Houseboat

“ Marvin was there, and he sold papa the Marvin houseboat. Oh! and such fun as we're—"
"What's a houseboat?" interrupted Flossie.
"It's a boat with a house on it, of course," spoke Bert, eagerly. "I know. I've seen lots of them. You can live in them just like in a house, only it's on water. There's more room in a houseboat than in a regular boat. Go on, Nan."
"Are we going to live in it?" asked Freddie. ”

“ A barque, such as is often bought by a Norwegian trader in timber, and spends her remaining days being pumped out by a windmill on deck, might serve for a houseboat. So would a steam yacht when the engines had been taken out. But then the draught of either is not light, and the occupier of a houseboat might want to lie far up a snug creek, and there even the highest spring tide would not give him the necessary depth. A sea houseboat might be built specially, but that is not the way of wisdom ”

“ The Bluebird carried on her afterdeck a small skiff to be used in making trips to and from the craft when she was at anchor out in some stream or lake. This boat would be available for the journey to the mainland or to another island.
An examination showed that the houseboat was not damaged more than superficially, and after a hearty breakfast, Neale and Mr. Howbridge held a consultation with Ruth and Agnes.
“What we had better do is this,” said the lawyer. “We had better turn our energies in two ways. ”

“ A houseboat is not exactly a marvel either of comfort or cheapness, but as a joyous experience it is worth the money. You see them lying up in lines by Molesey and Richmond out of the season, dead lifeless things, with weather-stained paint and tightly shut casements. ”

“ Captain Kidd is a seafarer by instinct, not a landsman. The Houseboat is not a house, but a boat; therefore the place to look for it is not, as Dr. Johnson so well says, in the Sahara Desert, or on the Alps, or in the State of Ohio, but upon the high seas, or upon the waterfront of some one of the world's great cities."
"And what, then, would be your plan?" asked Sir Walter, impressed by the stranger's manner as well as by the very manifest reason in all that he had said. ”

“ MORE HINTS FOR HENLEY
(For the use of Visitors, Male and Female)
Take an umbrella to keep off the rain—unopened.
Beware of encouraging burnt-cork minstrels, or incurring their resentment.
Remember, it is not every houseboat that is sufficiently hospitable to afford lunch.
After all, a travel down from town in the train is better than the discomforts of dawn on the river in a houseboat.
Six hours of enforced company is a strong order for the best of friends, sometimes leading to incipient enmity. ”

“ More than fifty thousand people live in floating river homes—houseboats varying in size from tiny tent-cabined skiffs to great show boats carrying half a hundred men, women, and children. These shantyboaters have their own floating stores, boarding houses, mission boats, sacred concerts, recluses, grafters, doctors, drifters, whisky boats and countless other up-the-bank phenomena as well as their own particular occupations. ”

“ She told the farmer, whom they found in the hay field, the whole story of the houseboat, and how they hoped to spend their holiday aboard it.
"I declare, I'm real sorry I moved your houseboat," he apologized. "If I'd 'a' known the pretty toy boat belonged to a parcel of young girls like you, I'd never have laid hands on it. You kin stay along my shore all summer if you like. But no one asked my permission to tie the boat to my post. And soon as I seen it, I just thought the boat belonged to some rich society folks who thought they owned the airth. I hid the boat up the bay a piece. ”

“ This morning we got off at 7 a. m., and passed the Devil's Elbow lights before lunch. We did not tie up then, but threw out our anchor, which is less trouble and in every way better, as there is less danger of the snags that beset the shore. The air is rather cool for sitting outside but we spend much time there. The river is narrowing. Each little creek has a houseboat, or several, generally drawn up out of the water and out of reach of the ice. We saw a woman at one of the shabbiest shanty boats washing [Pg 61] clothes. ”

