Haste and Waste Part 20

"How do you know?" demanded the pilot.

"I've been sick, and couldn't sleep; so I got up and went outdoors.

She isn't where you left her, and I couldn't see anything of her anywhere."

"Couldn't see her!" exclaimed Ethan.

"I knew very well she wouldn't stay on top of the water. Casks wouldn't keep her up," said Ben maliciously.

Lawry rushed out of the room to the other end of the house, the attic window of which commanded a full view of the lake. As his brother had declared, the _Woodville_ was not at her anchorage where they had left her; neither was she to be seen, whichever way he looked.

"She is gone!" cried he, returning to his chamber.

"Of course she is gone," added Ben.

"I don't understand it."

"She has gone to the bottom, of course, where I told you she would go. You were a fool to leave her out there in the deep water. She has gone down where you will never see her again."

"It was impossible for her to sink with all those casks under her guards," said Ethan.

"I guess you will find she has sunk. I told you she would. If you had only minded what I told you, she would have been all right, Lawry."

Both of the boys seemed to be paralyzed at the discovery, and made no reply to Ben. They could not realize that all the hard labor they had performed was lost. It was hard and cruel, and each reproached himself because they had not pa.s.sed the night on board of the steamer, as they had purposed to do.

"Well, it's no use to stand here like logs," said Lawry, "If she has sunk, we will find out where she is."

"I reckon you'll never see her again, Lawry. Those old casks leaked, I suppose, and when they were full of water the steamer went down again; or else they broke loose from her when the wind blew so hard."

"It didn't blow much when we went to bed. What time did you come home, Ben?"

"I don't know what time it was," he answered evasively.

"Come, Ethan, let's go and find out what the matter is," continued Lawry, as he led the way downstairs.

Mrs. Wilford was not up, but she was awake, and was antic.i.p.ating with great satisfaction the pleasure of the surprise which awaited the boys, when they discovered that the steamer had been freed from water. They left the house, and went down to the ferry. The _Woodville_ certainly was not where they had left her; not even the top of her smokestack could be seen peering above the water to inform them that she still existed.

"Well, Lawry, we may as well go out to the place where we left her.

If she has sunk, we may be able to see her," said Ethan.

They got into the boat; but one of the oars was gone. Ben had lost it overboard when he landed, and it had floated off. There was another pair in the woodshed of the house, and Lawry went up for them. As he entered the shed, he met his mother, who had just risen, and gone out for wood to kindle the fire. The poor boy looked so sad and disconsolate that his long face attracted her attention.

"What's the matter, Lawry?" she asked.

"The steamer has sunk again," replied the son.

"Sunk again!" exclaimed his mother.

"She is not to be seen, and Ben says she has gone down."

"Ben says so?"

"Yes; he told us of it before we came down. We are going to look for her now," answered Lawry.

What Lawry had said excited the suspicion of his mother, as she thought of the malicious words of her older son on the preceding evening. She was excited and indignant; she feared he had executed the wicked purpose which she was confident he had cherished. She went into the house, and upstairs to the room where Ben still lay in bed.

"Benjamin, what have you done?" demanded she.

"I haven't done anything. I'm a n.o.body here!" replied the inebriated young man, with surly emphasis.

"What did you mean last night when you said that you should run that steamer, or n.o.body should?" asked Mrs. Wilford.

"I meant just what I said. You and Lawry both said I shouldn't run her--and she has gone to the bottom again; she'll stay there this time."

"Oh, Benjamin!" said his mother, bursting into tears. "How could you be so wicked?"

"Did you think I'd stay round here, and be a n.o.body?" growled the wretched young man.

"Did you sink that steamer?"

"What if I did?"

"Oh, Benjamin!"

"You needn't cry about it. Next time, you'd better not try to make a n.o.body out of me."

"Don't you think I've had trouble enough, without trying to make more for me?" sobbed the distressed mother.

"If you had told Lawry to give me the charge of the steamer, he would have done it," whined Ben.

"I shouldn't tell him any such thing!" replied Mrs. Wilford indignantly. "A pretty captain of a steamboat you would make! You are so tipsy now you can't hold your head up!"

"I'm as sober as you are."

Mrs. Wilford knew that it was useless to talk to a person in his condition, and she left him to sleep off the effect of his cups if he could, after the evil deed he had done. Full of sympathy for Lawry, under his great affliction, she left the house, and hastened down to the landing, to learn, if possible, the condition of the _Woodville_. Lawry and Ethan were in the wherry, returning to the sh.o.r.e, when she reached the landing.

"Hurrah! hurrah!" shouted both of the boys, in unison, as Mrs.

Wilford came in sight.

"What now?" asked the anxious mother.

"She's safe, mother! She has not sunk," replied Lawry.

"Where is she? I don't see her anywhere," added Mrs. Wilford, scanning the lake in every direction.

"Over on the other side," replied Lawry.

"What's the reason she didn't sink?" continued his mother.