "there +is a steamer over here which is going to Burlington, and we can go in +her." + +"I should rather go in the Goldwing," said Thad, looking at his +companions. + +"You must be in a hurry about it, for she will be off in a few minutes," +added Corny. "We won't get home to-day if we don't take this chance." + +"When are you going, Dory?" asked Nat Long. + +"I don't know when I shall go. If you have a chance to go, you had +better use it," replied Dory. + +After a little discussion, the four members of the Goldwing Club decided +to improve the opportunity to get home; for Dory could not say that he +should go to Burlington that day. All of them but Corny took occasion to +say that they believed Dory was all right, so far as the money was +concerned; for the detective did not seem inclined to say any thing +about the matter beyond the rather encouraging statement he had already +made. A few minutes later the skipper saw a small steamer leave another +part of the town, and he was again alone so far as friends were +concerned. + +"I think we had better go up to the Witherill House, and look the case +over," said Peppers, after the boys had gone. + +"Why do you say there will not be much music for me to face, Mr. +Peppers?" asked Dory, as they walked up the wharf. "I am accused of +stealing the money, and I don't understand the matter." + +"I am sorry Hawlinshed did not come back with you," replied the +detective, without answering the question. "In fact, we want him more +than we want you." + +"Do you want him as evidence against me?" inquired Dory very anxiously. + +"We are looking into the case, and finding out all we can. We have some +ideas, but we don't say much about them," said the detective. + +Dory could not get any thing more out of the officer. They soon reached +the hotel, where he was introduced to Mr. Velsey, the landlord, who was +informed that the skipper of the Goldwing had come to face the music, +whereat he looked very good-natured, and conducted the party to a +private parlor. + +The landlord wanted to know where Dory had been since he left the hotel +the morning before; and he told the story in full of his trip on the +lake, and the pursuit of the Missisquoi. The hotel-keeper and the +detective were very much amused at the manner in which he had dodged the +steamer, and especially when the hero stated that he had left his +pursuers aground on Colchester Shoal. + +"But, if I am charged with stealing this money, I want to know about +it," said Dory when he had finished his narrative. "Pearl Hawlinshed +said I was wanted here; and here I am." + +"You were about the hotel night before last, were you not?" asked +Peppers. + +"I was. I was here to see a gentleman who had a room on the next floor. +I left between ten and eleven," replied Dory promptly. + +"I don't think it is any use to go into that matter, Peppers," +interposed Mr. Velsey, when he saw that the detective was disposed to +make as much parade over the case as possible. "Come to the point at +once." + +"Have you any money, Dory?" asked the officer, evidently coming to the +point as directed. + +"I have: I have sixty dollars and some change," answered Dory, without +any hesitation, as he put his hand upon his wallet in his pocket. + +"Have you any five-dollar bills?" continued the detective. + +"I have two five-dollar bills. The rest of the money is in tens." + +"Will you show me the fives?" + +Dory produced his wallet, and handed the two bills to the officer. +Peppers passed them to Moody at once. The latter shook his head, and +handed them back to the detective, who returned them to the owner. The +skipper wondered what all this meant, and was very much surprised that +Peppers did not ask him where he had got the money he paid for the +Goldwing. + +"That sets you all right, Dory Dornwood," said the landlord. "I am sorry +we made you come back to Plattsburgh, but Hawlinshed was sure you were +the one that stole the money from Moody's room. We are satisfied now +that another person committed the robbery." + +"Then you don't want to send me to jail?" added Dory, with a sensation +of the most intense relief. + +"Not at all. We didn't know so much about the case yesterday forenoon as +we do now. The next man we want to see is Hawlinshed. You say he is +aground somewhere in the steamer." + +"On the Colchester Shoal: at least he was three hours ago," added Dory. + +"That's in Vermont, but I will give you ten dollars to put Peppers in +the same boat with him." + +Dory was glad enough to do it. The tables had turned. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +DORY LOCKS HIS PASSENGERS INTO THE CABIN. + + +Ten dollars! And this sum was to be made with the Goldwing. It would pay +nearly one-fourth of what she cost, and add ten dollars to the sum he +was to have the happiness of giving to his mother. + +"I don't understand yet why I am let off," said Dory, after he had +recovered from his amazement at the prospect of earning ten dollars. + +"You are let off because you didn't do it," replied the landlord, +laughing. "I am sorry we accused you, but it looked bad for you at the +first of it. Peppers and Moody will tell you all about it after you get +into the boat. We have an early dinner ready, and you must dine before +you go." + +In addition to all this, the landlord invited him to come to his house +whenever he was in Plattsburgh, and make himself at home there. The +hotel-keeper dined with them, and he asked Dory a great many questions +about the boat. Was she a dangerous boat? + +"Any boat will tip over if you don't handle her right," replied Dory +sagely. "I sailed her across the lake yesterday when it blew a young +hurricane, and she is as safe as any boat I ever was in." + +The young skipper proceeded to explain what had made the Goldwing so +unruly. He had overcome the difficulty, and he was sure that she was as +safe as any boat on the lake. He had perfect confidence in her, and he +was willing to have her tested in any weather by any boatman on the +lake. + +"Pearl Hawlinshed wanted to buy her; and he claims to be the greatest +boatman on the lake, and knows his way all over it from Whitehall to St. +Johns," added the hotel-keeper. "He knows just where the bottom is in +every place." + +"I think he does," replied Dory, laughing. "I know he found it yesterday +and to-day. Any fellow knows just where the bottom is, but he don't +always know how far it is from the top." + +"I often have parties here who want a boat and a skipper; and I may be +able to turn some business into your hands, Dory," added the +hotel-keeper. + +"Thank you, sir: that's what I want every day in the week, except +Sunday," replied the skipper of the Goldwing. + +After dinner Dory and his passengers went to the wharf, and in a few +minutes they were standing up the lake. The wind was considerably +fresher than it had been in the morning, and the Goldwing made about six +miles an hour. The bad reputation of the boat had made some impression +upon Peppers, and at first he was very shy when she heeled over under +the influence of the smart breeze. + +Dory soon satisfied him that the boat would not upset, with any thing +like fair treatment. He explained and illustrated the lee-helm business. +With the tiller fast in the comb, he allowed the craft to have her own +way. At the next gust she threw her head up into the wind, and spilled +all her sails. This satisfied both of the passengers, and they +manifested no more timidity. + +In an hour and a half the schooner was up with Stave Island. The +detective had asked the skipper half a dozen times if he could see any +thing of the Missisquoi; but the islands had concealed her from view, if +she were still on the shoal. A few minutes more would enable him to +answer the question. Dory's passengers had plied him so closely with +questions since they started, that he had forgotten all about the matter +the officer was to explain to him; but the expectation of soon seeing +Pearl brought it back to his mind. + +"You haven't told me yet why I was charged with taking Mr. Moody's money +from his room," said he. + +"One reason was, that you were seen about the hotel, near Mr. Moody's +room; and the other was, that you had money enough to buy this boat," +replied Peppers. "But I was satisfied that you didn't take the money as +soon as I got the facts from Moody." + +"It was a lucky thing for you, my boy, that I fixed things as I did," +added Moody. + +"How did you fix things?" asked Dory. + +"I have just started the business of making tomato-wine for sickness. I +sold two hundred dollars' worth of it in Plattsburgh, part of it to go +to New York. The merchant gave me a check for the money, and I went to +the bank to cash it. I received forty brand-new five-dollar bills," +Moody explained, producing one of the bills. "I am trying to advertise +my business all I can; and I had a rubber stamp made, which the agent +delivered to me the day I got my money. I went to my room, and stamped +every one of those new bills with my business card in red ink. That is +the way I know the bills when I see them." + +"And that is the reason why you wanted to see all the five-dollar bills +I had," added Dory. + +"But we had looked over the bills you paid for the boat before," said +the detective. "We have been looking for bills with this red stamp upon +it since yesterday noon." + +"Have you found any?" inquired Dory with interest. + +"I found two of them. We have got to the southward of Stave Island now. +Can't you tell whether that steamer is in sight now?" + +"Yes, sir: there she is, just where we left her this morning," replied +the skipper, as he glanced in the direction of the shoal. "I think Pearl +Hawlinshed has had a good time there all day." + +"How far off is she?" asked Peppers. + +"About two miles, but we shall reach her in twenty minutes. Where did +you find the two bills with the stamp on them?" asked Dory. + +"Can they see us on board of that steamer, Dory?" asked the detective, +without heeding the question. + +"They can see the boat; but of course they can't tell who is in her two +miles off," replied Dory. + +"I am afraid I shall have some trouble with Pearl, Dory," said Peppers +anxiously. "The landlord was to give you ten dollars if you put me in +the same boat with Pearl." + +"I think I shall earn the money without any trouble," replied Dory, +laughing with delight at the bright prospect before him. + +"But, Dory, it makes some difference to me in what boat I happen to be +put with him, though you will earn your money all the same," added the +officer. + +"All I can do is to put you on board of the Missisquoi. Of course I +can't put Pearl Hawlinshed on board of this boat if he is not willing to +come." + +"But I don't want to be put on board of the Missisquoi," protested +Peppers. "There is where the rub comes. I am an officer in Plattsburgh, +but not in the State of Vermont. I can't arrest Pearl over here." + +"Arrest him! Are you going to take him up?" asked Dory, not a little +astonished at this revelation. + +"I am not going to do it over here; and he may make me no end of trouble +when he sees how the land lays," added Peppers; and at the same time he +sat down in the bottom of the standing-room. + +"What are you going to arrest him for?" + +"For stealing Moody's money!" exclaimed the detective desperately. "I +didn't mean to tell you the whole story just yet, but you have dragged +it out of me. Drop down here, Moody." + +The loser of the money obeyed, though he seemed to be as much in the +dark as to the object of the movement as the skipper. Dory was worried +at the words of the officer; for, if he would not go on board of the +little steamer when he went alongside of her, he might not be able to +earn the promised reward. + +"What is all this for, Mr. Peppers?" asked Dory, quite as anxious to +earn his money as the detective was to secure his prisoner. + +"Can't we go into the cabin, and shut the doors, Dory?" asked Peppers. + +"You can; but that would bring the boat down by the head so much that +she won't work well. If you want to do that, I will shift the ballast," +replied Dory. + +"I don't want Pearl to see me until we get him into this boat. It won't +do for me to take him out of the steamer over here. I am afraid to do +it. Shift your ballast, and then I will fix it up with you," added the +officer. + +"Fix up the ballast!" exclaimed Dory, who did not care to have any one +meddle with the ballast but himself. + +"No, no! Fix up a plan to get Pearl into this boat. Don't try to be so +thick, Dory," replied Peppers impatiently. + +The skipper could not leave the helm to move the ballast, and neither of +his passengers knew any thing about a boat. But the men shifted the +fifty-sixes under the direction of the skipper. Five of them were +carried farther aft, and the passengers took their places one in each +berth in the cabin. + +The doors opening into the standing-room were closed, but the slide was +left open till the schooner came alongside the Missisquoi. The men +declared that they were very comfortable in their quarters, and Dory +could not see why they should not be. He did not think there was any +better place in the known world than the cabin of the Goldwing. + +"Now, how are we to get Pearl into this boat?" asked Peppers, with his +head at the opening by the slide. + +"I don't think you will have any trouble about that," replied Dory. "He +wanted me to take him on board this morning, but I believe he will take +the boat away from me as soon as he comes on board." + +"Don't you be alarmed about that, Dory. I can take care of him when I +get him within reach of my hand," added the detective. + +"I believe he is as ugly as sin itself, and I think he hates me worse +than he does the Evil One himself. I have given him a big run the last +two days, and I gave him a chance to find the bottom twice." + +"I will look out for you, Dory. I don't want him to know we are on board +of the boat till we get over to the other side of the lake," added +Peppers. "He will look into this cabin the first thing he does after he +comes on board. Can't you give us the key, and let us lock ourselves in, +Dory?" + +"You can't lock the doors on the inside," answered Dory. "When the slide +is drawn, a hasp comes down from it, and all the doors are fastened with +a padlock." + +"Then why can't you lock us in? You won't tip the boat over while we are +in here, will you?" asked the detective, as he thrust his head out far +enough to enable him to see the steamer, which was not more than a +quarter of a mile distant by this time. + +"I will agree not to tip you over; but I can't tell what else may +happen, if I take such a fellow as Pearl Hawlinshed on board." + +"If you have any trouble with him, all you have to do is to unlock the +door, and let us out; and we will take care of you." + +"All right! I am satisfied to do any thing you say," added Dory, as he +went forward, drew the slide, and locked his passengers into the cabin. + +By the change in the position of the ballast the boat was kept in good +trim. She dashed merrily through the water, and in a few minutes more +she was describing a circle around the grounded steamer. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +PEARL HAWLINSHED RESORTS TO VIOLENCE. + + +"Hallo! is that you, Dory Dornwood?" shouted Pearl Hawlinshed, as the +Goldwing came within hail of the steamer. "Come alongside, and take me +on board!" + +"All right!" replied the skipper of the schooner, as he hauled in the +sheets with all his might. + +"Take me on board, and I will make it all right with you," continued +Pearl, who did not seem to believe that Dory intended to take him on +board. + +The skipper had brought the boat about so that all her sails were +shaking, but she had headway enough to carry her to the port quarter of +the steamer. + +"Be all ready to jump on board when I come up alongside," called Dory. + +"Are you going off to leave us, now that you have got us into this +scrape?" demanded Captain Vesey, springing to his feet; for he had +evidently been asleep on the quarter-deck. + +"I am going to get a steamer to drag you off this shoal," replied Pearl. +"I will come back in a couple of hours or so." + +"You may forget to come," added Mr. Button, the engineer. "I think you +had better pay me the five dollars you owe me before we part company." + +"And five dollars you owe me," added Captain Vesey. + +"I don't owe you any five dollars, either of you," replied Pearl +blandly, as he was about to leap on board of the Goldwing. "I was to +give you five dollars apiece if you put me on board of this boat, and +you haven't done it." + +"We should have done it if we hadn't let you do the piloting," replied +Captain Vesey. "You owe us the money, and you must pay it." + +"I think not," added Pearl, as he sprang on the forward deck of the +schooner. "You haven't done what I agreed to pay you for." + +"Hold on!" shouted Button angrily. "If you don't pay me, I will take it +out of your hide." + +"You will catch me first, won't you?" jeered Pearl, as he leaped down +into the standing-room of the boat. + +"Don't carry him off, Dory," added Captain Vesey. "He is the biggest +rascal that ever floated on Lake Champlain." + +"Keep off, Dory, if you know when you are well off!" said Pearl in +threatening tones. + +But Dory was anxious to perform his part in the drama; and he filled +away on the starboard tack, pointing the head of the boat towards +Plattsburgh. His fellow-voyagers did not give Pearl a good character, +but this was not a surprise to the skipper. He knew what Pearl was +before he had seen him in the daylight. + +"Here we are, Dory," said the villain, as he seated himself in the +standing-room. "You have dodged me times enough yesterday and to-day, +and I am glad to be alone on board of this craft with you." + +The skipper did not express his satisfaction that they were not alone, +but he felt it just the same. Pearl was ugly, and Dory did not like the +looks of him. The new passenger gazed about him, and seemed to be +examining the boat for some time. He looked under the seats in the +standing-room, and opened a couple of lockers. Then he raised the +floor-boards, and looked at the ballast. + +When he had done this, he seated himself again. He looked at Dory, and +then he glanced up at the sails. He watched the sailing of the schooner +in silence for a few minutes. He evidently had something on his mind, +and he appeared to be debating with himself as to the manner in which he +should open the subject. As his eyes wandered about the boat, they +rested upon the cabin-doors. He looked at them a moment, and then went +forward, and tried to open them. + +"You keep the cuddy locked, do you, Dory?" asked he, as he pulled +several times at the doors. + +"Just now I do," replied Dory, who had no skill in lying, and no +inclination to practise it. "I wish you would come aft, Mr. Hawlinshed. +When you are so far forward, it puts her down too much by the head." + +"She works very well indeed, Dory Dornwood. What have you been doing to +her?" asked Pearl. + +"I changed the position of the foremast, and have shifted the ballast," +replied Dory, wishing the third passenger would come aft; for he was +afraid he might discover the presence of the others in the cabin. + +"Do you happen to have the key to this padlock in your pocket, Dory?" +asked Pearl in an indifferent tone. + +Just then he saw the inquirer drop his head, and put his right ear very +near the blinds in the doors of the cabin. But he did not act as if he +had discovered any thing. The skipper thought he heard some kind of a +noise in the cabin, as though one of its occupants had coughed or +sneezed. But he was not sure of it, and the noise was just as likely to +have been the dashing of the water against the bow of the boat. + +"You spoil the sailing of the boat by staying so far forward," repeated +the skipper, with his heart in his mouth. + +"Perhaps I do, Dory Dornwood. I asked you if you happened to have the +key of that padlock in your pocket," said Pearl, as he moved aft. "I +should like to have you answer me if it isn't too much trouble." + +"Of course I have the key," replied Dory. + +"Suppose you give it to me? I should like to take a nap in the cabin +while we are going down the lake," added Pearl. + +"I just said it spoiled the sailing of the boat to have you so far +forward. I slept on that seat here in the standing-room last night; and +I think you can take your nap just as comfortably there as in the +cabin," answered Dory. + +There was something cunning and suspicious in the conduct of Pearl +Hawlinshed that made the skipper very uncomfortable. He acted as though +he was playing a part to accomplish a purpose. The skipper had made up +his mind that it was time for him to open the cabin-doors, and thus +obtain the assistance and protection of the officer. + +"Don't say any thing more to me about spoiling the sailing of the boat, +Dory. I know more about sailing a boat than you do," replied Pearl. "You +are a cross-grained youth, and you know more than the law allows for a +boy of your years. You beat me out of this boat; but you stole the money +to buy her, and it was no trade." + +The skipper concluded that it was best to make no reply to