“ Whittaker waved his hand to the four young voyagers, wishing them the best of luck.
“Whoop! we’re off at last!” cried Bluff, as the current took the floating houseboat in its grip, and began to carry the unwieldy craft slowly along.
“Take a hand here, and be ready to swing her further out into the river,” called Frank. “It’s dangerous to keep near the shore, the boat builder said. All together, now, boys; away she goes!”
When four stout young college boys put their shoulders to the task, something has just got to be doing. ”

“ The houseboat was not large. It consisted of a sort of large shed, with windows, doors, and a flat roof perched on what had once been a scow. There was a narrow space running all around the house part, between it and a low rail. There was a small float at one end to which a rowboat was made fast. From the float a cleated plank gave access to the lower deck of the boat, if a deck it could be called. There was also a short flight of rather rickety steps at the stern by which the girls had come aboard. The houseboat had once been painted green, but little of the original color remained. ”

“ A few years ago some ingenious person hit upon the idea of converting a trading wherry into a pleasure one by raising and permanently fixing the hatches, placing windows at the sides (there is no bulwark, and but a narrow plankway between the edge and the cabin sides) , dividing the roomy interior into saloon and bedrooms, and so producing a commodious and comfortable sailing houseboat, which has become exceedingly popular. There are numbers of them about now, and they are always in demand for hire by parties visiting the Broads. ”

“ The houseboat is now located on the Ohio River, at a place not many miles from Pittsburg. Uncle Randolph says if we wish to we can use her this summer, and float down to the Mississippi and further yet for that matter. And we can take along half a dozen of our friends, too. ”

“ MacCall shook her head when she heard what had happened.
“I ha me doots about them on the boat,” she said. “If they cut up such didoes here, what’ll they do then?”
“Oh, I think we shall manage somehow,” said Ruth with cheerful philosophy. “We’re used to mishaps.”
By dint of hard work the final preparations for the houseboat trip were made. The Bluebird was got in shape for the first part of the trip through the canal. Hank Dayton had been “slicked up,” and had his two sturdy mules in readiness. Neale had tested the motor again. ”

“ Neale O’Neil, who had been steering the houseboat during the operation of locking it from the canal into the river, sprang away from the tiller toward the side of the craft at Ruth’s cries. There was no immediate need of guiding the Bluebird for the moment, as she was floating idly with the momentum gained when she was slowly pulled from the lock basin.
“Are those the men?” asked Neale, pointing to two roughly dressed characters in a small motor boat.
“I’m sure they are!” asserted Ruth. “That one steering is the man who grabbed the box from me. Look, Agnes, don’t you remember them?” ”

“ Howbridge, giving the wheel a turn and sending the houseboat out into the stream.
The trip up the Gentory River was no less delightful than the voyage on the canal had been, if one may call journeying on such a quiet stream a voyage. It was faster travel, of course, with the motor sending the Bluebird along.
“The only thing is, though,” said Hank, who sat near the wheel with Neale, “I haven’t anything to do. I miss the mules.”
“Oh, I guess there’ll be enough to do. Especially when we get up on the lake. You’ll have to help manage the boat,” remarked Neale. ”

“ Come on!” quickly cried one of the men, and in an instant they had jumped into the motor boat which was tied to a tree near shore.
It was the work of but a moment for one of them to turn over the flywheel and start the motor. The other cast off, and in less than a minute from the time the Corner House girls and their friends had glimpsed them the two ragged men were on their way in their boat out of the cove. ”

“ We saw one cabin boat in which an elderly man was said to have lived for years, alone. A man of wealth, who could have utilized Pullmans had he chosen. One can readily comprehend this; for long will it be ere the beating of the waves against the side of the boat ceases from our dreams. A little cabin boat that one could manage, dogs for the only companions, guns and rods, and the long, quiet sojourn where the coal [Pg 204] and other trusts matter not a whit—and where could hermit find such a delightful retreat! ”

