Oliver Optic

“ It makes a good deal of odds to me, for I don't spend what don't belong to me. By the big wooden spoon! There comes the Sylph again, and without the gundalow in tow. She is going as though she were running a race too. It looks to me just as though Captain Dory Dornwood had gone crazy, and I shouldn't wonder if Captain Gildrock hauled him over the coals for it. ”

“ The skipper had no reef pendant, and probably did not know what it was. But Dory found a couple of ropes which answered his purpose. Having lashed down the clew and tack, with the assistance of Paul, he tied the reef-points. Hoisting the sail up to a good set, he shoved off with the boat-hook, and was soon standing out from the shore again. Keeping his place at the helm, Dory stood out to the fleet of barges. The wind had not abated a particle of its force, and even with the reef in the mainsail, she was inclined to bury herself in the waves. ”

“ Suppose the sea-serpent should be having a vacation up Beaver River, and take it into his head to swallow us all, one at a time? Suppose the river should catch fire and burn us all up? Suppose the sky should fall, as Chicken Little said it would, and smash us all to jelly?"
"You are making fun of me, Dick," said Paul, laughing.
"The principal says it is useless to worry about anything. We do the best we can with the boat; and if she spills us into the fluid, all we have to do is to get out if we can." ”

“ Jeff Monroe fell all in a heap at the door of the cuddy; but his fall did not deter his fellow-ruffians from advancing upon the skipper. Buck Lamb threw himself in front of Mad Twinker, as though he intended to redeem his escutcheon from the stain of defeat. Bissell was no more a fighting character than Paul, and he had not the least idea of "science." Buck was in proper position to make or receive an attack, and the skipper had risen from his sitting posture when the prisoner did. ”

“ The long boats rose and fell with the waves, and occasionally the spray was dashed over the bows, and carried the whole length of the craft. At last, they began to sing, and the students joined them. It was getting to be a very merry time on the rough waters, but the confidence of the crews inspired the ladies with courage.
As soon as the Silver Moon was free from her burden of water, Dory examined the sail, and, finding it all right, he shoved off. ”

“ I shall be willing to work all night if I can learn what the other fellows learn," replied Paul.
His mother explained to him more fully the intentions of the principal, and the son of toil was more delighted than if a fortune had suddenly dropped into his lap. He knew all about the course of study at Beech Hill, and thought it was the finest school in the world. ”

“ There is always water enough in the lake to drown the whole of us," answered Dick Short, who was rather inclined to work upon the fears of a timid voyager.
"Then what do you come out here for?"
"For fun."
"Is there any fun in being drowned, Dick Short?" asked Paul seriously, as he glanced at Dory, whose face was as calm as the minister's on Sunday. ”

“ I hadn't any idea of helping you to hand Paul over to Major Billcord. I would sink my carcass to the bottom of the lake first," continued the skipper of the Silver Moon, warmly.
"All we have to do, fellows, is to take possession of the boat," shouted Jeff Monroe, as he made a rush aft.
"Back into your seat, or I will spill you into the lake!" said Bissell sharply.
But Jeff was not to be intimidated by a threat, and, supported by Mad, he made a dive at the skipper. Suddenly the spare tiller appeared in air, in the hands of Paul, and then it came down upon the head of Jeff Monroe. ”

“ Never take a blow from any one," added the major.
"But he insulted my sister, sir! He had seized hold of her, and held her when I hit him, sir," pleaded Paul with proper deference; and he felt that he had a good defence.
"A fight begins with the first blow, and we needn't ask what happened before it was struck. You admit that you struck the first blow, Bristol?" continued Major Billcord, sitting in judgment on the case.
"I did strike the first blow, sir; and a fellow that wouldn't hit hard when his sister was insulted, and held as a prisoner, don't amount to much," Paul replied rather warmly. ”

“ There is the biggest pile of fun for you over there that you ever had in your lives," continued Major Billcord, moderating his tone a little when he found his own wishes were in conflict with the orders of the principal.
Neither Jack Woodhorn nor Phil Fessenden, the coxswain of the Racer, was disposed to get into a row with the Beech Hillers. Both of them had been in the barges the summer before in all their tilts with the Gildrock and the Winooski, and they had learned wisdom from experience. It was in vain, therefore, that Major Billcord coaxed and threatened them. ”