this charge. + +"We will settle that matter at another time," continued Pearl. "I +believe I hinted to you that I wanted to take a nap in the cabin." + +"And I hinted to you that I did not want the boat loaded by the head any +more," replied Dory, who was not at all disposed to be bullied, politely +or otherwise. + +"I prefer to sleep in the cabin, and I want the key of that padlock," +said Pearl more decidedly than he had before spoken. + +"You can't have it," replied Dory with quite as much decision. + +"Do you wish me to throw you overboard, Dory Dornwood?" demanded Pearl, +fixing his ugly look upon the skipper. + +"No, I don't." + +"Then I hope you won't make me do it, for I might be sorry for it; but I +must have that key." + +"I don't see what you want of the key," added Dory, whose sober second +thought was, that he had better not provoke such a dangerous man. "This +boat has a bad reputation, and I have to be very careful with her." + +"You were very careful yesterday when you ran across the lake in her +with the wind blowing a heavy gale," said Pearl with a sneer. + +"I will fix a nice bed for you on that seat." + +"I want the key!" exclaimed Pearl savagely. + +Dory was silent. The key was in his trousers-pocket, where he kept his +wallet, containing sixty dollars. His ugly passenger was evidently +determined to have the key. Unless he had discovered that some one was +in the cabin, he could not see why his persecutor was so strenuous to +obtain the key. Pearl was not a large man; but he was very strong and +quick, as he had learned in the affair in the woods, when the ruffian +had hurled him away from him as though he had been nothing but a baby. + +He could hardly get the better of him if Pearl resorted to violence. His +companion in the standing-room claimed to be a skilful boatman, and was +not dependent upon him to act as skipper. The situation began to look +very serious. Though Peppers must have heard every word that passed +between him and Pearl, he had not betrayed his presence on board of the +boat. Perhaps it would have been foolish for him to do so, as he was as +securely caged as though he had been locked up in the Clinton County +jail. + +Dory finally decided that the only thing for him to do was to open the +cabin-doors, and thus secure the aid of the officer. But Pearl was +watching him as a cat eyes a mouse. Whether the ruffianly passenger +would permit him to open the doors was now the question. The skipper got +his hand on the key in his pocket, though he did not venture to take it +out. At a favorable moment, if any such was presented, he intended to +make a rush to the forward deck to effect his purpose. + +"There is a steamer bound to the north," said he, pointing to a vessel a +mile to the windward of the Goldwing. "Perhaps she would run over, and +pull the Missisquoi off the shoal." + +"I don't want any thing more of the Missisquoi; and she may lie where +she is till she rots," replied Pearl, without taking his gaze from Dory. + +"Do you know what boat that is, Mr. Hawlinshed?" asked the skipper, very +anxious to induce his companion to look away from him, even for an +instant. + +"I don't know what steamer that is; and I don't care, unless you should +happen to go too near her. In that case, I should object," answered +Pearl, without looking at her. + +"Are you afraid of her, Mr. Hawlinshed? She looks peaceful enough," +added Dory. + +"You needn't talk any more. I know what you are trying to do; and you +won't do it," said the passenger. + +Dory saw that it was no use to wait any longer. Pearl was determined not +to take his eyes off the skipper. Dory fussed a moment with the sheets, +trying in this manner to distract the attention of the villain. Finally +he let go the jib-sheet, and it ran out. With the key in his hand, he +rushed forward, as if to secure the rope, but really to unlock the +cabin-door. + +Before he could reach the doors, Pearl threw himself upon his victim. +Dory went down into the bottom of the boat in spite of his best +exertions to save himself. His right hand was firmly grasped by his +assailant, and the key wrenched from his hand. It was done almost as +quick as a flash, and Dory was as powerless in the hands of the villain +as though he had been only an infant. + +Pearl did not offer to use any more violence than was necessary to +obtain the key. When he had secured possession of it, he hurled his +victim from him. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +MR. PEPPERS FINDS THE TABLES TURNED. + + +Dory Dornwood gathered himself up after his defeat, and stood upon his +legs again. He was mortified at the result of his attempt to release the +officer, and improve his situation in the boat. He had thought of using +the tiller as a weapon, and now he was sorry he had not done so. +Doubtless it was better for him that he had not; for that would only +have compelled his assailant to use greater violence, and he might have +been seriously injured, for Pearl seemed to be desperate enough to do +any thing. + +"Now pick up your sheet, Dory," said Pearl, as he went to the helm, and +took the tiller in his hand. + +Dory did not feel so much interest in the sailing of the boat as he had +a short time before, and he took no notice of the order of his +conqueror. He looked at Pearl, and saw him deposit the key of the +padlock in the depths of his trousers-pocket, which he buttoned up, as +though he expected an attempt would be made to take it from him. The new +skipper had kept the helm up until all the sails but the jib were +drawing full. + +"I think I told you to pick up that jib-sheet, Dory Dornwood," said +Pearl, in what he doubtless intended for an impressive manner. + +Dory had certainly exhibited a considerable degree of prudence under the +trying circumstances in which he was placed; but now his stock of that +virtue appeared to be exhausted, for he took no notice of the order +repeated to him, and the impressiveness of Pearl was wasted. Dory was +disgusted at his overwhelming defeat, and he had not philosophy enough +to submit to it with good grace. In fact, he was downright mad at the +treatment he had received from his last passenger. + +He was looking about him for the means of resistance. The long tiller +was in the cabin, and he had neglected to take the small one from the +rudder-head. As the situation was now, he was disposed to fight; but, +unprovided with any sort of a weapon, he realized that he was no match +for the villain who had taken possession of the boat. + +He looked at the blinds in the cabin-doors. He could put his foot +through them; but, if he did, the aperture was not large enough for the +officer to crawl through. He began to wonder that Peppers did not say or +do something. + +"If you don't pick up that jib-sheet, Dory Dornwood, it will be all the +worse for you," said Pearl, not so impressively as before; for he had +found that manner did not operate with the late skipper. + +"If you are going to sail the boat, pick it up yourself," replied Dory +with more grit than discretion. + +At this particular moment the eye of the late skipper rested on a round +hard-wood stick which lay on the floor of the standing-room. It was used +in shoving down the centre-board when necessary. When he saw it he laid +hold of it. He felt stronger in spirit and in muscle as soon as he had +it in his possession. + +"What are you going to do with that stick, you young cub?" demanded +Pearl, rising from his seat. + +"I am going to use it," replied Dory, filled with wrath. + +If he had waited for some of his wrath to evaporate, he would have done +better. With the club upraised, he rushed aft with the intention of +attacking his persecutor. He calculated that one blow over the head with +the heavy weapon in his hand would depose and dispose of the new skipper +of the Goldwing, and restore him to his place again. Possibly it might +if Dory had succeeded in delivering the blow. He was angry and excited, +while Pearl was cool and self-possessed. + +As he struck what was to be the finishing blow of the conflict, Pearl +caught him by the arm, and in the twinkling of an eye wrested the club +from his hand. He threw it on the floor, and then he jammed the +belligerent young man down upon the seat very hard. Dory felt his bones +quake as he came down on the board. + +"You have got grit enough to fit out a flock of Bantam roosters," said +Pearl, still holding his victim by the collar of his coat. "But I don't +want any more of this thing, and I won't have it." + +Taking a reef-pendant from under the seat, he proceeded to tie the hands +of the late skipper behind him. When he had done this, in spite of +Dory's struggles, he made him fast to the side of the boat. + +"Now, young man, I think you will stay where I put you," said Pearl, as +he looked his prisoner over, and saw that he was secure. "You won't make +any thing by such stupid conduct." + +"What's going on out there, Dory?" called Peppers, who could not help +hearing the noise of the scuffle. + +"Nothing particular going on just now: it is all over," said Pearl, as +he resumed his place at the helm, though not till he had gathered up the +truant sheet. + +"Why don't you unlock the door, Dory?" continued the officer. + +"I can't," answered Dory, whose tongue was not tied, if his arms were. +"Pearl Hawlinshed has taken the key away from me, and tied my hands +behind me." + +"Are you there, Hawlinshed?" asked Peppers. + +"Of course I am here. Ask Dory Dornwood if I am not," replied the +skipper, chuckling at his own reply. + +"What does this mean, Hawlinshed?" + +"Well, it means any thing you please, Peppers. So you had passengers in +the cabin, Dory; and that is the reason you didn't want to open the +cabin," added Pearl. + +"Open this door, and let us out, Hawlinshed, if you have the key," said +the detective in a mild and good-natured tone, as though he expected the +villain to do it. + +"No: I think I won't," replied Pearl. "I am afraid you wouldn't behave +yourself as well out here as you do in the cabin." + +The officer said no more for several minutes. Dory concluded that he was +looking over his chances of getting out of his prison. Probably he was +willing to admit by this time that the tables had been turned upon him. +The owner of the Goldwing could think of no way by which the prisoners +could get out. The doors were made of plank, and he could not get at the +hinges to operate upon them. + +"I think we had better talk this thing over, Pearl," said Peppers, after +a silence of several minutes. "We may be able to come to an +understanding." + +"I don't object to talking it over. I haven't got any thing else to do; +but I am afraid we can't come to any understanding," replied the +skipper. "You are a constable, police-officer, detective, and all that +sort of thing; and I suppose you went over into Vermont on business. Did +you finish it before you were locked into that place?" + +Pearl chuckled, and was very good-natured in his remarks; and he plainly +felt that he was master of the situation. + +"I didn't finish my business; but, if you will open the door, I will end +it in a very short time," answered the officer. + +"Then I guess I won't open the door," laughed Pearl. "Perhaps you won't +object to telling me what your business is in these parts." + +"I can't do any thing till you let me out." + +"Then you can't do any thing at all. You had better turn in, and take a +nap for the rest of the day." + +"Do you mean to keep us in here all day, Hawlinshed?" + +"Yes: and all night if you don't behave yourself." + +Another silence followed, in which the caged officer was probably +considering what he should do next. It was broken by a sudden crash, +which startled Dory. He found that something besides the silence was +broken. All the blinds in one of the doors were smashed out at a single +stroke from the shoulder of the detective. It hurt Dory's feelings to +see the beautiful work of the boat reduced to splinters in an instant; +but he realized that he was in the midst of a stirring adventure, and +the blinds could be easily restored. + +"Good!" exclaimed Pearl, as the opening appeared in the door. "You did +that very well, Peppers. I was wishing I could leave the helm long +enough to do it myself, for I wanted to see who the other fellow was +that had taken passage with me. Besides, I think it is a good deal more +sociable to see a man's face when you are talking to him." + +"Of course you know, Hawlinshed, that you are resisting an officer, and +obstructing him in the discharge of his duty?" demanded Peppers, +beginning to be a little more demonstrative as he failed to appreciate +the humor of the new skipper. + +"Of course I understand that I am obstructing an officer,--a New-York +officer over here in Vermont," chuckled Pearl. "By the way, Peppers, +have you such a thing about you as a pistol of any kind,--a revolver, a +seven-shooter, or any toy of this sort?" + +"I haven't any such thing about me. If I had, I should shoot you the +next thing I did," answered Peppers petulantly. + +"Oh, no! You wouldn't do such a thing as that. It might hurt me," said +Pearl with a laugh. + +"That is to say"--continued Peppers; and it was plain to Dory that Moody +had indicated to him that he had made a blunder in telling the rascal +that he had no dangerous weapon. + +"That is to say that you haven't any pistol, but the other fellow has +one," added Pearl. "By the way, who is the other fellow? It would be a +good deal more sociable if you would introduce him." + +"His name is Moody, and he will be very glad to make your acquaintance, +Hawlinshed." + +"If he has got a pistol, it might go off, and hurt one of you in that +narrow place; and I think you had better hand it out, and have it +properly taken care of," continued Pearl. + +"Moody has four pistols, all of them seven-shooters," said the +detective, who seemed to be determined effectually to counteract the +influence of the blunder he had made. + +"Four seven-shooters!" exclaimed Pearl. "He is a walking arsenal. He +would sink if he should fall overboard with such a weight of arms upon +him; and I think he had better pass them out through the hole you have +been so kind as to make." + +"He concludes that he may want them, and he don't mean to fall +overboard," replied Peppers. + +"All right! but let him be very careful with them; for pistols are +dangerous things in such a little hole as you now occupy," answered +Pearl, who was no simpleton, and was confident that Moody had no pistol, +to say nothing of four of them. + +A silence of a full hour followed, for neither party seemed to have any +plan to act upon. It was plain enough to Dory that the new skipper had +discovered the presence of the detective on board of the boat, either +before or soon after he went into her himself. A little later he saw a +plaid overcoat lying on the forward deck. It was odd enough to betray +the identity of its owner, who had forgotten to take it into the cabin +with him. + +It afterwards appeared that Moody had sneezed twice. This was the sound +the skipper heard; and it informed the later passenger that the cabin +was occupied, as the coat explained by whom. Two hours had elapsed since +the capture of the boat; and the Goldwing was off Cumberland Head, +hugging the Grand Isle shore. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +ANOTHER ELEMENT IN THE CONTEST. + + +"Where are we now, Dory?" asked Peppers, appearing at the aperture in +the door, at which he had not been seen for the last half hour, though +his voice was heard in consultation with Moody. + +"Off Cumberland Head, and close to Grand Isle," replied Dory. + +"Is there any thing in sight, Dory?" continued Peppers. + +"There is a steamer coming towards the Head. I saw her above Valcour's +Island two hours ago; and she has been in at Plattsburgh since that," +answered Dory. + +"Do you know what steamer it is?" + +"I am not sure: she has not been within two miles of us." + +"I can tell you all about her," interposed Pearl Hawlinshed with his +frequent chuckle. "Why don't you apply at the captain's office when you +want any information?" + +"I don't think I can depend upon your information," added Peppers. + +"I think you can. The steamer is the Sylph," added Pearl. + +"I thought it was the Sylph," said Dory. + +"She is the fastest boat of her inches on the lake," continued the +skipper. "She has run by any of the big steamers, except the Vermont, +which is good for eighteen miles an hour." + +Dory had seen the steamer before, and he never saw her without having +sad thoughts. He always kept away from her if she happened to be in any +port where he was. But she was a beautiful craft, and her ordinary rate +of sailing was twelve miles an hour; and it was said that she was good +for two or three miles more if her owner would only "let her out." + +"I don't think there is any comfort in her for you," chuckled Pearl. +"She is a private yacht, belonging to Captain Gildrock; and he don't go +out of his way to assist poor and distressed fellow-creatures like you." + +"How far off is she, Dory?" asked the officer. + +"She is half way across Cumberland Bay; and I should think she was four +miles off, or thereabouts," answered Dory. + +"Just about four: that was a good guess, Dory Dornwood," added the +skipper. + +"Can't you hail her if she comes near us?" suggested Peppers. + +"No, he can't!" exclaimed Pearl sharply. "It would be cruel of you to +ask him to do such a thing; for as sure as he makes a sign to that +steamer, or to any other craft, I will throw him overboard, with his +hands tied behind him." + +"It would be cruel of you to do such a thing, Hawlinshed." + +"I know it would, and I shall not do it unless you compel me to act in +self-defence." + +"Where is this thing to end?" demanded Peppers in a disgusted tone of +voice. + +"Somewhere up in Canada, I guess," replied Pearl. "I don't believe it +will end before we get there, and I think we shall be over the line some +time to-night." + +"Then you intend to take us into Canada, Hawlinshed?" + +"Yes: unless we can make some better arrangement. If you prefer to land +at some point on Grand Island, I think we could fix it so as to +accommodate you." + +"How can we fix it?" asked Peppers rather anxiously. + +"I have been thinking the matter over, and I believe I have a plan by +which I might safely oblige you," said Pearl. "I have concluded not to +go back to Plattsburgh: in fact, I don't believe I should be comfortable +and happy there." + +"I don't believe you would," added the officer significantly. "We should +be apt to make it warm for you." + +"Why so, Peppers? You and I have always been good friends, and we never +quarrelled. Why should we now?" + +"We shouldn't, and I don't intend to quarrel with you. But in my private +opinion you will spend the greater part of the rest of your days within +the stone walls." + +"I don't intend to do any thing of the sort; and I don't believe I +shall, if I only take good care of you while I have you as a passenger." + +"But how can we fix this matter?" inquired the officer. + +"If you will put your hands behind you, and then put them out through +that hole you have made, I will fasten them together, as I have Dory +Dornwood's. I will do the same with your roommate; and then I will land +all three of you at Wilcox Cove, or some other good place. How does this +plan strike you?" + +"It don't strike me at all," protested Dory. "I won't agree to it." + +"But, my dear little Bantam, I didn't ask you to agree to it. Your hands +are already tied behind you; and, when I have done with you, I shall +throw you overboard, if that happens to be the most convenient way to +get rid of you. I was speaking to Mr. Peppers, whose hands are not yet +tied behind him; and you should not interrupt the conversation of those +who are older and wiser than you are." + +"I don't agree to the plan. We will turn in and go to sleep, and you can +take us where you please; but you will find in the end that this world +isn't big enough to hide you from me," replied Peppers. + +"Just as you please, Peppers. We shall not quarrel about a little matter +like this. I suppose you came over after me. Allow me to suggest that +you haven't stated the nature of your business with me," continued Pearl +gayly in appearance, though Dory could see that he did not feel half so +chipper as he talked. + +"I think I won't talk any more at present," replied Peppers. "I can wait +till we see this thing through." + +"You won't have to wait many hours," answered the skipper, as he looked +astern to see if any craft was coming near the Goldwing. + +Dory was certain that the skipper was disgusted with the decision of the +officer, and that he was very anxious to get rid of his troublesome +passengers. But the owner of the boat was delighted with the conduct of +the detective. He had been afraid that he would compromise with the +villain, and that he should lose his boat, or at least be deprived of +the use of her for a long time. + +"Where is the Sylph now?" asked the officer half an hour later. + +"She is not more than a mile astern of us," replied Dory. + +"Is she coming near us?" + +"She is headed directly for us." + +"And where is this boat?" continued Peppers. + +"We are approaching