Haste and Waste; Or, the Young Pilot of Lake Champlain Part 19

"I know that, but I'm older than he is."

"You are old enough to behave better."

"How do you expect me to be anybody here, when I have to knock under to my younger brother? I say the steamer don't belong to Lawry any more than she does to me. I have just as much right in her as he has."

"What do you mean by talking so, Benjamin? You know that Mr.

Sherwood gave the steamer to Lawry, and the bill of sale is in Lawry's name."

"I don't care for that! she's just as much mine as she is his, and he'll find that out when she gets to running. Lawry's a minor, and can't hold any property; you know that just as well as I do."

"What if he is? I think he will be permitted to hold the steamboat, and run her."

"I don't think so. I was talking with Taylor, who holds the mortgage on this place, and he don't think so," added Ben, in a tone of triumph.

"What did he say?"

"Well, he means to attach the steamboat on the note he holds against father."

"He will not do that!" replied Mrs. Wilford.

"He says so, anyhow."

"He will foreclose the mortgage on the place if he wants to get his money."

"The place will not sell for enough to pay his note, and he knows it. No matter about him--the steamboat belongs to father, just as much as the ferry-boat does; and I think I ought to have something to say about her."

"If you want to do anything for the family, why can't you run the ferry-boat, Benjamin?"

"And let Lawry run the steamboat? Not if I know myself!" replied Ben, with savage emphasis. "He may run the ferry-boat, and I'll run the steamer."

"That would be neither fair nor right. The steamer belongs to Lawry, and I will never consent that he shall be turned out of her."

"I don't want to turn him out of her. I'll take charge of her, and he may go pilot; that's all he's good for."

"You mean that you'll be captain?"

"That's what I mean."

"I don't think Lawry will want any one to be captain over him.

"If I don't run that steamer, n.o.body shall!" said Ben angrily, as he rose and left the house.

"Good evening, Mrs. Wilford," said Mr. Sherwood. "Has Lawry gone to bed?"

"Yes, an hour ago."

"Is he asleep?"

"I suppose he is."

"All right, then."

"What in the world are you going to do with such a crowd of men, Mr.

Sherwood?"

"I'm going to help the boys finish their job. Ethan told me they had stopped the leak, and it only remained to pump out the steamer. I am going to do this job; and I have men enough to finish it in a couple of hours."

"I should think you had," added Mrs. Wilford.

"I have gathered together all the men I could find. Don't say a word to the boys, if you please. I intend to surprise them. They will find the steamer free of water in the morning."

"You are very kind, Mr. Sherwood, to take so much trouble."

"The boys have worked so well that they deserve encouragement. May I take the ferry-boat to convey my men up to the steamer?"

"Certainly, sir."

Mr. Sherwood encouraged the men to work well by the promise of extra pay; and the laborers seemed to regard the occasion as a grand frolic. They exerted themselves to the utmost, and the buckets flew along the lines, while the pumps rolled out the water in a continuous flow. As the steamer, relieved of the weight that pressed her down, rose on the surface of the lake, it was only necessary to lift the water from below and pour it upon the deck, from which it would run off itself.

The job did not last long before such a strong force; and in two hours the work of the bailers was done. Ethan had fully described the method by which the hole in the hull of the _Woodville_ had been stopped; but Mr. Sherwood had some doubts in regard to the strength of the material, and he went below to examine the place. Lawry and his fellow laborer had had no opportunity to test the strength and fitness of the work they had done, while the boat was full of water.

On examination, Mr. Sherwood found several small jets of water streaming through the seams between the planks, outside of the canvas carpet, which he stopped with packing from the engineer's storeroom.

The braces which the boys had put over the hole kept the oilcloth in position, and when the packing had been driven into the open seams with a chisel and mallet, hardly any water came in around the aperture. The boys were warmly commended by their partial friend for the skill they had displayed in stopping the leak; and some of the men, who were familiar with vessels, that the steamer would not leak ten strokes an hour.

It was therefore safe to leave her; and Mr. Sherwood was satisfied that the boys would not find the water up to the bottom of the cabin floor in the morning. He carefully examined every part of the steamer to a.s.sure himself that everything was right before he left her. The pumps were tried again, just before they embarked for home, but they yielded only a few strokes of water.

The party returned to the landing, and Mr. Sherwood cautioned the men not to make any noise as they pa.s.sed the cottage, fearful that the boys might be awakened and the delightful surprise in store for them spoiled. But Lawry and Ethan, worn out by the fatigue and excitement of the day, slept like logs, and the discharge of a battery of artillery under their chamber window would hardly have aroused them from their slumbers. The men went to their several homes, and all was quiet at the ferry.

CHAPTER XII

FROM DESPONDENCY TO REJOICING

Ben Wilford made his way to the deck of the steamer, and in the darkness stumbled against the cables, with which the boat was anch.o.r.ed. He was bent on mischief, and he unstoppered the cables, permitting them to run out and sink to the bottom of the lake. The wind was blowing, still pretty fresh, from the west, and the steamer, now loosened from her moorings, began to drift toward the middle of the lake.

"They'll find I'm not a n.o.body," whined he. "She'll go down in the deep water this time."

The drunken villain then stumbled about the deck till he found the lines which kept the hogsheads in place under the guards. Groaning, crying, and swearing, he untied and threw the ropes overboard. Some of the casks, relieved of the pressure on them by the removal of the water from the interior of the hull, came out from their places and floated off. Ben rolled into the wherry again, and with the boat-hook hauled the others out. Satisfied that he had done his work, and that the _Woodville_ would soon go down in the middle of the lake, he pulled as rapidly as his intoxicated condition would permit toward the ferry-landing.

"They'll find I'm not a n.o.body," he repeated, as he rowed to the sh.o.r.e. "They can't raise her now; and they'll never see her again."

Intoxicated as he was, he had not lost his sense of caution. He knew that he had done a mean and wicked action, which it might be necessary for him to conceal. As he approached the landing, he wiped his eyes, and choked down the emotions that agitated him. He tried to make no noise, but his movements were very uncertain; he tumbled over the thwarts, and rattled the oars, so that, if those in the cottage had not slept like rocks, they must have heard him. He reeled up to the house, took off his shoes, and crept upstairs to his room. He made noise enough to wake his mother; but Lawry and Ethan were not disturbed.

The wretch had accomplished his work. He was satisfied, as he laid his boozy head upon the pillow, that the _Woodville_ was even then at the bottom of the lake, with a hundred feet of water rolling over her. It was two o'clock in the morning; but the vile tipple he had drank, and the deed he had done, so excited him that he could not sleep. He tossed on his bed till the day dawned, and the blessed light streamed in at the window of the attic.