“ The stout students at the oars of the Marian drove the barge ahead, helped somewhat by the wind, so that the great billows seemed to have no effect upon her. In a few minutes she was in the midst of the heaviest of the waves. Sometimes she trembled and shook, but she did not yield sensibly to the power which was opposed to her.
"I think that is Tom Bissell's boat," said Paul Bristol, who was watching the craft in trouble very attentively. "When I went to see my sister in Westport, about a month ago, she was sewing a full moon into a blue flag." ”

“ What are you doing? Do you mean to spill me into the drink?" demanded the saucy visitor.
"If you don't get out of the boat, you will be likely to get a ducking," added Paul, as he took up a pail and a broom he had brought from the house before.
Tom looked at the owner of the Dragon; in fact, he eyed him from head to foot. Tom was a pugilist, or he thought he was. He was a fighting character, and possibly he was thinking whether he could whip the son of toil, whose story had been told all over Genverres as well as on the other side of the lake. ”

“ We should take in a good deal of water, and it would be uncomfortable," said Dory. "In a small boat in a blow, or in a squall, the safe way is to keep her head up to the sea."
"The other boats are following us."
"The coxswain of each can do as he pleases; but the fellows all know there is no fun in being knocked about in the trough of a smart sea," added the coxswain. "Do you expect to find any one at the point when we get there, Paul?"
"No; it isn't twelve o'clock yet. The Chesterfields are in school from eight to one, and then go to dinner. ”

“ CHAPTER XXII. AN INVITATION TO SANDY POINT.
"I should like to hand these fellows over to you, Captain Gildrock," said Bissell, hailing the principal. "We have tied their hands behind them, and they won't set the lake on fire just yet."
"I should like to know something more about the case. Will you send Bristol on board to report to me?" replied Captain Gildrock. "Mr. Wolfenden, of Westport, is on board, and will join you in the boat."
"Wolfenden! Why, he is the deputy sheriff!" exclaimed Bissell. "I guess he is the very man we want."
"Mr. Bulfington is also on board," added the principal. ”

“ Dick Short got the hang of the waves as soon as they struck the boat. Paul [Pg 121] thought it was about as rough a time as he had ever seen on the lake during the season of navigation; but he had never been in the barge before, and everything was new to him.
"By the big wooden spoon!" exclaimed the passenger, when the Marian was in the thickest of the miniature billows, and the water was occasionally slopping in over the bow. "Don't you expect you will all get drowned?"
"You can't tell about that," replied the coxswain, who felt as much at home in the boat as he would in the school-room. ”

“ But we are not going to ship any more water; we shall leave the rest of it in the lake."
"I don't see how you are going to help taking in all the water that rolls in," growled the skipper.
"If you keep your eyes wide open tight for one minute more, I will show you that the Silver Moon is the mistress of the situation, and Lake Champlain will have to stay out in the cold," replied Dory, as he shipped his oar between a couple of thole-pins on the quarter.
"There is another oar under the seats," added Bissell.
"One is enough to do the business," said Dory, as he began to pull with all his might. ”

“ The Sylph had been between the Silver Moon and the Chesterfield barges, so that they could not see what took place on the lee side of her.
While Paul was telling his story in the pilot-house, the Chesterfields, finding the Beech Hill boats gathering around the steamer, had pulled close up to the shore, and continued on their way to Sandy Point. Neither Major Billcord nor the students with him had been troubled with a doubt in regard to the fidelity of Bissell to their interests. Even if he was faithless, he had the six ruffians with him, and they would be more than a match for a single man. ”

“ I don't know but you can manage her better than I can."
"You ought to be able to handle your own boat better than any one else can. You have sailed her more than any other person, and a boat is something like a horse, and does better in the hands of one who is used to her."
"I bought the Silver Moon last year, and got a man to show me how to manage her. I was out in her every day last summer, but I never went out when it blew very hard. Folks say it is dangerous sailing on Lake Champlain, there are so many currents and flaws from the hills." ”