Long Point, and are within half a mile of it. We are +inside of Sister Islands, and the Sylph seems to be taking the same +course. She acts just as though she was following us," said Dory, who +had been watching the progress of the beautiful steam-yacht ever since +she first came in sight. + +"She does act as though she was following us, don't she, Dory Dornwood?" +added Pearl Hawlinshed. + +"I have no doubt she is following us," replied Dory. + +"Do you know of any reason why she should follow us?" asked the skipper, +trying to conceal his anxiety. + +"I don't," answered Dory. + +"Do you know her owner, Dory?" inquired Pearl. + +Dory hesitated. It was a disagreeable topic to him, and he would gladly +have avoided it. It was plain enough that the Sylph was following the +Goldwing, but Dory could think of no reason why she should do so. + +"Do you know Captain Gildrock, her owner?" asked Pearl again, and with +more energy than before. + +"I do know him: he is my uncle," replied Dory, who could see no reason +why he should conceal the disagreeable truth--for it was disagreeable to +him--from the skipper. + +"Your uncle!" exclaimed Pearl, apparently startled at the reply. "Do you +mean to say that Captain Gildrock is your uncle, you young cub?" + +"I mean to say it, and I do say it." + +But Dory wished with all his might that the captain was not his uncle, +or any other relation. + +"He is one of the richest men in this part of the country," added Pearl, +looking astern at the elegant steam-yacht. + +"I know it; but I don't have any thing to do with him, and I don't think +he is coming after this boat on my account," added Dory. + +"I suppose you will be glad to get on board of her," suggested Pearl, +who had now become quite nervous in spite of his fine philosophy. + +"No, I shouldn't. I was never on board of the Sylph in my life; and I +shall not go on board of her if I can help it," answered Dory. + +"You and your uncle don't seem to be on the best of terms," continued +Pearl, as he headed the boat to the eastward, after passing Long Point. + +The skipper ran the Goldwing close to the point. The Sylph was within +hailing-distance of her at this time; but the steamer had to go a +quarter of a mile or more to the northward of the point in order to find +water enough for her greater draught. In this way Pearl gained half a +mile or more upon her. This enabled him to run the distance to the Gut, +which is the strait, or channel, between North Hero and South Hero, or +Grand Isle. It was about half a mile wide, between Bow-Arrow Point and +Tromp's Point; though there is only a narrow channel, between a red and +a black buoy, for vessels that drew over five feet of water at the +lowest stage of the lake. + +Pearl headed the Goldwing to the southward of the buoys. The Sylph was +almost up with the schooner again; and, if the latter had gone between +the buoys, the steamer would have overhauled her before she reached +them. The skipper became more and more nervous. It was clear to Dory +that Pearl was not familiar with the navigation of this difficult +place; for he frequently looked over the side of the boat into the +water, doubtless to see how deep it was. + +"How deep is the water ahead, Dory Dornwood?" asked the skipper, when he +seemed to be bewildered, and evidently expected the boat to take the +bottom every moment. + +"If you are going to sail the boat, you must do it alone," replied Dory +after a little hesitation. "I won't do any thing to help you as things +are now." + +"Goldwing, ahoy!" shouted some one with a gruff voice in the forward +part of the Sylph. + +But the steam-yacht had stopped her propeller, and immediately began to +back. Her pilot knew how deep the water was on the shoal. Pearl made no +reply to the hail, and the schooner continued on her course. Off Tromp's +Point she struck her centre-board; but, as she was going before the +wind, she did not need it, and Pearl hauled it up so that the boat slid +over the shallow place. + +The man with the gruff voice hailed the boat again; but the skipper did +not respond. Pearl hauled in his sheets, and headed the boat to the +north-west. The steamer then went through the channel. + +"I will play your game upon him, Dory Dornwood," said Pearl, as he put +the boat about. + +The Sylph stopped her propeller again. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +THE GAME AMONG THE SHALLOWS + + +The Sylph was bothered by the last movement of the Goldwing. No one knew +what she wanted; but she had demonstrated that she was after the +schooner, and had business with her. Pearl seemed to be delighted with +the success of his manoeuvre. He had to drop the centre-board, and +beat back. He gave the point a wide berth in standing to the north-west. + +"We can keep her going back and forth through the channel till night," +said Pearl in high glee. "This is really exciting business, and I enjoy +it more than I should a game of cards. I am much obliged to you, Dory +Dornwood, for showing me this little trick." + +Dory said nothing; for he saw that the game was not the same that he had +played early in the morning. There was an element in the contest which +had not entered into that between the Goldwing and the Missisquoi; and +he thought Pearl was very stupid not to see it. He did not point it out, +or even hint at it. He hoped and expected that the interference of the +Sylph would restore the schooner to him; and that was all he cared for, +though he was quite willing that Peppers should capture and take his +prisoner to Plattsburgh. + +The steam-yacht started her screw again, and went ahead. In the Gut she +came about, and passed between the buoys again. The schooner was almost +up with the red buoy when the Sylph passed it, and again the man with +the gruff voice hailed the boat. At this moment Pearl tacked, and stood +to the south-west. + +"I guess she will get tired of this game before a great while," said +Pearl, elated with the success of his movements. "She had better give it +up, and go about her business." + +When the Sylph had passed the buoys, she put her head to the south, and +ran down close to the shoal-water. Pearl was so delighted that he was +becoming reckless, and he held on to his course until he came within a +hundred feet of the steamer. Once more she hailed the boat. "Is +Theodore Dornwood on board of that boat?" shouted the man with the gruff +voice. + +"If you answer, Dory Dornwood, I'll pitch you overboard!" exclaimed the +skipper savagely. + +Dory did not answer: he had no intention of doing so before Pearl used +his threatening expression. He was not on the best of terms with his +uncle; and he did not care to have any thing to do with him, or even to +say to him. + +There seemed to be a dozen persons on board of the Sylph. But she was a +large craft for a steam-yacht, and doubtless some of them were the +guests of the owner. + +"That will do nicely," said Pearl, as he came about, and let off his +sheets again. "The steamer has my permission to go through the channel +again. This is better than a game of checkers." + +To Dory it was getting rather monotonous. But he did not believe that +the people on board of the Sylph would be willing to play at this game +much longer. The man with the gruff voice had indicated in his tones, +the last time he hailed the boat, that he was becoming impatient at the +failure of the Goldwing to answer him. + +Dory felt like one who stands between two fires, and he was sure to be +hit by one of them. He was in the frying-pan now, and he did not at all +like the idea of being compelled to jump into the fire by the Sylph. He +did not like his uncle, her owner; and he did not care to be redeemed +from his present unpleasant position by him. + +It was bad enough to remain in the power of Pearl Hawlinshed, and to be +subject to his caprice; but it seemed worse to be taken out of his hands +by Captain Gildrock. If Pearl had not been a villain, in the very act of +breaking the laws and committing an outrage upon him and the two +passengers in the cabin, he would have been willing to assist him in +keeping out of the way of the Sylph. He thought he knew just how this +could be done; but, as he could not do any thing to help the rascal, he +said nothing. He could not get himself out of the frying-pan, but he +meant to keep out of the fire if he could. + +"She is coming about," said Pearl, as the Sylph began to stir up the +water again with her propeller. "She is going through the channel again +to head off the Goldwing. I hope she will have a good time doing this +thing." + +Dory made no reply to this remark; but he felt that the end of the +adventure was rapidly approaching. Captain Gildrock was not a man to be +trifled with, or one to be balked by a sailboat like the schooner. The +Sylph went through the Western Cut again. Pearl had run almost up to the +red buoy, and was near it when the steam-yacht passed through. + +The skipper of the Goldwing started his sheets, and stood off in the +shoal-water, where the steamer could not follow him. He chuckled as he +did so; and he did not appear to harbor a suspicion that his pursuer +could do any thing but run back and forth through the cut. + +"I think I shall take my passengers into Canada in spite of the +opposition of that big steam-yacht. A mouse or a mosquito can make it +uncomfortable for a lion," said Pearl, as he stood off from his pursuer. +"Do you know how the water is in this bay beyond the next point, Dory +Dornwood?" and the skipper indicated Simms's Point with his hand. + +"I do," replied Dory. + +"Well, how is the water?" + +"It is wet," answered Dory. + +"Is that so? How did you find it out?" asked Pearl. + +"I felt of it one day." + +"If you don't keep a civil tongue in your head, you will feel of it +again to-day," added Pearl savagely. + +Dory knew there was a half mile of shoal water, deep enough for the +Goldwing, but not for the Sylph. But it was shallow off the point; and +Dory thought the skipper would get aground before he reached Hyde's Bay. +But the water was clear, and Pearl saw the bottom in season to avoid the +danger. He stood to the southward then, watching the bottom all the +time. + +Dory saw that the skipper was making the worst possible move for his own +case, and he was rejoiced to see him do it. The Sylph continued farther +into the Gut, and finally stopped her screw half a mile east of Simms's +Point. + +"All right!" exclaimed Pearl, who had half a mile of shoal water between +the steamer and the shore on either side of her. "I couldn't have put +her in a better place myself." + +The skipper looked about him anxiously, as though he was in doubt +whether to go to the east or the west. But he had been around the two +points west of him, and he seemed to think that his safest way was to +stick to the ground with which he had become acquainted. The schooner +was half a mile from Simms's Point by this time; but Pearl evidently +thought that all he had to do was to return to the westward of the buoys +by the way he had come into the Gut, and the Sylph could not come near +his boat. He came about, and stood to the north-west. + +"We are all right still, Dory Dornwood," said Pearl, as he glanced at +the steamer. "She can't come any nearer to us than she is now, and a +quarter of a mile is as good as a mile." + +Dory kept his eye on the Sylph. The moment she stopped her screw, there +was a lively movement on board of her. Orders were given in quick and +sharp tones; and presently her two quarter-boats, which were swung on +davits, were dropping into the water. This was what Dory had expected +her to do before this time. + +"What is she doing, Dory Dornwood?" asked Pearl, when he discovered that +something was going on upon the deck of the steamer. + +"She is doing the next thing," answered Dory, who was determined not to +give the enemy any comfort. + +"What is she about?" demanded the skipper. + +"You have a pair of eyes, and you know how to use them." + +By this time the boats began to drop into the water. They were lowered +from the davits with the oarsmen on the thwarts, and an officer in the +stern-sheets. Pearl could not help seeing what the steamer was doing +now. He looked troubled, and he used some needless profanity in an under +tone. + +"What is going on now, Dory?" asked Peppers, who could not see the +steamer through the aperture in the door. + +"The steamer is getting out her boats," replied Dory. "She has just +dropped one from each quarter into the water." + +"Four boats!" exclaimed Peppers. + +"No," answered Dory, laughing in spite of his situation. "I didn't say +four boats." + +"You said one from each quarter; and there are four quarters in any +thing, according to my arithmetic," added the officer. + +"A vessel has but two quarters, and she has dropped two boats into the +water. There are five men in each of them," continued Dory. + +"That will do! Dry up, and shut up, all of you!" interposed Pearl. "I +am going to fight this thing out to the end, and I don't want any more +talk." + +The Goldwing was in behind the land, so that she did not feel the full +force of the wind. The lake was calm and smooth behind the point, and +the boat moved very sluggishly. Pearl began to be very impatient; but a +short distance ahead the surface was ruffled, and she would soon have a +better breeze. + +The starboard quarter-boat pulled towards Simms's Point, and the port +boat in the opposite direction. Whichever way the schooner went, she was +sure to be intercepted by one or the other of them. The oarsmen of the +boats appeared to be all young fellows. They were dressed in a blue +uniform; and all of them wore white linen caps, without visors. The +officers showed a profusion of brass buttons on their frock-coats, and +wore yacht-caps of white linen. + +The boats were white, and were very graceful in their build. The four +rowers in each boat pulled a man-of-war stroke. The starboard +quarter-boat was ahead of the Goldwing; and the officer in charge of her +was urging his men to their best exertions, so as to come in ahead of +the schooner. Before the Goldwing could reach the point, she was in +position to intercept her. + +Pearl scowled when he saw the boat directly in his course. He looked +back, and saw the other boat beyond the steamer. He could not help +realizing that the pleasant game he had been playing had ended in his +being beaten. + +"Goldwing, ahoy!" shouted the officer in charge of the starboard +quarter-boat. + +"In the boat!" replied Pearl in a surly tone: "what do you want?" + +"Is Theodore Dornwood on board of your boat?" asked the officer. + +"Yes, he is," answered Pearl. "If you want him, you can have him." + +At this moment the skipper threw the Goldwing up into the wind, and +sprang forward to the place where Dory was seated. Without saying a +word, he dragged him off the seat, and proceeded to remove the cord that +bound his hands behind him. The prisoner's wrists were numb from the +pressure of the line, and he stood up to rub a little life into them. +Pearl put the boat about, and headed her for the shore. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +HEADED OFF ON BOTH SIDES. + + +"Hold on there! What are you about?" shouted the officer, as the +Goldwing filled away on the starboard tack. "We want to see Theodore +Dornwood." + +"I can't sail dead to windward," replied Pearl. + +"You needn't sail at all," replied the officer. "Captain Gildrock wished +to see Dornwood on a matter of the utmost importance: it is a case of +life and death." + +Dory was startled by these words. What could his uncle want of him? If +anybody was dead, who was it? It might be his mother. His blood seemed +to freeze in his veins as he thought of the possibility of such a +terrible event. He sprang upon the seat, and hailed the boat at once. + +"Is my mother dead?" shouted he; and the agony of his tone was borne +across the water with his words. + +"No: your mother is not dead. She is quite well," replied the officer, +who could not but have been impressed by the despairing tone in which +the question was put to him; and he had not lost an instant in relieving +the anxiety of the inquirer. + +Dory dropped down upon the seat again. His mother was not sick or dead. +The current of life began to flow through his veins again. A terrible +load was removed from his mind almost as soon as laid upon it. He even +began to think that the officer was playing a trick upon him to get him +to see the captain of the steamer, whom he had so carefully avoided. + +"Give way, my lads!" shouted the officer of the boat, as soon as he had +answered Dory's question. "I want Theodore Dornwood. Will you give him +up?" + +This question was addressed to the skipper of the schooner, which was +not more than a hundred feet from the boat. + +"Yes, with the greatest pleasure," replied Pearl. "I will put him ashore +in here, and you can take him on board." + +Dory heard this reply with astonishment and indignation. Pearl intended +to put him ashore, and then allow the boat from the steam-yacht to pick +him up. If he could keep the boat from coming alongside, and thus +prevent the officer from ascertaining the condition of things on board +of the Goldwing, the Sylph would trouble him no more. If the business on +which she came after Dory was a matter of life and death, Captain +Gildrock would not be likely to molest him after he had accomplished his +mission. + +The Goldwing was now within a hundred yards of the shore. Through an +opening in the land she was getting a better breeze, and was making at +least four miles an hour. Dory saw that something must be done very +soon. He had been released from his imprisonment so that the owner of +the steamer should not see that he was in trouble. The boat from the +steamer was not hurrying; for the officer seemed to be satisfied with +the arrangement Pearl had proposed, to put the boy ashore. + +When the steamer's port boat saw that the schooner was cornered, she +began to pull towards the scene of action. It had gone but a short +distance from the vessel before she changed her course; but she still +kept in position to head off the schooner if she attempted to escape to +the eastward. + +"Get ready to go ashore, Dory Dornwood," said Pearl in one of his mild +tones. + +Dory made no reply. He was fully resolved not to do any thing of the +sort. If he went on shore, and submitted to the villain's plan to escape +from his pursuers, he could hardly expect ever to see the Goldwing +again. But he considered it the safest way to say nothing about the +purpose in his mind. + +"You will tell the captain of the Sylph the state of things on board of +this boat, Dory," said Peppers, who had no objection to the plan; for he +thought Captain Gildrock would make a business of liberating him and his +companion in the cuddy as soon as he was informed of their condition. + +"Tell him any thing you like, Dory Dornwood, as soon as you get on board +of the steamer," added Pearl. "Are you ready to go on shore?" + +"If I must go on shore, I suppose I must," replied Dory in a +non-committal way. "What is to become of my boat if I go ashore?" + +"You can have her again when I have done with her," answered Pearl in a +coaxing tone; for, if he could get rid of his pursuers, he cared for +nothing else just then. + +"Where shall I be likely to find her?" asked Dory in a tone which +indicated his incredulity. + +"You will find her in Missisquoi Bay, on the northern shore, Dory; and +she will be in as good condition as she is now." + +"Perhaps I shall find her there," added Dory. + +"I will"--But, before Pearl could say what he would do, the centre-board +of the boat dragged in the sand on the bottom. + +The skipper hastened to raise it, but a few moments later it struck +again. Pearl hoisted it up as far as he could, and then kept the +schooner away a few points; for she would no longer lie up to the wind +as closely as before. In this way he succeeded in getting the boat +within about a hundred feet of the shore, and then the Goldwing grounded +on her bottom. + +The water was not more than three feet deep at the stem of the boat, and +it was impossible to get her any nearer to the dry land on the beach. +Pearl bit his lip; for both of the boats of the Sylph were pulling +towards the schooner, and Peppers would soon have an audience to whom +he could tell his story. + +"I can't get any nearer the shore, Dory," said Pearl, not a little +agitated. "You must jump into the water, and wade ashore." + +Dory leaped upon the forward deck, and Pearl probably thought he +intended to adopt his suggestion, and wade to the beach. But the owner +of the Goldwing had no intention of "giving up the ship" in any such +manner. The sails hid Dory from the skipper, so that he could not see +what he was doing; and, while Pearl was waiting to hear the splash when +he went overboard, Dory grasped one of the stays, and climbed half way +to the mast-head before his persecutor discovered what he was about. + +"What are you doing up there?" demanded Pearl fiercely. "What are you +about?" + +"I want to see how far off the shore is," replied Dory, for the want of +something more sensible to say. + +"Come down this instant, you young villain!" yelled Pearl, whose hope of +saving himself