Oliver Optic

“ He objected with all his might to the selection.
"This is the stupidest thing you ever did in your life, Tom Topover!" he exclaimed, when he met the commander of the expedition on the forward deck of the schooner.
"What is?" asked Tom coolly.
"To take the Lily when there are only six of us," repeated Bent, rounding up fully the expression of his wonder at the folly of the leader. "What are you going to do in this big boat?"
"The fun of sailing her is half what the trip is for," added Tom. "If you don't want to go in the Lily, there is the skiff, and you know the way to the shore. ”

“ You have gone over to the enemy."
"What's the use to talk about bossing, Tom?" interposed Nim Splugger. "You want to be boss all the time; and, in a boat, you are ten times as rough with a fellow as Dory Dornwood. He is as polite as a dancing-master."
"Then you are going to leave me to fight this thing out alone?" demanded Tom, disgusted with the admissions of his friends. "You don't catch me bending my knee to Dory Dornwood."
"He don't ask any fellow to bend his knee to him. He shows you how to do a thing, and don't bully, like you do, Tom," added Kidd. ”

“ With the wind on the port-quarter, the schooner seemed to leap like a greyhound on her course. It was evident that she was an able sea-boat; for she lifted handsomely on the waves, and did not bury her bows in the water. She carried a strong weather-helm; though the power gained by the horizontal wheel made it easy to steer her, much easier than it would have been even with a long tiller.
Captain Gildrock measured the distance from Cannon's Point to Burlington, where he had directed the captain to put in, and found it was six miles to a certain spot near the breakwater. ”

“ The moment he hauled in the sail, the wind filled it, and the boat began to go ahead again. Tom was not a fool in all branches of human action, and he could not help seeing how he should keep the sail full. He made fast the sheet; and the boat continued to go ahead, till she was within a short distance of the Goldwing, Dory Dornwood's sloop-yacht.
"Run for the shore, Tom!" suddenly shouted Nim Splugger, who was seated in the middle of the craft. ”

“ Most likely they are up to Whitehall or some other place at that end of the lake. Do you think I am going to stay here all day without any dinner and supper, when we might just as well use this boat as leave her alone?" demanded Tom Topover earnestly.
"It will be the safest way to let her alone," replied Ash, shaking his head. "You came very near being doomed to look through the bars of a gridiron for the next three or six months, over on the other side of the lake; and it will be well for you to keep a sharp lookout to windward, Tom." ”

“ I went to see Captain Linder, who is the foreman of the company; and he spoke in the highest terms of your conduct, and the good judgment you used in managing the fire. No doubt you saved the life of the child, and the house from total destruction."
"Ash Burton was the leader, and told us what to do," interposed Sam Spottwood.
"You all did well, and you are worthy of praise. What you did at the fire is not an offset for the wrong you did on the lake; for a good deed will not balance an evil one, though it may modify our judgment of the evil-doer. ”

“ Taking the wind on the starboard tack, the usurping skipper headed the sloop to the southward. Tom had his own way this time.
"Hold on, Tom!" shouted Pell Sankland. "Ash Burton has all the money he has taken for the boat. Is he to have the whole of it?"
"Six dollars," added Nim Splugger. "He ought to make a divvy."
"He is not going to keep the whole of it anyhow," said Kidd Digfield.
"There he is, coming down to the wharf," continued Pell. "We have as much right to some of the money as he has. The boat don't belong to him." ”

“ There was plenty of room on board of the Goldwing for a dozen, and the shipwrecked party were not crowded.
"That's the end of the Thunderer!" exclaimed Sam Spottwood, as he shook the water from his garments, and tried to make himself as comfortable as possible. "It is lucky that she left us to shift for ourselves just here, instead of out in the middle of Lake Champlain."
"Can't we save her?" asked Tom Topover, who had been reduced by the disaster to the level of his companions.
"She isn't worth saving," replied Sam contemptuously. ”

“ The moorings of the Lily were so near the dormitory and the stables, that Tom was afraid to hoist the fore and main sail of the schooner, lest any noise should be heard on shore. The old quartermaster had a room over the carriage-house, and he slept with one eye open. The moorings were cast off into the skiff, and the Lily was allowed to float on the current. It took her a long time to get to the outlet. With all his boasted skill, Tom was afraid to sail the schooner through the outlet in the darkness. ”

“ A ship in the navy, or a yacht, is said to be in commission when she has her officers and men on board, and is in condition for going to sea, or doing what is required of her."
"You don't go to sea; but you go to lake, just the same now as when you have thirty or forty on duty," laughed Lily.
"But Captain Gildrock don't call us in commission when we use the steamer with our present crew: that's all the difference there is. Three persons can handle the Sylph very well; and four is enough to work her comfortably, though not when there are any meals to be served." ”

“ A brig has a top on each mast, while a schooner or a brigantine has none. A top is a kind of platform, on which several men may stand, in large vessels, over which the futtock shrouds pass," continued the principal, as he pointed it out on the foremast of the vessel in the picture.—"What is this?" he asked, displaying another drawing.
"A topsail schooner," answered Bent Fillwing.
"She is sometimes called a fore-topsail schooner, but the expression is redundant, since there is no such craft as a main-topsail schooner. She carries a topsail and topgallant-sail on her foremast." ”

“ I have nothing more to say to you now, and I am confident you will not again meddle with any property of the institution."
"We will not, sir," replied Ash, as he took the dozen half-dollars from his pocket, and tendered them to the principal. "These do not belong to me, or to any of us. They were earned with Dory's boat."
"The money certainly does not belong to you; and, obtained as it was, I am not willing that you should retain and enjoy it," replied the principal. "We do not let the boats under any circumstances, and we do not need any money they might earn. ”

