All Adrift Part 33

"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 Sat.u.r.day. 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 a.s.sociates 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."