was thus endangered by the unexpected freak of the owner +of the boat. + +"I think I can make myself very comfortable up here for a while," +replied Dory, as he placed his feet on the foresail gaff, and passed his +arm around the topmast. + +"If you don't come down, I will shoot you!" stormed Pearl angrily, as he +saw the two boats of the steamer coming nearer to him every moment. + +Dory had the average aversion to being shot, and he did not like the +sound of the threat. He did not know whether or not Pearl had a pistol, +though it was not improbable that he had one. He looked at the +approaching boats. One of them was not thirty yards from the schooner, +and the officer could hardly have helped hearing the threat of the +skipper. The port boat had come near enough by this time to enable Dory +to see that his uncle was in the stern-sheets. + +"Give way, my lads, with all your might!" said the officer of the nearer +boat, speaking with great energy, as though he meant to take a hand in +the business on board of the Goldwing. + +"Are you coming down, Dory Dornwood?" demanded Pearl, as he stopped on +the forward deck of the schooner. + +"I think I will come down," replied Dory, who had made up his mind not +to run the risk of being shot; but he was satisfied that one of the +boats would be alongside the Goldwing before he could reach the deck. +"But it isn't so easy to get down as it was to come up," he added, +making it as an excuse for the slow movement in coming down to the deck. +Dory descended with the utmost caution. He had gained time enough to +enable the starboard boat to reach the schooner, and this was all he +expected to accomplish by going aloft. + +"Come, hurry up, Dory!" shouted the skipper, when he was about half way +to the deck. + +Dory immediately changed his movement, and began to ascend again. + +"What are you about, you young cub? Are you going back again?" cried +Pearl. + +"You told me to hurry up," pleaded Dory, wishing to gain all the time he +could. + +"You are a natural fool! Come down, or I'll--do what I said I would," +added Pearl, as he glanced at the nearer boat, which was not fifty feet +from the schooner. + +"All right! I will be with you in a moment," answered Dory, as he +descended to the deck with a reasonable degree of celerity. + +But the boat was alongside the Goldwing as soon as he reached the +forward deck. The officer leaped on deck without waiting for any +ceremony. Pearl dropped into a seat in the forward part of the +standing-room. He evidently realized that he had lost the game he had +been playing. + +"Which is Theodore Dornwood?" asked the officer as he came on board. + +"There he is, on the forward deck," replied Pearl. "He is the most +obstinate young cub that ever floated on Lake Champlain. You can take +him with you as quick as you please. I don't want any thing more of +him." + +"What in the world is going on aboard this boat?" asked the officer, as +he looked from Pearl to Dory, and then from Dory to Pearl, unable to +understand the appearance of things on board. "What have you got cooped +up in that cuddy?" + +"I thought you wanted Dory Dornwood. Why don't you take him, and not +waste any more of your time and mine?" said Pearl impatiently. + +"Captain Gildrock wants to see you very much, Theodore, and there is a +place in my boat for you." + +"I don't care about going in your boat, and I shall not go on board of +the Sylph if I can help myself," replied Dory stoutly. + +"There he is again!" exclaimed Pearl, as he glanced at the boat that +contained Captain Gildrock. "He is a mule, a sulky dog. If you want him, +I will pitch him into your boat for you, and make an end of this +business." + +Pearl leaped upon the forward deck, intent upon putting his threat into +execution. But, as he went up on the starboard side, Dory leaped down +into the standing-room on the port side. Pearl followed him, and seemed +to have a hope, that, if he could drive Dory into the boat, he might get +rid of his troublesome visitors. + +"Don't you meddle with the boy, officer," said Peppers through the hole +in the door; "and don't you let that man meddle with him." + +"What does all this mean? Why are you in there? Why don't you come out?" + +Before Peppers could explain, the port boat came alongside, and Captain +Gildrock stepped on board the Goldwing. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +THROUGH VARIED STRIFE AND STRUGGLES. + + +Captain Royal Gildrock was not over forty-five years of age. He was +dressed in the uniform of his yacht. He was a good-looking man, of +middling height, and rather stout. A single glance at his face would +have assured any one skilled in reading expressions that he was a person +of great force of character. + +"What's going on here, Mr. Jepson?" said he, as he glanced curiously +about the Goldwing. + +"That is what I was trying to find out when you came on board, sir," +replied Mr. Jepson. "Theodore and the man in charge of the boat appear +to be at sword's points, and there are two men in the cuddy who seem to +be fastened in there." + +"What does all this mean?" asked Captain Gildrock. And it was apparent +now that he was the owner of the gruff voice. + +"I will tell you all about it, sir," replied Peppers, taking this duty +upon himself. + +"I shall be glad to know, for the skipper of the boat has behaved in the +most unaccountable manner." + +Dory had retreated to the forward deck again when his uncle came on +board, though the captain did not seem to be such a terrible man as one +might have supposed from the conduct of his nephew. He desired to keep +as far as possible from his uncle. + +"I wish you would let me out of this place before I tell the story," +suggested the detective. + +"Why don't you come out if you wish to do so?" asked Captain Gildrock. + +"We are locked in. Hawlinshed took the key away from Dory Dornwood by +force, and has kept us prisoners ever since. It isn't a bad place; but +it is rather confined for a long stay," added Peppers. + +"But I didn't lock them in there," added Pearl. "That was done by Dory." + +"Have you the key?" asked the captain, turning to Pearl. + +"If you want your nephew, there he is, Captain Gildrock," replied +Pearl, pointing to the forward deck. "I don't think you have any right +to interfere with my affairs. I will put Dory Dornwood into one of your +boats, and you can take him away with you." + +"All I want is my nephew; and I don't intend to meddle with what don't +concern me," said Captain Gildrock. + +"That's the sort of man you are; and I always knew you were as +straightforward as a gun," added Pearl, delighted with this statement of +the owner of the steamer. "Which boat shall I put the boy into?" + +Pearl sprang upon the forward deck, and rushed towards Dory. The boy did +not take kindly to this proceeding. He dodged around the foremast, and +leaped down into the standing-room. + +"Captain Gildrock, this boat belongs to Dory, and Hawlinshed has taken +her from him by force," interposed the detective. + +"My nephew stole the money with which he bought her," added Captain +Gildrock. "I don't think he owns her any more than I do." + +"You are mistaken, sir. I don't know where your nephew got the money +with which he bought this boat, but the charge made against him in +Plattsburgh is not a true bill. I came over here to arrest Hawlinshed, +and that is the reason why I am a prisoner in this coop at this moment." + +"You have no right to arrest me in the State of Vermont," protested +Pearl, standing on the forward deck. "Captain Gildrock, this is a +conspiracy. I had a little difficulty with my father, and this is a +trumped-up charge to get me back to Plattsburgh." + +This was an entirely new presentation of the case, and Captain Gildrock +was confused by the differing statements. + +"I am not disposed to interfere in this business. I came for my nephew, +and I was astonished and surprised to hear that he was accused of +robbery. All I want is my nephew." + +"If you are willing to assist a robber to escape into Canada, Captain +Gildrock, I have nothing further to say," said Peppers. "If you take +your nephew away and leave things as you find them, that will be just +what you will do." + +"Of course, I don't mean to render assistance to any fugitive from +justice," replied the captain, more perplexed than ever. + +"If you will let us out of this place, I will prove to your satisfaction +that Hawlinshed is a robber," added the detective. + +"And I can prove that I am the victim of a conspiracy," protested Pearl. +"I can prove it by Dory Dornwood, if he will only speak the truth, which +he never does, except by accident." + +"I am sorry to hear such bad stories about my nephew," added the +captain. "I have been told that he was wild, and was going to ruin." + +"He can't deny that he had a talk with my father," said Pearl; "and my +father and I don't agree very well." + +Dory thought they didn't agree at all, but he determined not to say a +word on the forbidden topic. He had made up his mind in the beginning +not to go on board of the Sylph, and the present aspect of things made +him more decided than before. If his uncle and Pearl decided that he +should go into one of the boats, he meant to jump into the water, and +wade to the shore. + +Captain Gildrock was silent, looking from the officer in the cuddy to +Pearl. He was considering what he should do. Peppers thought it was a +plain case. He desired the visitor to act for himself, after he had +looked the case over, and listened to the facts. + +"I think I will hear what you have to say, officer," said he, after a +few moments' reflection. "It is none of my business; but I want my +nephew, though I don't like to do any wrong in taking him away. The only +way I can do to leave things as I find them is to let my nephew remain; +and I can't do that under the present circumstances. Mr. Hawlinshed, +will you unlock those doors?" + +"No, sir: I will not!" replied Pearl haughtily. "You are interfering +with my affairs, and giving me away to my enemies. If you want your +nephew, I will help you get him on board of the Sylph; but you have no +business to let those men out when they want to cut my throat." + +"I only purpose to look into this matter; and, when I have done so, I +shall act as I think my duty requires of me." + +"That man is not an officer in the State of Vermont; and he has no right +to arrest me here," added Pearl. + +"I don't deal in quibbles, Mr. Hawlinshed. All I want to know now is, +who has the right in the present situation? If I can ascertain the truth +on this point, I don't care a straw whether we are in the State of +Vermont or the State of New York. Will you open the doors of that +cuddy?" + +"No, sir: I will not! And I will not allow anybody else to interfere +with my affairs," answered Pearl angrily. + +"I am going to open those doors," added Captain Gildrock decidedly. + +"I don't believe you will," said Pearl, as he took the key of the +padlock from his pocket. + +He held it up so that the captain could see it, and then jerked it into +the lake. It struck the water about fifty feet from the boat. The next +instant Dory dropped into the water, and waded in the direction the +villain had thrown it. He had kept his eye on the spot where it had +fallen; and the water was so clear that he could see the grains of sand +on the bottom. + +Pearl saw that his purpose was likely to be defeated by the prompt +action of the boy; and, before any one could stop him, he had leaped +into the water after Dory. + +"That man will drown your nephew if you let him do it, Captain +Gildrock!" exclaimed Peppers, as he saw Pearl leap into the water. + +But the captain had no intention of being a passive observer of what was +about to transpire in the water; for he leaped into his boat, and +ordered his crew to back her. In an instant they were pulling with all +their might; and the boat had nearly run over Pearl before the captain +gave the order, "Way enough!" + +"Lay hold of that man," said the captain to the two men who pulled the +bow oars. + +The young fellows unshipped their oars, and grabbed Pearl with no tender +grasp. They threw him down, and then dragged him into the boat. + +"Hold on to him, my lads!" added the captain. "Don't let him go." + +Pearl struggled for his liberty; but the two young fellows jammed him +down in the bottom of the boat, and held him there in spite of his +efforts to shake them off. + +"This is an outrage, Captain Gildrock!" gasped Pearl, out of breath from +the violence of his exertions. "I did not think this of you! I have +always heard you spoken of as a fair man; but you interfere with my +business, and hand me over to my enemies!" + +[Illustration: "THE YOUNG FELLOWS GRABBED PEARL WITH NO TENDER GRASP." +PAGE 264.] + +"Your enemies, as you call them, are willing to have the truth, whatever +it is, shown out; but you are not," replied Captain Gildrock. "If the +officer in the cuddy don't make out a case against you, I shall not +meddle with you; and you can go to Canada, or wherever else you please. +Give way," he added to the two after oarsmen. + +The two men pulled the boat, and the captain steered it to the spot +where Dory was looking for the key. He had taken no notice of what had +been transpiring behind him, but had kept his eyes fixed on the spot +where he had seen the key drop into the water. After a few minutes' +search he saw it lying on the sand, and picked it up. By this time the +boat had come up to him; but he paid no attention to it, and began to +wade back to the schooner. + +"Come into the boat, Theodore," said Captain Gildrock. + +"No, I thank you, sir: I will wade back to the Goldwing. It won't take +me but a moment." + +The captain thought the boy behaved very strangely, as he had ever since +the boats from the Sylph had come alongside the schooner. But he +permitted his nephew to have his own way, and Dory soon climbed over the +side of the boat into the standing-room. Taking the key from his pocket, +he unlocked the padlock, and threw the doors open. Peppers and Moody +crawled out of their prison, and stretched their limbs; for they were +rather stiff after being kept so long in one position. + +By the time Captain Gildrock's boat came along side, the two prisoners +were at liberty. The two bow oarsmen were told to let their captive up. +Pearl could not have been more wrathy if he had tried. The pleasant game +over which he had rubbed his hands so felicitously had gone against him. +He knew that Peppers would get the best of him in the argument, and he +had lost all hope. He regarded Dory as the cause of all his misfortunes; +and, as soon as he was released, he sprang into the standing-room of the +schooner, and rushed upon him. + +Very likely it would have gone hard with poor Dory, if Moody and Peppers +had not seen what the villain intended. Both of them dropped upon him, +and bore him to the floor. He struggled desperately, but foolishly; for +he had no chance whatever against Moody, who was a powerful man. + +While the maker of tomato-wine held him, Peppers put the irons on his +wrists. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + +WIND SOUTH-SOUTH-WEST, BLOWING FRESH. + + +"I think we have him now where we want him," said Peppers, after Moody, +under his direction, had tied the prisoner, with the rope that had bound +Dory, to the side of the boat. + +Pearl Hawlinshed was panting from his effort to escape. He made no reply +to the remark of the detective. He felt that he had lost the battle, and +any further resistance would be useless. + +"I am ready to hear any thing you have to say, officer," said Captain +Gildrock, as he stepped into the standing-room from his boat. "If you +haven't any case, I shall simply put things where I found them, with the +exception of taking my nephew on board of the Sylph." + +Dory had his doubts about this; for he was as determined as ever not to +put himself into his uncle's hands. He had a sore grudge against him, +and he did not want to have any thing to do with him. He had no doubt +that the captain would decide against Pearl, for he knew enough of the +case to understand that it was a good one. He was already considering in +what manner he should get away from his uncle after the robbery question +had been settled. He was likely to have a chance yet to use his skill +and ingenuity in getting away from the Sylph. + +"I am entirely willing to have you do what you think is right after you +have heard the facts in the case," replied Peppers. + +"Have you arrested my nephew for robbery, stealing, or any other crime?" +asked the captain, glancing at Dory, who had retreated to the forward +deck; for he wished to be in a situation for action when he felt that it +was required of him. + +"No, sir: I have not, and he has not been arrested. But I will tell you +the whole story, and you will see in what manner Dory is connected with +the robbery," answered the detective. + +Peppers narrated all that had occurred at the hotel in Plattsburgh, +giving all the details that were known in regard to the robbery of +Moody's room. He added to it the particulars of the two days' chase of +the Missisquoi after the Goldwing, with the landlord's statement in +regard to Dory's supposed connection with the robbery. + +"Then Theodore was charged with the robbery?" asked Captain Gildrock. + +"By Hawlinshed, he was; but that was to cover up his own tracks. As soon +as the landlord told me that Pearl accused your nephew of the crime, +declaring that he had bought this boat with the money he stole from the +room, I got an idea," continued the detective. "I found Moody, and he +frankly told the facts. He will excuse me; but he makes temperance wine, +though he drinks whiskey himself." + +"I don't believe I shall ever drink any more," interposed Moody. "I have +been in the habit of drinking considerable whiskey when I went to +Plattsburgh: and, after I had done my business, I felt pretty good; for +I had sold two hundred dollars' worth of my goods, and I felt like +celebrating the event with a little tear. But I was afraid that I might +lose my money; and I put one hundred and fifty dollars of it in my bag, +keeping the rest in my pocket. I guess that scoundrel saw me put it +there." + +"It was not till after the Missisquoi had gone off on her cruise that +Moody told me he had marked his money with the rubber stamp," continued +Peppers. "Then the landlord told me that Dory had taken the money, and +had been seen about the hall, near the room. He had bought and paid for +the boat that morning, and I went to the auctioneer. I wanted to see the +money the boy had paid. It was five ten-dollar bills; and that settled +it that Dory had not paid for the boat with the money taken from Moody's +room." + +"I am glad to hear that," added Captain Gildrock. + +Dory had thought he would be sorry to hear it; but there was a bad +misunderstanding between him and his uncle. + +"When Dory came back, he showed me the money he had, about sixty +dollars," continued Peppers. + +"Sixty dollars, besides what he had paid for the boat?" queried the +captain. + +"That is what he had; but he got eight dollars back from the +auctioneer," replied the officer. + +"That makes over a hundred dollars," said Captain Gildrock, knitting his +brow as though he did not like the looks of this fact. "Where did he +get so much money, if he did not steal it?" + +"That's the question, Captain Gildrock," interposed Pearl, who spoke for +the first time since the narrative was begun. "When you have looked into +the matter, you will find that he stole it." + +"I don't know where he got it," Peppers proceeded. "That is none of my +business. All I know is, that none of the money found upon Dory, and +none that he had paid out, was the bills Moody lost." + +"But have you no idea where my nephew got so much money?" asked the +captain. + +"I have not the remotest idea, Captain Gildrock. It don't concern me to +know, and I make it a rule to mind my own business. But I did find some +of Moody's money in Plattsburgh. One five with the stamp on it was paid +for a pistol, and the other for the provisions taken on board of the +Missisquoi. Both of them came from Hawlinshed." + +"It is a lie!" exclaimed Pearl with an oath. + +"Both of the shopkeepers are ready to swear to the identity of their +man. Now, I shall take the liberty to do what I have not had an +opportunity to do before. I shall search the prisoner. Before I do it I +should like to have you look at these two bills, Captain Gildrock. They +are the fives paid for the pistol and the provisions by Hawlinshed." And +Peppers handed him the bank-notes. + +"It will be an easy matter to identify these bills. In addition to the +stamp on them, this is the first time they have ever been out of the +bank," said the captain, after he had looked at the bills. + +Pearl was furious when the officer, assisted by Moody, attempted to +search him. Moody handled him very roughly, and he was forced to submit +to the operation. Peppers took from a pocket inside of his vest a +wallet, which was found to contain quite a roll of new bills. The +detective spread a couple of them out on the top of the centre-board +casing. The red stamp appeared upon them, and they were exactly like +those in the