Haste and Waste; Or, the Young Pilot of Lake Champlain Part 37

"Who rang the bell?" asked Ben.

"Captain Lawry."

"Is he on board?"

"He is," replied Ethan, as he started the engine. "Ben Wilford, you have got about to the end of your rope."

"What do you mean?"

"You have done a job which will send you to Sing Sing for the next ten years."

"No, I haven't," said Ben, backing out of the engine-room.

"Stop where you are," interposed Ethan, peremptorily, as he raised his pistol.

"Two can play at that game," added Ben.

"Two can; but two won't. Drop your hands, or I'll fire!"

Ben obeyed; he had felt that the game was up the moment he saw Ethan at his post, and he had not the courage to draw his pistol upon one who had shot two Indians in one day.

"Sit down there," continued Ethan, pointing to the bench in the engine-room, and the culprit took his seat with fear and trembling.

"What shall I do?" groaned the wretched young man, as he thought of the consequence of his crime.

"Jump overboard and drown yourself. That would save your friends a great deal of trouble," replied Ethan. "Give up your pistol!"

Ben gave it up, and began to plead with Ethan to let him escape, declaring that it would kill his mother, and Lawry never would get over it, if he was sent to the penitentiary. Though the engineer dreaded the day when his friend would be compelled to testify in court against his own brother, he would not yield to the culprit's entreaties, and did not intend that he should escape the penalty of his crime.

When the _Woodville_ reached her wharf, having been absent but little more than an hour, Mr. Sherwood and the ladies were on the wharf. While Ethan was working the engine with the bar, Ben slipped out of the room. The engineer saw him, and gave the alarm; but he could not leave his post at that moment. As soon as the boat was moored, search was made; but Ben could not be found. He certainly was not on board.

Mr. Sherwood was astonished when he was told what had occurred. He sent his coachman after the sheriff at once, and directed that the search for Ben Wilford should be renewed. The stateroom was found locked, as he had left it, and the gold undisturbed. Mrs. Light and the girls, the firemen and the deck-hands, had their own stories to tell, to all of which Mr. Sherwood listened very patiently.

"You have done well, Lawry," said he. "You have saved my gold."

"It was Ethan, sir, that did the business. I don't believe I could have done anything alone," replied the little captain.

"Lawry did his share," added Ethan, with due modesty.

"I'm sure they both fit like wildcats in the cabin," said Mrs.

Light. "I was e'en a'most scart to death."

When the sheriff came, he took Baker and Flint into custody, and sent the constable who had come with him to find Ben Wilford. The two robbers in the cabin were in bad condition. The choking they had received had been a terrible shock to their nerves, which, with the hard knocks given by Ethan with the cook's rolling-pin, had entirely used them up, and there was neither fight nor bravado in them. Flint said they had been induced to engage in the enterprise by Ben Wilford; that they intended to proceed to the vicinity of Whitehall in the _Woodville_, where the instigator of the affair had declared his purpose to burn the boat. From this point they were going to the West, disposing of the gold in small sums as they proceeded.

The two robbers were marched off by the sheriff; but nothing was heard of Ben for two hours, when the boy who ran the ferry-boat, returning from Pointville, informed Mrs. Wilford that he had gone over with him. The constable followed, as soon as he heard in what direction the fugitive had gone. He was not taken that night, and the search was renewed the next day, but with no better result. It was afterward ascertained that he had crossed the country to the railroad, and taken a night train. Having worked his way to New York, he shipped in a vessel bound to the East Indies.

It cannot be denied that Lawry and his mother, and even Mr.

Sherwood, were glad of his escape, though he was more guilty than the two men who had been captured and were afterward tried and sent to Sing Sing. The little captain and the engineer of the _Woodville_ were warmly congratulated upon the safety of the steamer, when it was known that Ben intended to burn her in revenge for having been made a "n.o.body"; but Mr. Sherwood declared that, if the boat had been destroyed, he would have built another, and presented her to Lawry and Ethan, for he was too much interested in the steamboat experiment to have it abandoned.

Mrs. Wilford trembled when she learned that the robbers had been armed with pistols. Many laughed as they, listened to the account of the choking operation in the cabin, and everybody was satisfied with the result.

Lawry and Ethan were too much excited to sleep that night, though they turned in at ten o'clock. At midnight the fireman on duty called them, and the steamer soon started for Whitehall with Mr. Sherwood and his gold, where she arrived in season for the morning train. As the party did not start till nine o'clock, the exhausted pilot and engineer obtained a couple of hours' sleep, while the steamer lay at the wharf, which enabled them to get through the day without sinking under its fatigues.

The following day was Sunday; and though Lawry and Ethan went to church in the forenoon, as both of them were in the habit of doing, the day was literally a day of rest to them, and there was a great deal of "tall sleeping" done. On Monday morning, at six o'clock, the boat went to Ticonderoga, arriving in good season to keep her engagement.