“ I have a dozen rather small jack-screws, and I will have all of them put on the deck of the gundalow," added Mr. Miker, as he ordered his men to bring them from a shanty where they were kept under lock and key.
"I will see that everything is brought back again before morning," said Dory, as he stepped into his boat, and gave the order to return to the Sylph.
It was now nearly ten o'clock on as beautiful an evening as ever gladdened the heart of any night wanderers. The full moon gave an abundance of light, and the operations of the students could be as readily conducted as in the day-time. ”

“ The sea was very heavy ahead of the Marian, but the waves were not like those of the ocean. They were shorter and more "choppy." But the boats made tolerably good weather among them. In a smart sea, speed is desirable; and it is the element in the progress of the boat which insures safety. At such a time there are two forces acting, the propelling power of the boat and the action of the waves. In heavy weather there is a struggle between the two forces. In the case of the sailing craft, the waves had got the better of the boat.
With the three barges, the advantage was on the side of the boats. ”

“ My mother owns a house, but [Pg 60] not a foot of land in the wide universe," answered Paul gloomily.
"It is not very easy to think of any plan for moving the building when we haven't any idea of what is to be done with it," added Dory, surveying with his eye the ground between the cottage and the water of the lake.
"I didn't suppose you could do anything for us in that way," continued Paul. "I thought we might save some of our furniture in the 'Dragon.'"
"You couldn't even get a bureau on board of her," replied Dory, glancing at the flatboat. ”

“ Walker, or any other student of the Chesterfield Collegiate Institute, insults my sister, I shall hit him as hard as I can," replied Paul coolly.
"Woman, you have heard the insulting words of your son, and you uphold him in his wickedness. I must take the next step. I will not have such a vile reprobate on my land. I will not have you or your ungrateful daughter on my territory. You are a tenant at will. That cottage must not remain another day on my premises. Remove it at once. If it is here at three o'clock to-morrow afternoon, I will give the students permission to tumble it into the lake. ”

“ You may call it fair to jump on a fellow's back and pull him down."
"But 't ain't fair for you to tie me afore we have done," groaned Tom. "That's mean, and Tom Topover never lets up on a feller that don't fight fair."
"Oh, then, you are Tom Topover, are you?" exclaimed Paul, looking over his victim from head to foot. "Why didn't you tell me who you were when I asked you?"
"I was afear'd you'd run away if I told you who I was," answered the bruiser, who was likely to be a bully to the end.
"I don't believe I should have run away," added Paul, with a smile on his face. ”

“ All the crew gazed in silence at the sailboat; but no one of them ventured to give an opinion, if he had any, in relation to the disaster. Dory had more experience in sailing a boat than any other student, and perhaps they were not inclined to speak in the presence of an expert. But Dick Short was an excellent boatman, and he deferred only to the skipper of the Goldwing.
"She must be rolling the water into her all the time, and she may go to the bottom at any moment," added the coxswain, whose opinion coincided with that of Dory. "We must go to their assistance at once." ”

“ We can make a carpenter or a [Pg 98] machinist of him; and if he prefers some other trade, what he learns here will not come amiss. He can do his work in the boat-house and be a member of the school at the same time, though he will have to work some part of the day while the students are at play."
"Paul will be very glad to work and never play, for he has always been a very good boy," added the devoted mother.
"Your daughter, you said, had worked at the millinery business, and perhaps a place can be found for her in Genverres," continued the captain, as he led the way back to the boat. ”

“ The removal of the six ladies made the Silver Moon a little more buoyant; but she was in hardly less peril than before, for she rolled even worse than when her passengers were on board. Dory formed a very unfavorable opinion of the seamanship of Bissell almost as soon as he had put his foot over the gunwale of the sloop. Nothing at all was the matter with the Silver Moon. Her rudder was not disabled, and the halyards on the mainsail were in working condition. The craft had lost nothing, but the skipper had lost his head. ”