hands of the captain. + +"It is a plain case, and I have nothing more to say," said Captain +Gildrock. "You have made out your case, and I shall not interfere with +your taking your prisoner to Plattsburgh." + +"I knew you would be satisfied when you heard the case," added Peppers, +as he put the money he had taken from Pearl into his pocket-book, and +returned it to his pocket. + +"I am entirely satisfied, Mr. Peppers," replied Captain Gildrock, +glancing at the sky, and giving a general survey to the horizon to the +southward. "I see the wind is hauling to the southward, and it looks +like bad weather." + +"I noticed that it was calm a little while ago," answered Peppers. "Do +you think we shall have a storm, sir?" + +"We shall have a good deal of wind, and some rain before many hours, if +not before dark. I have to go in at Plattsburgh on my way south; and, if +you choose, you can take your prisoner on board of the Sylph," continued +the captain. + +"Thank you, sir: I should be very glad to return in your beautiful +yacht, especially if it is going to blow," answered the detective. + +"You may take them on board in your boat, Mr. Jepson. I will take Mr. +Moody in mine," said Captain Gildrock. "Theodore, you will go in my +boat." + +Dory made no reply to this intimation. He was looking over Simms's +Point out into the lake, where a fresh south-south-west wind was now +rolling up the white-caps. The captain seated himself in the +stern-sheets of the port boat. Moody assisted the officer in placing his +prisoner in the starboard boat, and took his place with Captain +Gildrock. Pearl, though very sulky and even ugly, offered no serious +resistance to the transfer to the boat. With his arms handcuffed behind +him, he took the seat in which Mr. Jepson placed him. + +The starboard boat, having received her complement of passengers, shoved +off; and her crew pulled for the steamer. The port boat was waiting for +Dory, who was standing at the bow, behind the foresail. He had the +boat-hook in his hand, but he did not indicate in what manner he +intended to use it. The fresh breeze was beginning to blow in the Gut, +though the Goldwing was sheltered from its full force by the land. + +"I am waiting for you, Theodore," called Captain Gildrock. + +"I am not going, sir," replied Dory in a mild, but very decided, tone. + +"Not going? Didn't you hear me say that I came down here after you?" +asked the captain, evidently much surprised at the boy's answer. + +"I can't leave the boat here, sir. It is coming on to blow, and she will +drift off," added Dory, struggling to suppress his emotion; for he +expected a very unpleasant scene with his uncle now that the issue had +been reached. + +Captain Gildrock seemed to have no suspicion of the state of feeling to +which his nephew had wrought himself up. He appeared to think that his +invitation to go on board of the Sylph was enough, and the present +attitude of the boy was clearly a surprise to him. It was plain that he +had not thought of the schooner, for he was silent when Dory intimated +that she was not in a safe position for heavy weather. + +"You can furl her sails, and throw over her anchor," said he after a +moment's consideration. + +"I don't think the anchor will hold her, sir: the sand is as hard as a +rock here." + +"Isn't she aground?" + +"She was aground, sir." + +"I will run the boat ahead, and we will drag her farther up on the +shoal, and carry the anchor to the shore. Then she will be all right; +and you can come up after her in a few days," continued Captain +Gildrock, as he directed his bowman to shove off from the Goldwing. + +The sails of the schooner were beginning to thrash and bang about as +they felt the increasing breeze. The boat had been aground at the bow; +but, the moment she was relieved of the weight of the three men who had +been on board of her when she grounded, she floated again. Dory had +noticed this fact; and, taking the boat-hook, he had thrust it down into +the sand, and held her. As the wind freshened, driving her off from the +shore, his hold was not strong enough upon the bottom to keep her any +longer. But it must be added that Dory did not wish to hold her any +longer. + +The moment the boat-hook tore out of the bottom, the schooner began to +make sternway. Then the jib, the sheet of which was still fast, filled, +and the Goldwing whirled around like a top. Then a gust of wind struck +the sails, and threw them all over. Dory rushed to the helm, trimmed the +sails, and headed the Goldwing across the bay. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + +DORY DORNWOOD MANOEUVRES TO ESCAPE. + + +"What are you about, Theodore?" shouted Captain Gildrock, as the +Goldwing shot away, heeled down to her gunwale under the blast of the +strong wind. "Come about, and run her on the beach." + +Dory took no notice of this direction, but grasped the tiller with all +his might; and with the short stick it was all he could do to hold her. +He dropped the centre-board, and stood to the eastward, evidently to +avoid the steam-yacht, which was now giving an occasional turn to her +screw to avoid being driven out into the Gut. The starboard quarter-boat +had just put the detective and his prisoner on board of her. + +Captain Gildrock had put the other boat about; and the four oarsmen were +straining their muscles, pulling in the direction the schooner had +taken. Mr. Jepson saw what was going on; and, as soon as he had +disposed of his passengers, he started his boat to the eastward, with +the intention of cutting off the Goldwing as she came out of the bay. + +The sky was obscured by piles of angry-looking clouds, and every thing +looked like a southerly storm. The sun was now not more than half an +hour high, but there would be about an hour more of daylight. The +Goldwing was making at least eight miles an hour, and Dory was satisfied +that Captain Gildrock's boat could not overtake him. He had headed it to +the north-east, so as to take the shortest course; for the Goldwing must +soon go to the north, or she would run ashore. + +As soon as Dory noticed the change in the course of his uncle's boat, he +began to haul in his sheets; for he saw that he was giving the boat the +advantage of him, though it was not likely to gain enough to enable it +to overhaul the schooner. The port boat was the only one from which he +expected any interference. The skipper measured the distances very +carefully with his eye. He calculated that he had to make half a mile to +reach the point where the starboard boat would intercept him, if at all. +Mr. Jepson's boat had to get over at least three-quarters of this +distance. + +Dory thought his chances were very good. At any rate, he determined to +keep on his present course until he found himself mistaken. The Goldwing +was tearing through the water at a tremendous rate. Since his passengers +left her, she was trimmed down at the stern too much; but this did not +interfere with her speed while she had a free wind. + +The tiller was a great strain upon him, and it took all his strength to +prevent the boat from coming up into the wind. There was certainly +nothing like a lee helm in her present condition. As the wind increased +in force the farther out he went from the sheltering shore, he was +afraid he should not be able to hold her up to her course. If he let her +broach to, and spilled the sails, he must certainly lose the race. + +Taking the end of the sheet, which was considerably longer than was +required, he took a turn with it around the end of the tiller. In this +manner he was able to take the strain off his muscles in holding the +boat; but at every gust of wind he had to put his helm up, and then let +it off. He wanted the long tiller, but he could not leave the helm for a +moment to get it. + +The Goldwing occasionally dipped up the water over her lee wash-board; +and, when she did this, it was necessary to "touch her up," or let her +eat into the wind, as she would do if left to herself. The skipper was +doing some bold and risky sailing, but he was determined to keep out of +his uncle's hands if it were possible. He watched the starboard boat +with the most intense interest. He had made up his mind that he had +little to fear from her, even if she reached the point where the two +courses of the boats met. + +If Mr. Jepson put his boat in the course of the schooner, Dory did not +see how he could help running over her. The collision would smash the +quarter-boat, for it would strike her on the beam; while the schooner +was not likely to be greatly harmed. She would strike with her bow, +where she was least liable to injury. + +As Dory continued on his course, he was satisfied that he was greatly +outsailing the boat from which he expected trouble, if he had any. The +water was getting rough, which impeded the speed of the quarter-boat, +while it did not diminish that of the schooner. Five minutes later he +was sure Mr. Jepson's boat would fall astern of him. He was confident of +it, but he did not relax his care. The officer was urging his crew to +increased exertions, but the oarsmen were evidently doing all they +could. + +The two craft were rapidly approaching each other. Dory realized that he +should not have more than a boat's length to spare, but that was as good +as a mile. He tried to keep cool, as his father had often told him he +must do when there was any danger in a boat. His heart was in his mouth, +and he tried in vain to swallow it; but it seemed to be too big for his +throat. + +"Hold on, Theodore!" shouted Mr. Jepson, when the two boats came within +twenty feet of each other. "Your uncle wants you, and he won't do you +any harm." + +Dory kept his eyes on the sails of the Goldwing, and made no reply. He +was not afraid that his uncle would hurt him. If this had been all, he +would not have run away from him,--at least not before the danger +menaced him. + +"Hold on, Theodore!" repeated the officer of the starboard boat. + +But Dory hauled the tiller up, and kept the sails full, though sundry +buckets of water poured over the wash-board into the standing-room at +this moment. The Goldwing dashed madly on her course, and the skipper +did not even ease her off at this most exciting moment of the chase. + +"Hold on! You will surely upset that boat," cried Mr. Jepson, who was no +doubt greatly concerned about the fate of the boy who was doing this +reckless sailing. + +The moment of doubt on the part of the skipper had passed. The stern of +the schooner was abreast of the bow of the quarter-boat, and her mission +was a failure. Dory had cleared both of the boats; and now he had to +contend with the steamer, if with any thing. She could follow him in +perfect safety wherever he went. He could not outsail her; and, if he +accomplished any thing more, he must get out of her way before she could +pick up her boats, and get under way again. + +The Sylph could not run into the shoal water where the boats were; and +the crews would have to pull back to her against the strong wind, which +amounted to half a gale. It was not more than half as bad as it was the +day he crossed the lake with a reefed mainsail, and the bonnet off the +jib; but then he was not on the open lake, where he could get the full +benefit of all that was blowing. + +Dory did not wait to see how long it would take for the steam-yacht to +pick up her boats, or to see what she was going to do next. He held on +his course to the north-east; and ten minutes more, at his present rate +of speed, would take him through Eastern Cut into the eastern arm of the +lake. He went to the southward and eastward of the red buoy. After he +had passed it, he stole a glance at the Sylph. Her boats were close +aboard of her, but she had not yet hoisted them up to the davits. When +he had made his next mile, and the Goldwing was off Ladd's Point, he +could not see her. He was confident that he was two miles ahead of her. + +The schooner was under the lee of the Point; and Dory decided that he +must, at all hazards, trim the boat, and get out the long tiller. The +fifty-sixes which had been moved had not been put under the floor, and +he got them ready for a hasty change of position. At a favorable moment +he dropped the tiller into the comb well up, and rushed forward with one +of the weights. He put it in its proper place, and then attended to the +helm until the boat was again in condition to take care of herself for a +moment. + +By watching his opportunities, he conveyed the rest of the surplus +ballast forward; and the schooner was again in good trim. With no little +difficulty he removed the short tiller, and inserted the long one in its +place in the rudder-head. Though he still used the tiller-rope he had +brought into service, it was comparatively easy to steer the boat. He +could now work her quicker than before, and more effectually counteract +the sharp gusts of wind. + +The Goldwing was now out of the Gut; and this arm of the lake, near the +channel, between the two great islands, was from three to five miles +wide. But she was now under the lee of the west shore, and she would not +get the full strength of the blast until she had gone about two miles +farther. + +By this time Dory had fully made up his mind what to do. His programme +for avoiding the Sylph was made out. His natural pride would not permit +him to fall into his uncle's hands if it was possible, even at no little +risk, to avoid such a catastrophe. He had ceased to wonder what his +uncle wanted of him. Captain Gildrock had heard bad stories about him, +and he seemed to be prepared to believe them all. He thought it probable +that his uncle had heard of his discharge from the steamer, and very +likely he had found a place for him. But he did not want his uncle to +assist him. This was all he could surmise in regard to the present +chase. + +To the eastward of the Gut was St. Alban's Bay, which extended about +three miles into the land, on the Vermont side of the lake. At the +northerly entrance to this bay were three islands. Potter's Island, the +largest of them, was over a mile in length. South-west of it, and about +half a mile distant, was Ball Island. This island was three miles from +Ladd's Point, off which the Goldwing was running with the wind on her +beam. + +Dory had decided to run across the lake in the direction of Ball Island. +He intended to bring into use the tactics which had enabled him to beat +the Missisquoi, though he did not expect her pilot to run her aground in +any attempt to follow the schooner into shoal water. As well as he could +estimate the speed of the Goldwing, she could make two miles to the +steamer's three. He had two miles the start of her. When he reached Ball +Island the steamer would be half a mile behind him. + +Between Potter's and Ball Island the water was shoal, and the bottom +rocky. At the ordinary stage of the water, it was from eight to thirteen +feet deep; but now it was only from two to seven feet deep. The Sylph +would not dare to go through the opening, while Dory was sure of seven +feet near the larger island. He had his plan arranged for another +movement after this one; but he desired to see how the first scheme +worked before he gave much consideration to a second. + +Beyond these islands the wind had a rake of five miles, and the roughest +water and the heaviest wind must be met after he had passed them. He was +not sure that the Goldwing could stand it. Before he was half way across +the lake he found she had all she could stand under. But he determined +to put her through, keeping out of trouble by letting off the sheet, and +touching her up, as occasion might require. He cast frequent glances +behind him, to obtain the earliest knowledge of the approach of the +Sylph. He was less than half a mile from the southern point of the large +island, and she could not yet be seen. + +The skipper wondered if she had not given up the chase. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + +DORY MAKES A HARBOR FOR THE NIGHT. + + +Dory could not see any reason why his uncle should follow him at all, +and especially not why he should chase him in the night and the storm. +It seemed to him not improbable that the Sylph had abandoned the +pursuit, and gone up the lake. + +While he was hoping the chase was ended on the part of his uncle, the +Goldwing came up with the south-west point of the large island. Beyond +it the sea looked very ugly, and it would shake the schooner up in a +very lively manner in the next mile and a half she had to make. Dory did +not care to take any needless risks; and, if the steamer had given up +the chase, he intended to get under a lee, and anchor till morning. + +He looked back once more before the boat reached a position where he +could not see the other side of the lake. To his regret he saw the +Sylph just coming into view beyond Ladd's Point. She had not given it +up. He wished he had made another half mile, and then she could not have +seen the schooner; for she would have been behind the island. She could +see him plainly enough now, and she headed for the south of Ball Island. + +Having passed through the channel between the islands, the weather there +proved to be a perfect muzzler. The Goldwing labored heavily in the +angry chop sea, and it was all Dory could do to keep her right side up. +In a few minutes more it seemed quite impossible to do so, and Dory let +go the mainsail halyards. Whether he was caught or not, he could no +longer carry all sail. He had put the schooner before it, but he had to +come up into the wind to get in the mainsail. + +The young skipper's calculations had been within bounds, and he could +afford the time he spent in reducing sail. With more experience he would +have taken in sail from choice rather than necessity, for a boat don't +sail any faster by being crowded with more sail than she can carry. The +foresail was a large one, and it almost becalmed the jib. It was all the +sail she needed, and Dory soon saw that he was going faster than at any +time before. + +A run of a mile and a half more brought the boat up with the extreme end +of St. Alban's Point. An eighth of a mile west of it was a small island. +Here was another of those channels which the low water rendered +available for the purpose of the skipper in eluding his swift pursuer. +The channel was about four feet deep; and Dory hauled in the fore sheet, +and went through it. Under the lee of the island the skipper found the +water quiet. Throwing the boat up into the wind, he ran forward, and +hauled down the jib. Then he threw over the anchor, leaving the foresail +set. + +It was getting dark, and the manoeuvring could not be kept up much +longer. It would be fifteen or twenty minutes before the Sylph could +come up with St. Alban's Point. The Goldwing was behind the island, and +he did not think the people on board of her would discover where she +was. If they did, she could not follow him through the shoal passage. If +she got out her boats again, he could run off to the northward under the +foresail. All he had to do was to watch and wait. + +He had still a considerable supply of ham and hard-bread and cheese in +the cabin; and, while he watched and waited, he ate his supper. Before +he had eaten all he wanted, he saw the bow of the Sylph beyond the point +of the little island. She had stopped her screw, and this made it +evident to Dory that his uncle suspected he had gone through one of the +openings to the other side of the islands. + +The skipper of the Goldwing was tired of the chase, but he did not +intend to be captured by his uncle. He could hear the escaping steam on +board of the Sylph, and he knew that she was not more than a quarter of +a mile distant from him. Captain Gildrock would get out his boats again, +and send them through the passage, where the steamer could not go. +Weighing the anchor, he stood off to the north-west under the foresail +only. + +Though the wind was blowing almost a gale, the schooner went along very +well under the foresail. She had not made half a mile before Dory saw +the Sylph standing down the bay again. This movement called for +reflection on the part of the skipper. He was not quite willing to +believe that his uncle would allow himself to be caught again by the +old strategy. If she were going around to the north side of the islands, +it was a five-miles' run; and it would take her half an hour to do it. + +After thinking the matter over for some time, he concluded that his +uncle was using strategy. If he was really going around the islands, he +had left the boats where they could intercept him if he resorted to the +old dodge. He decided not to be caught in any trap, and therefore he +continued on his way to the northward. Ahead of him was Wood's Island, +and he changed his course enough to carry the boat to the leeward of it. + +It was getting to be quite dark, and the chase could not be continued +much longer. It was less than two miles to Wood's Island, and he was +soon up with the southern point of it. It was now too dark for him to +see the boats, if they had come through from the bay. Dead to windward +he at last discovered a green light, which he had no doubt was the +starboard signal-lantern of the Sylph. + +The steamer was really going around the