Our limits do not permit us to follow Captain Lawry and the beautiful little steamer any farther. The young pilot has redeemed the fairy craft from the bottom of the lake, and overcome all obstacles in his path to prosperity. He was not again disturbed by the envy and jealousy of his brother. He was sad when he thought of his father in prison, and Ben an exile, banished by his misdeeds; but their errors only made him the stronger in the faith he had chosen, that fidelity to principle is the safest and happiest course, under all circ.u.mstances.

Lawry had all the business he could do with the _Woodville_. On the following week, another pilot and another engineer were obtained, and the price raised to sixty dollars a day, in conformity with the suggestion of Mr. Sherwood. This was especially necessary, as, during the bright moonlight evenings, in the latter part of the month, the _Woodville_ was employed every night in taking out parties. The boat lay hardly an hour at a time at the wharf. The money came in so fast that Mrs. Wilford was bewildered at the riches which were flowing in upon them. By the advice of Mr. Sherwood the money was invested in government stocks; but he resolutely refused to accept payment for what he had advanced on the place or for the boat.

Early one evening, after Lawry had landed Mr. Sherwood's party at Port Rock, he started for Burlington, where he had an engagement on the following day. Half a mile above the wharf, he came up with a schooner, which on examination proved to be the _Missisque_. It was a dead calm, and her new mainsail hung motionless from the gaff.

The little captain had not seen her skipper since the day on which the old sail had been blown from the bolt-ropes by the squall; and he ran the Woodville alongside of her, in order "to pa.s.s the time of day" with him.

"How are you, Captain John?" shouted the young pilot.

"Why, Lawry! How are you?" replied the skipper of the sloop.

"What are you doing here?" continued Lawry.

"Waitin' for a breeze of wind. I had a good freight promised to me if I got to Burlington by to-morrow morn-in', but I guess I sha'n't quite fetch it."

"Rounds, heave a stern-line to the sloop, and make fast to her,"

added Lawry to his mate.

"Oh, thank ye, Lawry," replied the grateful skipper.

"You and your wife must take supper with me."

"Well, Lawry, I always knowed you was smart," said Captain John.

"If I didn't get that mainsail down," laughed Lawry.

"Oh, never mind the mainsail, Lawry," added the skipper, blushing.

"I was a leetle riled that time, and it wan't your fault."

"I think the green-apple pies made the mischief. Mrs. Light makes very nice ones, and we will have some for supper," continued Lawry, as he conducted his guests to the cabin, where they sat down at the table.

Captain John and his wife were bewildered at the splendors which surrounded them, and at the grandeur of Captain Lawry; but they pa.s.sed a pleasant evening on board till ten o'clock, when the _Woodville_ cast off her "tow" in Burlington Bay.

The upright piano, the gift of Miss f.a.n.n.y, had been placed in the saloon, and its sweet strains added to the enjoyment of every party that employed the steamer. Ethan French, now relieved of part of his duties by the employment of a second engineer, was never in better humor than when f.a.n.n.y Jane, seated at this instrument, sang the songs she had sung to Wahena and himself on the lake island in Minnesota.

In September, the business of the _Woodville_, as an excursion boat, began to fall off, and by the middle of the month it was at an end. The season had been very profitable, and Lawry's account-book showed that the boat had been employed forty-one days, besides nine evenings, the net profits of which were nearly fifteen hundred dollars, all of which was in the bank, or invested in government securities.

While Captain Lawry was considering the practicability of running the _Woodville_ between certain places on the lake as a pa.s.senger-boat, he was startled by receiving a huge government envelope, containing a liberal offer for the use of his steamer as a despatch boat on southern rivers. An army officer, of high rank, who had been a member of one of the excursion parties in August, had been delighted with the performance of the little craft, and had spoken to Captain Lawry on this subject; but the matter had been quite forgotten when the offer came. Mr.

Sherwood and Mrs. Wilford were consulted, and an affirmative answer returned. Ethan was delighted at the prospect of going South, for he desired to visit the scene of hostilities, and, if possible, to be employed in active operations.

The _Woodville_ went in October, and returned in April, when the war was finished. Of Captain Lawry's voyage out and back, and his adventures far up in the enemy's country, we have no s.p.a.ce to speak; but the steamer and her little commander gave perfect satisfaction.

In June, when the _Woodville_ had been thoroughly repaired and painted, after her hard service at the South, there was a demand for her as an excursion boat; and it continued through the season. With one of Mr. Sherwood's parties, in July, there was an eminent member of the State Government, who was greatly pleased with Lawry's past history, as well as with his agreeable manners, and his close attention to his business. Through this gentleman, an effort, warmly seconded by Mr. Randall, the bank director, was made to obtain the pardon of John Wilford. It was successful, and the ferryman returned to his home a wiser and a better man.