“ When the last one was on the deck, and Dory had marched the head of the column around the standing-room, Captain Gildrock gave the word, "Attention! march!" The file was closed up, so that the students stood touching each other. All as one, they began to put their feet down on the planks in a very heavy step. All hands were intensely amused, for they had been told the situation of things on board, and were laughing as though they enjoyed the affair in which they were engaged. Tom and his fellow-rebels would have no reason to suppose they were not at anchor off Cannon's Point. ”

“ TOM TOPOVER'S RECEPTION. "Sixty dollars!" exclaimed Captain Gildrock, when he had looked over the roll of bills handed him by Bent Fillwing. "Why do you give this money to me?"
"Doesn't it belong to you, sir?" asked Bent, who had put on the meekest expression he could find among his resources.
"I am not aware that it does. I have not lost any money," added the principal.
"Has any one about the school lost any, sir?" inquired Bent, who began to think he had proceeded too rapidly.
"I have not heard of any one who has lost any money. ”

“ Don't say a word about the money; and, as soon as we get to Beech Hill, I will hand it over to Captain Gildrock."
"Not a word," replied Kidd. "Tom is sure to pitch into us as soon as he finds that we are headed for Beech Hill."
"He will take the schooner away from us, and head her the other way," added Pell.
"I don't believe he will," replied Bent, shaking his head as though he meant business. "There are three of us; and I will agree to take care of Tom, if you will take care of the others. One of us ought to take the lead; and you may as well do so, Kidd." ”

“ I have had lessons enough for a while, and I don't believe old Gildrock will see me again very soon. I am a free man!" blustered Tom.
"Do you expect us to follow your lead without knowing where we are going, or what we are to do?" demanded Bent, rather sharply.
"I have said enough to let you know that we are to take a sail, that we are going to a hotel, and that we shall go to the theatre or the circus, if we can find one. I saw some big bills, with colored pictures, on the fences near the wharf in Burlington; and I guess there is a circus somewhere in these parts." ”

“ The skipper had learned this from the discipline of the students, with some of whom he had conversed; and he had often been near enough to their boats to learn something of the way in which they managed them.
"That's right, Captain Topover," said Ash approvingly. "A fellow that stands up without orders in such a craft as this ought to be thrown overboard."
"No matter what happens, no fellow must get on his feet," repeated Tom sternly. "It won't do."
"Suppose the thing upsets or sinks, are we to keep our seats?" asked Kidd, more to bother his commanding officer than for any other reason. ”

“ If things don't work right when we get across the lake, we can jump out of the boat again; and we shall be nearer home there than we are here," said Ash, almost vanquished by his own logic.
He wanted to go so much, that it was easy for him to persuade himself that it was his duty to do so in order to prevent Tom from drowning himself and his companions. The conflict in his mind ended by his going on board of the sloop, followed, more reluctantly, by his crony. ”

“ Ashley Burton and the rest of the boys who were left on shore at the picnic are better boys; and I cannot think of taking them to the court, now that I have got at the facts."
"It is a difficult matter to manage," added Mr. Murdock.
"I cannot prosecute half the culprits, and let the other half escape; for they are all equally guilty of the offence against the law. But Burton and his companions came to me, very penitent, with the money the boat had earned; while Tom and his companions lied till they were black in the face. As you say, it is a difficult case to manage. ”

“ You are acting like so many spring chickens."
"What would you have us do?" asked Kidd, with a broad grin; for he felt that he ought to apologize for his submission, when his chief had resisted to the utmost.
"If you would do as I do, they would soon get sick of it, and let us go," replied Tom.
"It's no use to buck your head against a stone wall. You don't hurt the wall any, as the captain says; and you do hurt your head," replied Nim Splugger. "We are going to take things easy till we have a good chance to do something, and then we are going to do it."
"That's the best way," added Kidd. ”

“ Before he realized that he was actually engaged in learning the lesson assigned to him, he was interested in the subject. It had been chosen for this reason,—that he could hardly help enjoying what he read. He found a solace in the book during the afternoon; and, when his supper was brought to him, he informed Bates that he had learned his lesson. The old man did not say a word, even to hint that he heard him; but, in a few minutes, Mr. Darlingby appeared. He had nothing to say on the question of discipline, but took the book at once, and proceeded to examine Tom on the first pages. ”

“ He makes such a row, that his mother has to cook something for him, even if the fires are all out."
"He seems to be a perfect tyrant in the house," added the principal with a smile, as he realized that the boy had been spoiled by his parents.
"That's just what he is. If he don't get what he wants, he makes such a row that he wakes all the children, and we have trouble half the night."
"He will not come home to-night, unless you wish to have him do so," said Captain Gildrock, coming nearer to his point. ”

“ Captain Gildrock had come to feel that he ought to provide for those who were not able to provide for themselves. He could render a greater service to the community in which he lived, by fitting for usefulness those who were neglected by their parents, or who could not be controlled by them, than by instructing those who needed no assistance. ”

“ The wind was better at the V-Point than it had been in the creek, and the pilot had no difficulty in taking the Lily through. She was not as long, by forty feet, as the Sylph; but at one place she had to make a short tack of not much more than twice her length, and it required no little skill to make every thing work so as to avoid a miss-stay.
The schooner came out all right on the river. Captain Randolph resumed the command. The students watched the motion of the Lily with the most intense interest, especially those who had taken a hand in building her hull. ”

“ If I find the money and the brains for the scrape, I ought to have the management of the thing."
"Nobody objects to your managing it," said Jack Dumper. "But we should like to know what you are going to do."
"You won't know from me," replied Tom doggedly. "If any fellow wants to back out, now is the time for him to make tracks."
Kidd and Pell were tempted to accept the invitation.
"I don't want any little lambs with me," added Tom; and this remark upset the two penitents, and they had not the pluck to retire from the enterprise. ”