islands. He watched this light +with deep interest, and in a few minutes he made out the red light. +Both the port and the starboard lights were now to be seen, and this +indicated that the Sylph was coming towards him. But she was nearly +three miles distant, and at present he had nothing to fear from her. + +The Goldwing was now up with the cape that extends out from the east +side of the island. For half a mile beyond it, was a shoal of rocks and +sand; so that the steamer could not come within that distance of the +shore until after she had passed this shoal. The coast-line of the +island now trended to the west. Taking another look in the direction of +the steamer, he found he could see only her red, or port, light. This +indicated that she had headed to the eastward, and was going towards the +place where Dory had anchored. + +The schooner carried no lights, and it was impossible that those on +board of the Sylph had seen her in the darkness. She had gone in to the +shoals between the large island and the main shore to pick up her boats. +Dory was quite satisfied with the present aspect of his case. The +darkness would fight out the rest of the battle for him. + +A quarter of a mile behind the point on Wood's Island there was a bay, +into which he ran the schooner. He hauled the centre-board entirely up, +and then worked the boat as far as he could towards the land. When she +grounded, he lowered the foresail, and made every thing snug on board. +His craft was completely sheltered from the violent wind; but he carried +the anchor up to the shore, and buried one of the flukes in the sand. + +From the boat he could no longer see the steamer's lights. But, when he +had planted the anchor, he went ashore, and walked down to the +projecting point, from the end of which, if it had been light enough, he +could have seen the whole of the north side of Potter's Island. The port +light of the Sylph was still in sight, but in a few minutes it +disappeared. Neither of the signal-lights could be seen; and this +indicated that the steamer was headed away from Dory's position, or had +stopped her screw. + +Presently he saw some white lights moving about. He judged that they +were lanterns in the hands of the men. Beyond this he could form no idea +what was going on. He watched the lanterns for twenty minutes or more. +He supposed the steamer was picking up her boats, if she had sent any +out: if not, they must be examining the shore in search of the Goldwing. +Dory was sure they would not find her, and he felt entirely easy. + +About this time it began to rain. The skipper had on nothing but his +shirt and trousers, and the rain felt wet to him. He did not like the +feeling of it. He had played his part as far as he could that night. If +his uncle discovered him in his present retreat, he could not help +himself. There was nothing more that he could do to keep out of the way +of the steamer. He might as well get into the cabin out of the rain, and +take his chances. + +As he started to return to the boat, he took a last look to the +southward. The lanterns had disappeared some time before, but now the +port light of the Sylph came into view again. A little later he saw the +green light. Both were in sight at the same time. The steamer, +therefore, was coming towards him. He hastened back to the boat, and +waded off to her. + +Dory did not believe that the Sylph's people could see the Goldwing in +the darkness and in the mist caused by the rain. He drew the slide, and +crawled into the cabin, leaving the doors open so that he could see out +upon the lake. After a while he saw the two lights of the steamer. She +was moving very slowly to the northward. The green light disappeared as +she came nearer. + +The island was less than a mile from the mainland, and the Sylph was +obliged to keep half a mile from the shore to clear the shoal. She +passed the dangerous navigation, and Dory was strained up to the highest +pitch of anxiety as he waited to see whether she was coming in any +nearer to his hiding-place. He watched for the green light, but he saw +only the red one. + +The rain came down in torrents; and the skipper could hear the roar of +the gale on the island, though he was completely sheltered from its +fury. It was so thick out on the water that he could no longer see the +red light, or only caught an occasional glimpse of it. The steamer had +gone off to the northward, and this was evidence enough to Dory that his +retreat had not been discovered. The excitement was over for that day +and that night. The skipper put on the rest of his clothes, and turned +in. While he was wondering whether the Sylph would make a harbor, and +anchor for the night, or return to Plattsburgh, he dropped asleep. He +was very tired, and he slept like a rock till the sun shone into the +cabin in the morning. + +Southerly storms are of short duration generally, and there was not a +cloud in the sky when Dory went out into the standing-room to survey the +situation. A gentle breeze was blowing from the west, and the appearance +of the lake and its surroundings was as beautiful as the dream of a +maiden. It was Sunday morning: he had been cruising for three days on +the lake, and he was anxious to get home. But his first desire was to +ascertain what had become of the Sylph. She was not to be seen from his +position in the boat. + +Taking a large slice of ham in one hand, and a quantity of hard-bread in +the other, he waded to the shore. From the highest ground, he surveyed +the islands and the mainland to the northward and eastward without +seeing any thing of the steamer. Walking to the hill in the south of the +island, the first thing he discovered, when he got high enough to see +over the top of it, was the Sylph. She was headed to the south-west; +and Dory concluded that she had spent the night under the lee of +Butler's Island, two miles north of Wood's Island. She was bound through +the Gut, and in a few minutes she disappeared from the skipper's view. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + +TERRIBLE INTELLIGENCE PROM HOME. + + +To say that Dory was delighted with the results of his strategy, when he +saw the Sylph going through the Eastern Cut of the Gut, would be to +state the case very mildly. He sat on the summit of the hill, and ate +his ham and hard-bread with entire satisfaction; and, when he had +finished it, the steamer was no longer in sight. + +He hastened back to the boat, where he ate another slice of ham, with +the proper allowance of hard-bread. It was a luxury to be able to eat +all he wanted, with no anxiety on his mind. He went to work to put the +boat in order for the trip up the lake to Burlington. While he was +overhauling her, he came to a bottle half full of whiskey. Possibly the +other half of its contents had caused the upsetting of the Goldwing, the +fault of which had been charged upon the boat. He emptied the bottle +into the lake, and finished his work on board. + +He hoisted the sails; and, getting in the anchor, he shoved the schooner +off the beach. Going to the northward of the island, he found that he +could just lay his course to the Gut. As the sun rose higher, the wind +freshened; and he had an eight-knot breeze all the forenoon. His return +was without incident; and as the first bells were ringing for church, he +landed at Plattsburgh. + +He reported to the landlord at the Witherill House. He thought this +gentleman looked very serious, when he expected to be greeted as a +successful skipper after his cruise. He had no doubt Peppers had arrived +with his prisoner, and the story of his trip must be known. The first +thing the hotel-keeper did was to hand him a ten-dollar bill, as his +reward for the capture of Pearl Hawlinshed. + +"You have earned your money, Dory; and there it is," said the landlord, +as he handed him the bill. + +"I suppose Mr. Peppers has arrived," added Dory, as he put the money in +his wallet. + +"Yes: he got back about half-past seven this morning. You had a rough +time of it with Hawlinshed." + +"Yes, sir: he got the bulge on us at one time," answered Dory, laughing +as he thought of the exciting scenes of the day before. + +But the landlord did not laugh, as he had always done before. He looked +very serious; and the skipper wondered if he had been charged with any +other crime, his friend looked so coldly upon him. The landlord pulled +out his watch, and then shook his head. + +"Have you been to breakfast, Dory?" he asked. + +"Yes, sir: I had some ham and hard-bread." + +"I should ask you in to breakfast; but I am afraid you ought not to stay +here any longer," added the hotel-keeper. "It is nine o'clock now, and +you will be late." + +"Late? Late for what?" asked Dory, astonished at this remark, which he +could not comprehend. + +"Late for the funeral," replied the landlord in a subdued and gentle +tone. + +"The funeral? What funeral?" asked Dory, with his heart in his throat. + +The landlord looked at him in silence for a moment, and appeared to be +greatly surprised. + +"Didn't you know there was to be a funeral in Burlington this afternoon, +Dory?" inquired the landlord, almost holding his breath. + +"I didn't know any thing about a funeral," answered Dory, trembling with +emotion. + +"You haven't heard the news? Didn't you know that one of your family +was"--And the hotel-keeper paused, afraid of the effect of the sudden +imparting of the information to the boy. + +"My mother isn't dead, is she?" gasped Dory, clinging to the +office-counter for support. + +"No, she is not. But another member of your family is to be buried +to-day," added the landlord. + +"Is it my sister Marian?" groaned Dory. + +"No, Dory: it is your father." + +The young skipper staggered to a chair, and dropped into it. The +landlord hastened to him. His father was dead. Though it was known in +Plattsburgh, and had been for three days, that the Au Sable steamer, +while in charge of Perry Dornwood, the assistant pilot, had been run +over a point of rocks, and wrecked, Dory had not heard of it. Some who +could have told him the news did not care to hurt his feelings; others +did not know he was the son of the pilot; and many heard of the event, +and forgot it the next minute. + +"My father dead!" groaned Dory. "And I did not even know that he was +sick!" + +The landlord did not care to give him the whole of the sad particulars. +He was silent, thinking that some friend of the family could discharge +this painful duty better than he could. + +"That is what my uncle Royal wanted of me, and I have been running away +from him," added Dory. + +The landlord had seen Captain Gildrock the day before when he came to +Plattsburgh to look for the boy; and he supposed he had found him. He +concluded that the skipper thought it necessary to take his boat to +Burlington, and had therefore permitted the Sylph to go on without him. +He was surprised to see him when he came into the hotel. + +The Sylph had merely come up to the wharf to land her passengers, and +Peppers had only told about the trick played upon him by Pearl. In fact, +the captain had asked him and Moody not to mention the fact that his +nephew had run away from him. It looked like an unpleasant family +matter, and he did not care to have it talked about. + +Dory was overwhelmed by the intelligence of the death of his father. It +was some time before he recovered his self-possession, and then only +when the landlord again reminded him that he might be late for the +funeral. His good friend walked down to the wharf with him, carrying a +basket of provisions he had ordered for him; but the skipper did not +feel like eating now. He took the basket, and the Goldwing was soon +standing down the bay. + +Of course it was not possible for Dory to think of any thing but the +death of his father as he sailed up the lake. He had no particulars of +the sad event; but now it appeared that his uncle had been in search of +him, and had taken great pains to find him. He regretted very much that +he had avoided him, and he thought more of uncle Royal than ever before +in his life. He had regarded him as a rich man, who was selfish, and who +had neglected his sister, the boy's mother. He had not been in her house +since she was married. + +At eleven o'clock the Goldwing was off Colchester Light; and it was +likely to take a couple of hours more to finish the trip. Dory had eaten +his breakfast at five o'clock; and, if he was not hungry, he was faint, +and felt the need of food. Mechanically he opened the basket the +hotel-keeper had given him. It contained the choicest food from the +table of the hotel; and he ate, though rather from a sense of duty than +because he felt much interested in the operation. The lunch made him +feel better, for it seemed to allay a sort of nervousness that troubled +him. + +He could not eat all the basket contained. The provision was wrapped up +in a sheet of white paper, and then the parcel was enclosed in a +newspaper. As he was restoring this last wrapper, something printed in +the paper attracted his attention. The article was headed "Suicide of a +Pilot." + +Dory was almost paralyzed as he read the piece. He was obliged to stop +to control his emotion several times before he could finish it. He +learned that his father had drowned himself in the lake on Friday, and +his body had been found and sent to Burlington on Saturday morning. + +For the first time he read of the disaster to the Au Sable. The +particulars of that event were reviewed in the article. The steamer had +run on the rocks while his father was at the wheel. The paper said that +he was either intoxicated or asleep, or possibly both. It was very +fortunate that no lives were lost, though several persons had been in +great peril. + +The pilot was ruined by the catastrophe. The owners of the boat suffered +a heavy loss by allowing him to continue in their employ when his habits +disqualified him for the responsible position he occupied on board. +Perry Dornwood, either from remorse, or the consciousness that he had +ruined himself and his future prospects, had ended the life which had +been so unproductive to himself and his little family. + +It was some time before Dory recovered in a measure from the shock which +the reading of this article gave him. He wept bitterly, and reproached +himself because he had not been with his mother in the midst of her +terrible affliction; but he consoled himself with the reflection that he +had been at work for her. + +He fastened his boat to a wharf on his arrival, and hastened to his +home. He saw that the Sylph was at the next wharf, and, whatever Captain +Gildrock had failed to do for his mother in the past, he was with her in +her hour of affliction. + +He threw himself into his mother's arms when he reached the house, and +wept as he had never wept before. His mother mingled her tears and sobs +with her son's. But violent grief usually vents itself, and relief +comes. When the people gathered at the funeral, both Mrs. Dornwood and +her son were calm. The minister spoke words of hope and comfort to them, +and they followed the dead to his grave. Captain Gildrock supported his +sister, and certainly no one could have been kinder or more considerate. + +They went back to the desolate home. Little was said of the departed +husband and father; but all that was said was of his good deeds, and his +failings were not mentioned. The day wore away. The door of one state of +existence seemed to close with that sad day, and with the next morning +the family felt that they had entered upon a new era in their career. +Captain Gildrock slept on board of the Sylph, because there was no room +for him in the poor abode of his sister. + +"When your uncle told me that you ran away from him, I was afraid +something terrible had happened to you, Dory," said his mother, after +breakfast. "Why did you avoid him?" + +"Because I never liked him. While you have almost suffered for the want +of food, clothes, and a decent house, he has never done a thing for you. +You told me he had never been to see you since you were married. I +always looked upon him as a hog," replied Dory with spirit. + +"Your uncle Royal and your father could never agree. When I was married, +my father and my brother were both opposed to it. They did not believe +your father was able to take care of a family. They were right, though I +will not speak ill of him who is gone. Your father forbid Royal from +ever entering his house. But Royal has offered to help me a hundred +times, but I was afraid to accept his aid on account of your father. Now +he has offered me a home for myself and my two children in his own +house," replied the widow, wiping the tears from her eyes. "He is a good +brother." + +Dory was both astonished and mortified. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + +CAPTAIN GILDROCK HAS DECIDED OBJECTIONS. + + +"Uncle Royal is a different sort of a man from what I thought he was, +and I am sorry I kept out of the way when he was looking for me. But I +hope, mother, that you don't mean to be dependent upon him or anybody +else," said Dory. + +"I have struggled hard to get along, and feed and clothe you children," +replied Mrs. Dornwood. "If I could get work enough, I could do pretty +well; but"-- + +"I can take care of you, mother; and I shall do it," interposed Dory. + +"You, poor boy! What can you do? I heard that you had been discharged +from your place on the steamboat," added his mother. "Worse than that: +they say you took some money that didn't belong to you." + +"Did Corny Minkfield bring that story over here?" demanded Dory +indignantly. + +"No: your uncle heard it over at Plattsburgh." + +Dory told enough of his story to prove that he did not steal the money +with which he bought the boat, but he could not tell where he got it. +Then he produced the seventy dollars he had in his pocket, and gave that +to his mother. + +"Why, Dory, where in the world did you get so much money?" exclaimed +Mrs. Dornwood, as she took the bills; and the amount was more than she +had ever before possessed at one time since she was married. + +"I received one hundred and five dollars for a service I rendered to a +man near Plattsburgh, and I earned ten dollars by helping the officer +capture Pearl Hawlinshed," replied Dory. + +His mother wanted to know who had given him the money, and for what; and +Dory could only reply that he had promised not to tell. Mrs. Dornwood +was not satisfied, and she greatly feared that her son had been doing +something wrong. + +"I can't tell when I promised not to tell," added he. "The man that gave +it to me said that I had saved him from losing a very large sum. With a +part of this I bought the Goldwing." + +"I have heard all about the Goldwing Club, and so has your uncle Royal," +said Mrs. Dornwood. "When he came up yesterday morning, he set about +finding you. We couldn't tell any thing at all what had become of you. I +supposed you was at work on the steamer till Royal told me you had been +turned away." + +"It wasn't my fault that I was turned off. Major Billcord blamed me for +what was not my fault," replied Dory. + +"Your uncle said as much as that, and declared that he should give Major +Billcord a piece of his mind. At last Royal came to me to know what boys +you played with when you were at home. I gave him the names of all the +boys you used to call the Colchester Club." + +"They changed the name to the Goldwing Club," added Dory. + +"Your uncle found them all, and they told him all about the boat you had +bought. He took them with him when he went up to Plattsburgh in his +steam-yacht. He wanted them to help him find you," continued Mrs. +Dornwood. + +"Then Corny Minkfield told him that I was a thief. If he had staid with +me, he would have heard the detective prove that I was not a thief. But +my uncle heard it all," said Dory. + +"He proved that you did not steal the money you paid for the boat from +the man at the hotel; and that was all. No one knows to this minute +where you did get it." + +"If you won't believe what I say, I can't help it," answered Dory, with +some indignation in his tones. + +"I hope it is all right, Dory; but your uncle is afraid you are getting +into bad ways. He wants to do something for you." + +"I don't want him to do any thing for me. I am able to take care of +myself, and you and Marian besides. With the Goldwing I can make five +dollars a day when I can get a party," said Dory. + +"You had better see your uncle Royal, and talk with him. He has been +very kind to me, and he thinks a great deal of you," said Mrs. Dornwood. + +"Thinks a great deal of me!" exclaimed Dory, hardly able to believe the +statement. + +"That is just what he says. We had a long talk about you yesterday +forenoon, after he came back from his trip down the lake after you. He +said you were too smart for him, and he told how you had kept out of the +way of his steam-yacht. He thinks you have talent, and it would be a +great pity to have you go wrong in the world." + +Dory was utterly astonished, for he supposed his uncle had a very mean +opinion of him. But he was not quite reconciled to having his mother +dependent on his uncle. He wanted to be independent, and he had been +thinking so much of supporting the family that he was not