“ Sailing craft are more at the mercy of the wind and water than are power boats, but when these last have lost their ability to progress they are in worse plight than the other craft, being less substantial in build.
But the Bluebird was not exactly of either of these types. In fact the craft on which the Corner House girls were voyaging was merely a big scow with a broad, flat bottom and a superstructure made into the semblance of a house on shore—with limitations, of course. ”

“ Don't buy an old boat. There is a satisfaction in knowing that the timbers beneath you are sound and put together in the strongest possible manner, and amply able to withstand the fiercest trials they can possibly receive. Especially if women and children are to form part of your crew, you want to feel easy on the score of your boat. Have the boat built at a place like Henry, where well-selected lumber and honest work will go in the building. ”

“ During the morning we got in a place where the channel seemed so intricate that the tug ran in to inquire of some men on shore; and in turning in, the house ran against a projecting tree so swiftly that had we not rushed out and held her off, the snag would have crushed in the thin side of the house. To even matters, we picked out of the drift a fine hardwood board, evidently but a short time in the water. Never lose a chance to get a bit of good timber for firewood—you never have too much. ”

“ At 1 p. m. we got off, the launch behind and steered by ropes running around the cabin to its front. All went well till Jim came in to dinner and we took the ropes—gave one turn to see which way the steering ran, found we were wrong and at once turned the other way, but that one turn gave the unwieldy craft a cant in to the shore, along which ran the swift current, [Pg 110] and we drifted among a lot of snags, the launch caught, the boat caught, tore the blades off the propeller, broke the coupling; let go the anchor, and came to. ”

“ They are built of muscle and steel springs, never shirk work, have good, healthy appetites and are always ready to meet any of the various requirements of the trip. Everything comes handy to them. They put the boat in shape, run the engine, do carpentry and any other trade that is needed. It was hard to guide the unwieldy boat so they designed a rudder, went to town for material, hunted up a blacksmith and showed him what they wanted, and put the rudder together and hung it in good shape. ”

“ His tone reminded Ruth of the time he had come to talk to them about their inheritance of the Corner House. “This boat, the Bluebird, belongs to an estate. The estate is being settled up, and the boat is going to be sold. A man living at the upper end of Lake Macopic has offered to buy it at a fair price if it is delivered to him in good condition before the end of summer. ”

“ They had several extra blankets aboard, the property of Uncle Felix. Two of these Frank fetched ashore, and laid with his own hands, making as comfortable a bed as anybody might want.
“Nothing will come around, as long as the fire burns; and here’s plenty of wood to keep it going, if you happen to wake up any time in the night. Besides, we keep watch aboard the boat, and any uninvited guest is apt to be met with a shot. ”

“ The bamboo roofs slide in a sort of telescope fashion, and the whole interior space can be inclosed and divided. The bow of the boat, whether large or small, is always the family joss house; and the water is starred at night with the dull, melancholy glimmer, fainter, though redder than a glow-worm's light, of thousands of burning joss-sticks, making the air heavy with the odor of incense. Unlike the houses of the poor on shore, the house boats are models of cleanliness, and space is utilized and economized by adaptations more ingenious than those of a tiny yacht. ”

“ The journey to every place must be commenced by water, either in a house-boat or in a steamer. The house-boat [Pg 172] is about eighteen feet long and four feet beam, and is rowed by a number of strong skilful boatmen. The number of men varies from two to eight according to the size of the boat. The man at the stern manages the rudder with his foot while he rows with his hands. All the men stand to their work, and row after the native fashion. In the centre of the boat is a small hut or cabin, which is about three feet high, so that its occupant can only lie therein. ”

“ But first of all they must have a boat, and for convenience the American boy's house-boat will probably be found to excel either a broad-horn or a flat-boat model, it being a link between the two.
The simplest possible house-boat is a Crusoe raft, [A] with a cabin near the stern and a sand-box for a camp-fire at the bow. A good time can be had aboard even this primitive craft. The next step in evolution is the long open scow, with a cabin formed by stretching canvas over hoops that reach from side to side of the boat (see Fig. 218) . ”