ready to give +up the idea. + +"My brother has no family. His wife died before he left off going to +sea, and he has no children," said Mrs. Dornwood. "He wants me to keep +house for him, and I shall not feel like a dependant. I and my children +are his only legal heirs, though he may give his property away by will +to whomever he pleases." + +"I don't exactly like the idea of living on him," added Dory. "I never +did like him, and I can't quite get over the old feeling." + +"The old feeling was all wrong, my son. I should think you would like +to live with your uncle, when he has no end of boats, and the finest +steam-yacht on the lake," argued his mother. + +"I have as good a boat as I want, and I feel sure that I can support the +family with it." + +Just then there was a knock at the door, and the postman handed in a +postal card directed to "Theodore Dornwood." It was from the proprietor +of the Witherill House. Two of his guests wanted a sailboat and a +skipper for three days from Tuesday morning. He had given his address +and terms to the hotel-keeper, and here was the first call for his +services. + +"Look at that, mother!" exclaimed the young boatman triumphantly. "Three +days, fifteen dollars! What's the use of being dependent upon uncle +Royal?" + +Mrs. Dornwood read the postal, and it looked like an avalanche of +business even to her. Dory regarded his fortune as made. He must leave +for Plattsburgh after dinner, so as to be sure and be there in the +morning. Before this matter was disposed of, Captain Gildrock presented +himself at the house. + +The owner of the Sylph spoke very kindly to Dory, and the conversation +soon turned to the events of the preceding Saturday. The captain was not +yet informed in what manner the Goldwing had finally escaped from him. +The young skipper explained it all. Mrs. Dornwood informed her brother +of the reason why her son had avoided him, but the captain did not +allude to this subject in the presence of the boy. + +Dory showed the postal card to his uncle, and said he was going to sail +for Plattsburgh after dinner. Captain Gildrock did not like Dory's plan +for earning a living. He objected to it in the most decided manner. He +did not believe he could make a living in this way, for there would not +be sufficient demand for the boat to make it pay. + +"But I have a fifteen-dollar job to start with," pleaded Dory. + +"That will do very well for one week, Theodore; but you will not find +steady employment for the season. But this is not the strongest +objection to your plan," replied Captain Gildrock. + +"I don't see what other objection there can be to the plan," said Dory, +whose heart was set on the scheme. + +"Perhaps you will not be able to see it when I mention it; but I think +your mother will," continued his uncle. "If you could select your own +parties, it might do very well. Many people who indulge in boating are +fast livers. You will find that some of your customers are rough +characters. You will have a great deal of drinking in your boat, and +many men who are willing to pay five dollars a day for the boat are not +such persons as I should choose for associates of a son or a nephew of +mine." + +"I never drink any liquor, beer, or any thing stronger than coffee, +uncle Royal," protested Dory. "I found half a bottle of whiskey on board +of the Goldwing yesterday morning, and I threw it into the lake." + +"Your habits are good now, but it is a question whether they will +continue so if you make a business of taking out parties in your boat. +You will meet men in their gayest moods, when they lay aside all +restraint." + +"But I promised the landlord of the Witherill House that I would take +out parties when he sent for me," added Dory. "I think I can take care +of myself.' + +"Go in this instance, if you think you ought to do so. I am going up to +Plattsburgh in the Sylph this afternoon. I have invited the Goldwing +Club to go with me, but I suppose you will be unable to join us," said +Captain Gildrock. + +"I was going to ask the members to sail down with me," replied Dory. + +"Very well: they may go with you, and I will bring them back. I have a +scheme in my mind upon which I have been at work this forenoon; but, if +you have concluded to do a boating business for a living, I shall have +to give it up, at least for the present." + +"Has the scheme any thing to do with me?" asked Dory, his curiosity +awakened by the remark. + +"It has to do with all the members of the Goldwing Club. I have been to +see Mrs. Short and Mrs. Minkfield in regard to Richard and Cornelius. +But my plan is not yet matured, and I will not say any thing more about +it until we see how you make out boating." + +"I bought the boat in order to do something to help mother," added Dory. +"I didn't give forty-two dollars for it for a plaything." + +"Your mother tells me that you have done every thing you could to help +her, and have given her all the money you earned. I am very glad to hear +so good a report of you, for I have been told that you were rather wild. +The only doubt I have in regard to you now is as to where the money came +from to pay for the Goldwing." + +Dory told all he felt at liberty to tell, but this did not satisfy his +uncle any more than it did his mother. + +"A man doesn't give a boy over a hundred dollars without some very +strong motive; and your mother is not likely ever to know the nature of +this mysterious transaction," added the captain. + +"I can't break my promise, uncle Royal," protested Dory. + +"Some promises are better broken than kept." + +Captain Gildrock's residence was about twenty miles up the lake on +Beaver River, where he had a large estate. Dory had never been there, +though he had seen it from the river. It was decided that Mrs. Dornwood +and Marian should go to Plattsburgh in the Sylph and then go home with +the captain, as Dory was to be away for three days. + +After dinner Dory went on board of the Goldwing. He had seen and invited +the members of the Goldwing Club to go with him, and they were at the +wharf when he arrived. In a few minutes they were sailing down the +lake. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX. + +CAPTAIN GILDROCK DILATES UPON HIS NOTABLE SCHEME. + + +The first thing Corny Minkfield did was to apologize for his conduct the +last day he had been on board of the Goldwing. He was afraid then that +Dory had been guilty of some offence which might get them all into a +scrape. The skipper accepted the apology, and they were as good friends +as ever. + +"We are all invited up to Beech Hill," said Thad, when the difficulty +between the skipper and Corny had been healed. + +"Where is Beech Hill?" asked Dory, who had never heard the name before. + +"Don't you know the name of your uncle's place?" demanded Dick Short, +laughing. + +"I never was there, and I never heard the name before." + +"We are going up in the Sylph from Plattsburgh to-night. Captain +Gildrock is the bulliest man on the lake," said Nat Long. + +"He has got something in his head," added Thad. "He treats us fellows +like lords." + +"He asked my mother what I was going to do in the way of business; and +she told him she should get a place in a store for me as soon as I got +through school," said Corny. "You ought to have heard him talk then! He +said I was too much of a fellow to be a counter-jumper." + +"What is he driving at, Corny?" asked Dory. + +"I don't know: he didn't let on; but he has got something in his head." + +The skipper found that his fellow-members of the club knew no more about +his scheme than he did himself. They had a very jolly time on the trip; +but the wind was light, and the Goldwing did not arrive at her +destination until nearly dark. Dory hastened to the hotel to report to +the landlord, who was very glad to see him. + +"I am glad you have come; for there is a gentleman in the house who is +very anxious to see you, Dory," said the hotel-keeper. + +"Who is it, sir?" + +"It is Pearl Hawlinshed's father. When he heard that his son was in +trouble, he hastened back." + +Dory remembered that he had a secret to keep; and he said nothing, +expressing no interest by word or look in the arrival of Mr. Hawlinshed. +He asked about the party he was to take out the next morning, and +learned that it consisted of two young men from New-York City. They came +in while he was at the counter, and he was introduced to them. They +appeared to be very gentlemanly young men, and treated the skipper very +politely. + +After they had talked a while about the trip, they expressed a desire to +see the boat; and Dory went with them to the wharf. They were pleased +with the Goldwing, and directed Dory to procure the provisions and other +supplies for the cruise. They gave him a list of what they wanted, and +Dory could not help thinking of what his uncle said when he found "one +gallon of best Bourbon whiskey" among the articles to be procured. + +On the other side of the wharf was the Sylph. The young men from New +York manifested a great deal of interest in the magnificent craft, and +wanted to see more of her. But visitors were not allowed on board, for +her owner said he should as soon think of strangers coming into his +house as into his yacht without an invitation. While the young men were +regretting that they could not see more of the beautiful craft, Captain +Gildrock, with Dory's mother and sister, came down. At his nephew's +request he invited the New Yorkers on board. + +Dory had never put his foot on board of the Sylph before, and he was +quite as much interested as his passengers. Mr. Jepson was directed to +show them through the yacht; but, after they had looked into the +engine-room, Mr. Hawlinshed came down the wharf in search of Dory, who +was obliged to postpone his examination until another time. + +Mr. Hawlinshed took Dory's hand, but he appeared to be very sad. His +son's trouble caused him a great deal of sorrow: in fact, the bad +conduct of Pearl was the bane of his life. He told Dory that he had sold +his farm in order to get his son away from his evil associates near +Plattsburgh. He had come to the conclusion that Pearl was worse than his +companions. He had done all he could to save him, and had failed. He +was going into a new and sparsely settled region himself, and he had +hoped to take his son there; but Pearl would not go. + +"He wanted to buy the boat I have," said Dory. "He thinks you furnished +the money, or at least induced me to buy her, to prevent him from +getting her." + +"I knew he wanted to buy the Goldwing; for he had a long talk with me +about her the evening I first saw you, just as I was starting for +Plattsburgh," continued Mr. Hawlinshed. "I think boating has been the +ruin of him. He used to go off with young men of dissolute habits, and I +think this was what first led him astray. He insisted that I should give +him fifty dollars to buy the Goldwing. I refused to do it, and after +much violent talk he rushed away from me. You were present the next time +we met, Dory," said Mr. Hawlinshed. + +"Perhaps it would have been better if you had given him the money," +suggested Dory. "He took one hundred and fifty dollars from Mr. Moody's +room, and I suppose he did it so that he could buy the boat." + +"I am afraid it would have made no difference," replied the sad father +with a sigh. "He said he could earn his living, and make some money with +her; but it would only have been a career of dissipation for him. I hope +you will not permit yourself to be led away while you are running the +Goldwing." + +"I can't see for the life of me why Pearl did not buy the boat if he +wanted her so badly," added Dory. "She is worth ten times what I paid +for her." + +"He expected to buy the boat for twenty or twenty-five dollars; and, +when she went above that, he was mad. He did not believe you could pay +for her, and that she would be put up for sale again, and he could get +her at his own price. If you had told me you meant to buy a boat, I +should have tried to dissuade you from it; but you would not tell me. +You said it was your secret." + +"I was afraid you might object." + +"I should certainly. I should have sent the hundred dollars I gave you +to your mother if I had known you meant to buy the Goldwing. You kept +your secret, and you have kept mine I suppose; for that terrible scene +in the woods appears not to be known to any one but the three who were +present at the time." + +"But my uncle and my mother believe there was something wrong about that +money," added Dory. "I think they believe I stole it, or took it for +doing something wrong." + +"Is that your uncle on board of the steamer?" asked Mr. Hawlinshed, +indicating the captain, who had seated himself with his sister and niece +on the hurricane deck. "I wish you would introduce me to him, and I will +soon set you right." + +Dory conducted him to the presence of the captain and his mother, and +introduced him to both of them. Mr. Hawlinshed told the whole story of +his relations with his unfortunate son, who was now in jail. He related +the particulars of the scene in the woods, and assured them that he had +given Dory one hundred and five dollars for the good service he had +rendered on that occasion. + +"I am very glad to have this matter cleared up," said Captain Gildrock. + +"I am happy now," added Mrs. Dornwood. "That money had worried me ever +since I heard of it." + +"I should not have allowed your nephew to buy that boat if I had known +what he was going to do with the money," added Mr. Hawlinshed. "I think +that boats have been the ruin of my boy; and, when they are used to take +any and every body out for a frolic, they seem to me to be worse than +bar-rooms and other bad places," continued Mr. Hawlinshed. + +"My sentiments exactly!" exclaimed Captain Gildrock, looking at Dory. + +"Of course I don't think there is any thing bad in the boat itself; but +my son was going to take out parties, and make a business of it. Some +very fair sort of men leave all their good behavior at home when they go +off on these boat-scrapes, and I don't like to have a boy of mine with +them at such times." + +Dory felt very uneasy during this conversation. He began to have his +doubts about the business in which he had engaged. There was nothing bad +in the use of boats, but Captain Gildrock contended that a man ought to +be as careful in regard to whom he took into his boat as into his house. +It was not the boat or the boating to which Mr. Hawlinshed and Dory's +uncle objected, but only to the miscellaneous parties he would be +obliged to take out in order to earn his living. + +Mr. Hawlinshed did not care to have the story of the scene in the woods +repeated at this time; for it might make it go harder with Pearl on his +trial. But those to whom he had told it were too glad to have Dory's +secret cleared up to care any thing more about the matter, though they +were full of sympathy for the unhappy father. + +Mr. Hawlinshed went back to his hotel. The New Yorkers finished their +survey of the Sylph; and she soon left with the Goldwing Club, with the +exception of Dory, on board. Not a word had been said in regard to +Captain Gildrock's plan. + +Dory slept on board of the Goldwing that night. The next morning he +started with his passengers. They went over to Mallett's Bay first on a +fishing-excursion. When they got there, the skipper was astonished to +find that the polite young gentlemen from New York were too tipsy to use +the bait and lines he had procured. They drank all they could hold, and +then went to sleep. They had not told Dory where to go next, and he +anchored to wait for further orders. + +At noon they both turned out, but it was only to drink till they were +tipsy again. They insisted that the skipper should drink with them; but, +when he asked them who was to take care of the boat if he did as they +did, they gave up the point. They remained in Mallett's Bay all the +first day. The next morning they wanted to go to Missisquoi Bay, and the +skipper sailed the Goldwing to that part of the lake. The second day was +like the first. On the third they had drank so much that they could not +keep up the debauch, and they gambled with props in the cabin. + +Dory was disgusted with his passengers; but, when he landed them in +Plattsburgh, they were as sober and polite as though they had been with +their mothers all the time. The skipper received his fifteen dollars, +and that was all the satisfaction he got out of the cruise. He returned +to Burlington the next day, and spent the afternoon in looking for +another party at the hotels. + +There was no more business that week. The next week he got only a +half-day job, taking a party of ladies and gentlemen across the lake. +Three dollars was all he made that week; and he was beginning to be +discouraged when he received a postal from the Witherill House. It was +a fishing-party to Mallett's Bay. The young gentlemen from New York were +saints compared with his present passengers. They got crazy drunk; and, +when a shower came up, they threatened to throw the skipper overboard +because he anchored the boat to avoid a squall. Dory was afraid of his +life, and five dollars a day was no compensation for the misery he +endured. + +Another week satisfied Dory that the business was a failure, for he did +not obtain a single fare. He went to his mother, and told her he had had +quite enough of it. He was ready to sell the boat, though the Goldwing +Club had fine times in her when she was not engaged; and there were +plenty of fine times for them. He had been offered a place in a +dry-goods store, and he was willing to take it. + +"I think you had better see uncle Royal before you take the place," said +his mother. "I have never sailed in the Goldwing, and Marian and I would +like to have you sail us up to Beech Hill." + +"What does uncle Royal want me to do, mother?" asked Dory, who suspected +that the captain and his mother had something on their minds. + +"I don't know. You must let him speak for himself," replied Mrs. +Dornwood. + +The next morning Dory took his mother and sister into the Goldwing, and +sailed up to Beech Hill. His mother had to act as his pilot, for he did +not know how to take the boat from the river to the estate. Leaving +Beaver River, he followed a narrow and crooked stream, though it was +very deep, till he reached a small lake, on the shore of which stood the +house of Captain Gildrock. + +The party received a warm welcome, and Mrs. Dornwood stated the business +that had brought them to Beech Hill. Seated in the library, the great +question was opened for discussion and settlement. + +"Go into a store!" exclaimed Captain Gildrock. "There are more merchants +and traders in the country now than can get a living, and mercantile +life is a desperate struggle in these days. Be a mechanic, Theodore." + +"A mechanic!" exclaimed Mrs. Dornwood. + +"A mechanic, Patty," added the captain decidedly. "The first thing a boy +wants is an education, and the next is a good trade. I have been +thinking of this subject for years. Now I am going to tell you about my +scheme. I want to help supply the country with good, educated +mechanics." + +"I don't think mechanics need much education, Royal," suggested Mrs. +Dornwood. + +"There you are mistaken, Patty. What this country, especially the +Eastern and Middle States, needs more than any other class of men, is +educated mechanics,--skilled labor. Too many boys want to be +shopkeepers, and wear fine clothes." + +"I should like to be a mechanic, uncle Royal," said Dory. + +"So would the other members of the Goldwing Club," continued Captain +Gildrock. "Now I will tell you about my scheme. For the last year I have +had enrolled about a dozen of the young fellows of this vicinity as +volunteers on board of the Sylph. Jepson and I have been instructing +them in seamanship and mechanics. Jepson has instructed them in the +science of the steam-engine, so that they know all about the building of +one, though they haven't the practical skill to build one. They have +acted as engineers and firemen of the yacht; and every one of them is +competent to run a marine engine, or any other." + +"Those were the young fellows that were pulling your boats that day, +were they not?" asked Dory. + +"They were, Theodore. The only men I employ on board are the cook and a +waiter, but I have required every one of these young men to learn to do +plain cooking. All of them have served a term in the galley. I am +captain, and Jepson is the first officer, of the Sylph. I have taught +these students how a vessel or a boat is built, how to sail a boat or a +ship; I have instructed them in navigation, and required them to get the +latitude and longitude of every principal point on the lake; I have +taught them how to heave the log, and keep a vessel's dead reckoning; I +have required them to survey portions of the lake, and make charts of +their work. They have been greatly interested, and they have profited by +their opportunities. Not one of them has rich parents, and all of them +must soon earn their own living; and you may be sure that not one of +them will be a shopkeeper, a lawyer, a doctor, or a minister." + +"I should say that was first-rate," added Dory, with enthusiasm. "I +suppose some of them will be sailors." + +"About half of them have a desire to go to sea, and some of them have +got places as engineers, oilers, and firemen. Two of them will run +stationary engines. I have done with them; for most of them were obliged +to go to work, and take care of themselves." + +"Won't they go in the Sylph any more?" asked Dory. + +"I have done all I could for them, and so has Jepson. So far as our +teaching facilities are concerned, they have learned out. My new scheme +contemplates doing the same work in a more thorough and practical +manner. The trouble with my past crew was, that I did not have them more +than one day in a week; though we occasionally put in a week at a time +in vacation, as at the time when I went down the lake to find you. That +was their last cruise; and they were discharged, so to speak, two weeks +ago." + +"Are you going to ship another crew like that, uncle Royal?" inquired +Dory eagerly. + +"Not as I did the last one. I am going to establish a sort of practical +school," replied the captain. + +"I should like to ship for one," added Dory. + +"I have had my eye on the members of the Goldwing Club, for they are +just the boys I desire to take. I don't want any sons of rich men. I +want those who need looking after, and I think the Goldwings fill the +bill. I shall take only half a dozen to begin with. I want them all to +come to Beech Hill, and live here. I won't take them on any other terms. +I shall look out for their book-learning; but, at the same time, the +boys must become carpenters and machinists. They must work at these +trades, and others as the plan is enlarged. I shall keep them busy all +day long, from one end of the year to the other. We shall build houses, +boats, bridges, wharves, and eventually steam-engines, and various kinds +of machinery. I expect to see the time, though it may not be for ten +years, when we can build a steamer like the Sylph, including her engine, +and about every thing on board of her." + +"It seems to me you are laying out a great undertaking, Royal," said +Mrs. Dornwood. + +"If I can make honest and useful men out of even half a dozen boys like +the members of the Goldwing Club, who are in danger of going to ruin, +my money will be well spent. A kind Providence permitted me to make a +fortune before I was forty-five, though I had to work hard for it. I +have no wife, no children. I think I can realize more enjoyment from a +portion of my money in this way than I can in any other. It is wholly to +my taste and fancy, this scheme of mine; and it holds out to me a +thousand times as much pleasure as any business enterprise I can think +of. That's the whole of it, Patty." + +"It is a good deal better to use your fortune in that way than to risk +it in speculating in stocks, as a great many rich men do," added Mrs. +Dornwood sagely. "But it seems to me that you mean to work the boys very +hard,--from morning till night from one year's end to the other." + +"But I mean that they shall have abundance of recreation. They will be +the crew of the Sylph; they shall have hours for their games; they shall +have plenty of reading, both for recreation and for study: and if they +don't enjoy themselves from morning till night, and from one end of the +year to the other, it will be my fault as well as their own." + +"When will this thing begin?" asked Dory. + +"I intend to make a beginning by the first of September next. Patty, you +must move up to Beech Hill at once, now that Theodore has given up the +boating-business. You may tell the other members of the Goldwing Club +all about my plan, my boy. I have seen the parents of some of them. They +can see their friends as often as they please, and spend Sunday at home +if they wish. If you see any other boys like those of your club, you may +report them to me; but don't ask them to come to the school, or hold out +any inducements to them. I must pick the boys myself." + +"But I must take time to sell the boat I bought," suggested Dory. + +"You needn't sell her, Theodore. I have no sailboat of just her size, +and she may be useful. Now keep cool, and remember that it will take +some time to get the school into running order, and fit up our shops. +But we will begin the scholastic work at once, so that the boys will not +lose what they have learned in school." + +Captain Gildrock talked about his plan till dinner-time; and the skipper +of the Goldwing was so delighted with it, that he felt as though he +wanted to fly. He went all over the estate at Beech Hill, and examined +the boats with a professional eye. In the middle of the afternoon the +family started for home in the schooner. + +In the evening Dory went to see all the members of the Goldwing Club, +and their eyes were as big as saucers while they listened to the notable +scheme of the retired shipmaster. They were quite as enthusiastic as +Dory over the idea. The next day their mothers had consented to their +joining the embryo school, which was as yet without a name. + +Mrs. Dornwood gave up her house, and at the end of a week Dory sailed +the family up to their new home at Beech Hill. The other boys were to +come up on the first day of September, which was two weeks hence. Though +the Sylph was without a crew, the captain made up one, and they visited +various parts of the lake on business and for pleasure. Mr. Jepson, who +had first come to Beech Hill as the engineer of the steam-yacht, resumed +his old position. Dory was wheelman, and a couple of men who worked on +the place did duty as deck-hands. Dory liked this position as pilot even +better than sailing the Goldwing, though his services were often in +demand as skipper of the schooner. + +For more than a year Dory had felt as though he were all adrift in the +world. He wanted to get some steady work by which he could help support +the family. He had not succeeded very well. But now, for the first time +since he had come to think for himself, he did not feel as though he was +All Adrift in the world. He was settled with the future before him, and +he was resolved that it should be filled with good work. + +He read in the newspaper that Pearl Hawlinshed had been sent to the +state prison for a year and a half; and he could not help thinking what +a terrible thing it was for a young man who had a kind and devoted +father, whose existence had been bound up in him, to come to a bad end. + +Dory Dornwood was no longer "All Adrift;" and the Goldwing Club were +anchored with him. In another volume we shall look in upon them in their +"Snug Harbor" as "The Champlain Mechanics." + + + + +_YOUNG FOLKS' TROPHIES OF TRAVEL._ + + +OUR BOYS IN INDIA: + +The Wanderings of two Young Americans in Hindostan, with their exciting +adventures on the Sacred Rivers and Wild Mountains. + +By HARRY W. FRENCH, + +Author of "Castle Foam," "Ego," "Nuna the Bramin Girl," "Gems of +Genius," etc. + +With 145 illustrations. Royal Octavo, 7 x 9-1/2 inches. Bound in +emblematical covers of Oriental design, $1.75. Cloth, black and gold, +$2.50. + +The great Indian Empire is the champion land for romance and adventure. +In this story a little Yankee lad is kidnapped from his home. By the aid +of a detective, an older brother, a lad of 16 years, traces him to +India. The adventures of the two, one as a captive, the other as a +rescuer, in different parts of the empire, are thrilling, dealing as +they do with the Natives, the Snake Charmers and Jugglers, Royal +Personages and Mountaineers, Tiger Hunts, Elephant and Rhinoceros +Fights. The descriptions of Scenery, Customs and Wonders are graphic and +instructive. Many of the illustrations are from special photographs +taken for the author while in India. + + +DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD; + +A BOY'S ADVENTURES BY SEA AND LAND. + +By CAPT. CHARLES W. HALL. + +Author of "Adrift in the Ice-fields," "The Great Bonanza," etc. With +numerous full-page and letter-press illustrations. Royal Octavo, of +which new editions are now ready. Handsome cover, $1.75. Cloth, gilt, +$2.50. + +If a handsomer or more enjoyable book for boys has been issued, or is +yet to issue, from the press in time for Christmas, we would like to see +it. Rob Randall is the name of the boy whose adventures form the +material for this story. Rob, like many another boy of his years, has a +hankering after travel, and he is destined to get his fill of it. He +ships on board a schooner bound to Greenland, is ship-wrecked on the +coast of Labrador, visits Iceland, skips down to and through Scotland, +England, France, Holland, Russia, Asia, and heaven knows where else +besides, until, having travelled this wide world all over, he lights in +at last at San Francisco, and finally brings up at his place of +beginning--the little village of Stonehaven, on the coast of New +England. Rob, in one respect, is like Japhet that Captain Marryatt has +written about--he was off on these travels of his in search of his +father. The book is full of information, and is written in a style that +cannot fail to command the attention of its readers. The scenes which it +portrays are illustrated by 200 beautiful pictures.--_Pittsburg Times._ + +Sold by all Booksellers and Newsdealers. + +LEE AND SHEPARD, Publishers, Boston. + + +_YOUNG FOLK'S TROPHIES OF TRAVEL._ + +_With the Young Americans in the Land of the Rising Sun._ + + +THE WONDERFUL CITY OF TOKIO; + +OR, + +The Further Adventures of the Jewett Family and their Friend Oto Nambo. + +By EDWARD GREEY. + +Author of "Young Americans in Japan," "The Golden Lotus," etc. With one +hundred and sixty-nine illustrations. Royal Octavo, 7 x 9-1/2 inches, +with cover in gold and colors, designed by the author, $1.75. Cloth, +black and gold, $2.50. + +In the great city of the great Empire of Japan, which the Japanese +themselves call wonderful, the Young Americans find new cause for wonder +at the strange customs and curious sights. Under the guidance of "Oto +Nambo," their staunch friend, they assist at a fire, dine at Tokio +restaurants, are entertained by Amateur performers, visit all the points +of interest, and meet with many adventures; but the most interesting +part of the book to American boys will be the visits to and descriptions +of the different trades, many of which are illustrated, and all of which +are described, from the "seller of folded fans" to the maker of "broiled +bean curd." Fully equal in interest and uniform with + + * * * * * + +YOUNG AMERICANS IN JAPAN; + +OR, + +The Adventures of the Jewett Family and their Friend Oto Nambo. + +By EDWARD GREEY, + +With one hundred and seventy full-page and letter-press illustrations. +Royal Octavo, 7 x 9-1/2 inches. Handsomely illuminated cover, $1.75; +Cloth, black and gold, $2.50. A new edition of which is now ready. + +Mr. Edward Greey was a member of the famous expedition which in 1854 +caused "the land of the Rising Sun" to be opened to Eastern +civilization. He afterward returned to Japan, "living among its +estimable people, studied their language and literature, and what they +termed 'learned their hearts.'" He is thus qualified to be a trustworthy +guide to this, the youngest and oldest of nations. His pen-pictures of +Japanese scenery and customs are graphic, and by the introduction of +spicy conversation are made dramatic. Markets and bazaars, shake shops, +and Buddhist temples, jin-riki-shas and jugglers, are all brought before +the eye. + +Sold by all booksellers and newsdealers, and sent by mail, postpaid, on +receipt of price. + +LEE AND SHEPARD, Publishers, Boston. + + +LEE AND SHEPARD'S HANDBOOKS. + + * * * * * + +PRONOUNCING HANDBOOK + +Of three thousand words often mispronounced, and of words as to which a +choice of pronunciation is allowed. 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Price +$1.00. + + * * * * * + +THE STARS AND THE EARTH; + +Or, Thoughts upon Space, Time, and Eternity. With an Introduction by +THOMAS HILL, D.D., LL.D., late President of Harvard University. Cloth, +50 cents. + + * * * * * + +_Sold by all Booksellers and Newsdealers, or sent by mail postpaid on +receipt of price. Catalogues mailed free._ + +LEE AND SHEPARD PUBLISHERS, + +47 FRANKLIN STREET, BOSTON. + + +YOUNG FOLKS' HEROES OF HISTORY. + +By GEORGE MAKEPEACE TOWLE. + +Handsomely Illustrated. Price per vol., $1.25. Sets in neat boxes. + + * * * * * + +VASCO DA GAMA: + +HIS VOYAGES AND ADVENTURES. + +"Da Gama's history is full of striking adventures, thrilling incidents, +and perilous situations; and Mr. Towle, while not sacrificing historical +accuracy, has so skilfully used his materials, that we have a charmingly +romantic tale."--_Rural New-Yorker._ + + * * * * * + +PIZARRO: + +HIS ADVENTURES AND CONQUESTS. + +"No hero of romance possesses greater power to charm the youthful reader +than the conqueror of Peru. Not even King Arthur, or Thaddeus of Warsaw, +has the power to captivate the imagination of the growing boy. Mr. Towle +has handled his subject in a glowing but truthful manner; and we +venture the assertion, that, were our children led to read such books +as this, the taste for unwholesome, exciting, wrong-teaching boys' +books--dime novels in books' clothing--would be greatly diminished, +to the great gain of mental force and moral purpose in the rising +generation."--_Chicago Alliance._ + + * * * * * + +MAGELLAN; + +OR, THE FIRST VOYAGE ROUND THE WORLD. + +"What more of romantic and spirited adventures any bright boy could want +than is to be found in this series of historical biography, it is +difficult to imagine. This volume is written in a most sprightly +manner; and the life of its hero, Fernan Magellan, with its rapid +stride from the softness of a petted youth to the sturdy courage +and persevering fortitude of manhood, makes a tale of marvellous +fascination."--_Christian Union._ + + * * * * * + +MARCO POLO: + +HIS TRAVELS AND ADVENTURES. + +"The story of the adventurous Venetian, who six hundred years ago +penetrated into India and Cathay and Thibet and Abyssinia, is pleasantly +and clearly told; and nothing better can be put into the hands of the +school boy or girl than this series of the records of noted travellers. +The heroism displayed by these men was certainly as great as that ever +shown by conquering warrior; and it was exercised in a far nobler +cause,--the cause of knowledge and discovery, which has made the +nineteenth century what it is."--_Graphic._ + + * * * * * + +RALEGH: + +HIS EXPLOITS AND VOYAGES. + +"This belongs to the 'Young Folks' Heroes of History' series, and deals +with a greater and more interesting man than any of its predecessors. +With all the black spots on his fame, there are few more brilliant and +striking figures in English history than the soldier, sailor, courtier, +author, and explorer, Sir Walter Ralegh. Even at this distance of time, +more than two hundred and fifty years after his head fell on the +scaffold, we cannot read his story without emotion. It is graphically +written, and is pleasant reading, not only for young folks, but for old +folks with young hearts."--_Woman's Journal._ + + * * * * * + +DRAKE: + +THE SEA-LION OF DEVON. + +Drake was the foremost sea-captain of his age, the first English admiral +to send a ship completely round the world, the hero of the magnificent +victory which the English won over the Invincible Armada. His career was +stirring, bold, and adventurous, from early youth to old age. + + * * * * * + +_Sold by all Booksellers, and sent by mail, postpaid, on receipt of +price._ + +LEE & SHEPARD, Publishers BOSTON. + + +BOOKS OF TRAVEL. + + * * * * * + +OVER THE OCEAN; + +OR, + +SIGHTS AND SCENES IN FOREIGN LANDS. + +By CURTIS GUILD, editor of "The Boston Commercial Bulletin." Crown 8vo. +Cloth. $2.50. + +"This is certainly a collection of some of the most perfect pen-pictures +of sights and scenes in foreign lands we have ever seen."--_Albion._ + + * * * * * + +ABROAD AGAIN; + +OR, + +FRESH FORAYS IN FOREIGN FIELDS. + +Uniform with "Over the Ocean." By the same author. Crown 8vo. Cloth. +$2.50. + + * * * * * + +AN AMERICAN GIRL ABROAD. + +By Miss ADELINE TRAFTON, author of "His Inheritance," "Katherine Earle," +&c. 16mo. Illustrated. $1.50. + +"'The American Girl' is a bright, good, merry-hearted girl, off for a +good time; and her readers are of the opinion that the journey was a +decided success."--_Liberal Christian._ + + * * * * * + +BEATEN PATHS; + +OR, + +A WOMAN'S VACATION. + +By ELLA W. THOMPSON. 16mo. Cloth. $1.50. + +"The author seems to have hit on just the most charming things to see, +and talks of them in a charming manner."--_Tribune._ + + * * * * * + +A THOUSAND MILES' WALK ACROSS SOUTH AMERICA, + +OVER THE PAMPAS AND THE ANDES. + +By Nathaniel H. Bishop. 12mo. Illustrated. $1.50. + + * * * * * + +VOYAGE OF THE PAPER CANOE. + +A Geographical Journey of Twenty-five Hundred Miles from Quebec to the +Gulf of Mexico. By the same author. With numerous illustrations and maps +specially prepared for this work. Crown 8vo. $2.50. + + * * * * * + +FOUR MONTHS IN A SNEAK-BOX. + +A Boat-Voyage of Twenty-six Hundred Miles down the Ohio and Mississippi +Rivers, and along the Gulf of Mexico. By the same author. With numerous +maps and illustrations. $2.50. + + * * * * * + +CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES. + +Being the Adventures of a Naturalist Bird-Hunting in the West India +Islands. By FRED A. OBER. Crown 8vo. With maps and illustrations. $2.50. + + * * * * * + +_For sale by all booksellers and newsdealers, and sent by mail, +postpaid, on receipt of price._ + +LEE & SHEPARD, Publishers Boston. + + +BOOKS FOR "OUR GIRLS." + +THE MAIDENHOOD SERIES. + +By Popular Authors. + + * * * * * + +SEVEN DAUGHTERS. + +By Miss A. M. DOUGLAS, Author of "In Trust," "Stephen Dane," "Claudia," +"Sydnie Adriance," "Home Nook," "Nelly Kennard's Kingdom." + +12mo, cloth, illustrated. $1.50. + +"A charming romance of Girlhood," full of incident and humor. The "Seven +Daughters" are characters which reappear in some of Miss Douglas' later +books. In this book they form a delightful group, hovering on the verge +of Womanhood, with all the little perplexities of home life and love +dreams as incidentals, making a fresh and attractive story. + + * * * * * + +OUR HELEN. + +By SOPHIE MAY. 12mo, cloth, illustrated. $1.50. + +"The story is a very attractive one, as free from the sensational and +impossible as could be desired, and at the same time full of interest, +and pervaded by the same bright, cheery sunshine that we find in the +author's earlier books. She is to be congratulated on the success of her +essay in a new field of literature, to which she will be warmly welcomed +by those who know and admire her 'Prudy Books.'"--_Graphic._ + + * * * * * + +THE ASBURY TWINS. + +By SOPHIE MAY, Author of "The Doctor's Daughter," "Our Helen," &c. 12mo, +cloth, illustrated. $1.50. + +"Has the ring of genuine genius, and the sparkle of a gem of the first +water. We read it one cloudy winter day, and it was as good as a Turkish +bath, or a three hours' soak in the sunshine."--_Cooperstown +Republican._ + + * * * * * + +THAT QUEER GIRL. + +By Miss VIRGINIA F. TOWNSEND, Author of "Only Girls," &c. 12mo, cloth, +illustrated. $1.50. + +Queer only in being unconventional, brave and frank, an "old-fashioned +girl," and very sweet and charming. As indicated in the title, is a +little out of the common track, and the wooing and the winning are as +queer as the heroine. _The New Haven Register_ says: "Decidedly the best +work which has appeared from the pen of Miss Townsend." + + * * * * * + +RUNNING TO WASTE. + +The Story of a Tomboy. By GEORGE M. BAKER. 16mo, cloth, illustrated. +$1.50. + +"This book is one of the most entertaining we have read for a long time. +It is well written, full of humor, and good humor, and it has not a dull +or uninteresting page. It is lively and natural, and overflowing with +the best New England character and traits. There is also a touch of +pathos, which always accompanies humor, in the life and death of the +tomboy's mother."--_Newburyport Herald._ + + * * * * * + +DAISY TRAVERS; + +Or the Girls of Hive Hall. By ADELAIDE F. SAMUELS, Author of "Dick and +Daisy Stories," "Dick Travers Abroad," &c. 16mo, cloth, illustrated. +$1.50. + +The story of Hive Hall is full of life and action, and told in the same +happy style which made the earlier life of its heroine so attractive, +and caused the Dick and Daisy books to become great favorites with the +young. What was said of the younger books can, with equal truth, be said +of Daisy grown up. + + * * * * * + +_The above six books are furnished in a handsome box for $9.00, or sold +separate, by all booksellers, and sent by mail, postpaid, on receipt of +price._ + +LEE AND SHEPARD, Publishers, Boston. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of All Adrift, by Oliver Optic + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ALL ADRIFT *** + +***** This file should be named 25577.txt or 25577.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/5/5/7/25577/ + +Produced by David Edwards, Josephine Paolucci and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net. +(This file was produced from images generously made +available by The Internet Archive.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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