by Oliver Optic
CHAPTER VII.
COMMODORE FRANK SEDLEY.
For a few days all Rippleton rang with the praises of Tony and hiscompanions. All the particulars of the affair at the bridge had beengiven in the Rippleton Mercury, and the editor was profuse in hiscommendations of the skill and courage of the Butterfly Boat Club; andhe did not withhold from the Zephyr the credit which was justly due.Tony was a hero, and his fame extended for many miles around.
Mr. Walker and his lady, who had been rescued from the river, visitedCaptain Sedley and the Weston family the next day. I need not tell myyoung readers how earnest he was in the expression of his admiration andgratitude. He was a wealthy merchant, and resided in a neighboring town.Being as warm-hearted and generous as he was just and discriminating, itwas quite natural that he should give his feelings expression in somesubstantial token of his gratitude.
Before he left Rippleton, a check for five hundred dollars was placed inthe hands of George Weston, with directions to give four hundred of itto the Butterfly, and one hundred to the Zephyr. In the division of theButterfly's share, Mr. Walker desired that one hundred dollars should begiven to Tony, and twenty-five dollars apiece to the crew; consenting,however, to let the whole sum be common property if the club desired.
This liberality was certainly munificent, princely; but Mr. Walker'swealth was quite sufficient to enable him to gratify his generousimpulses. Tony said he felt a little "ticklish" about taking it, atfirst; but George assured him that Mr. Walker would feel hurt if he didnot, and he concluded to accept it.
"But what shall we do with it, George?" asked the young hero, who wasnot a little embarrassed by the possession of so much money.
"That is for you to decide."
"What _can_ we do with it?"
"It will buy heaps of candy," suggested George, with a smile.
"Candy!" said Tony, contemptuously.
"You can make a fund of it if you like."
"What for?"
"For any purpose you may wish. By and by, you may want money forsomething."
"What shall we do with it?"
"Put it in the Savings Bank."
"But the next thing is, shall we divide it? or let it remain as theproperty of the club? I suppose the fellows will all do just as I do."
"Perhaps the money would do the parents of some of them a great deal ofgood."
"I think very likely; we will let them vote upon it. Here comes Frank. Iwonder what they are going to do with theirs."
"How do you do, Tony? I have come over to talk with you about the race.Next Wednesday is the day, you know."
"I had forgotten all about the race in the excitement of the bridgeaffair."
"I don't wonder."
"What are you going to do with your money, Frank?" asked Tony. "Yourclub met last evening, I believe."
"We voted to buy some philosophical apparatus with it."
"Good! Did Tim Bunker vote for that?"
"He didn't vote at all. He wanted the money divided; but the vote wasunanimous for spending it as I said. By the way, Mr. Walker wasliberal--wasn't he?"
"Princely. He ought to have given you more and us less, though."
"No; he did perfectly right. We did not deserve even what we got."
"Just like you! But come into the club room--Butterfly Hall--and we willfix things for the race."
Frank and Tony discussed the details of the race, and at the end of anhour everything was arranged to the satisfaction of both. There was nodifference of opinion except as to the length of the race. Tony, thoughtthat twice up and down the lake, making an eight-mile race, would bebest; but Frank felt sure that it was too long, and that it would tirethe boys too much. So it was finally agreed that they should pull onlyonce up and down, making about four miles.
As the Butterfly club were to meet that evening, Frank departed earlierthan he otherwise would have done, so as not to be considered anintruder.
Tony's club were in high spirits that evening. The praise bestowed uponthem had created a strong feeling of self-reliance in their minds.Their discipline had passed through a severe ordeal, and it waspronounced perfectly satisfactory by all concerned. They had done hardwork, and done it well. Their success was the result of their excellentdiscipline. It would have been in vain that they had as good a commanderas Tony, if promptness and obedience had been wanting.
"Now, boys," said Tony, when he had called the meeting to order, "wehave arranged all the details of the race, and if you like, I will tellyou about it."
"Tell us," said several.
The chairman proceeded to give them the substance of his conversationwith the coxswain of the Zephyr; and the rules they had adopted were ofcourse agreed to by all present.
The Butterfly boys, elated with the results of the bridge affair, wereconfident that they should win the race. Tony, however, was not sosanguine. He knew, better than they, how skilful Frank was; and, if theZephyr had not labored under the disadvantage of having a new member, hewould have been sure of being beaten.
"There is another subject which comes up for consideration to-night--Imean the gift of Mr. Walker. He has left it so that it may be dividedamong us, or held and used as common property," continued Tony.
The boys looked at each other, as if to pry into the thoughts of theirneighbors. There was a long silence, and it was in vain that Tony calledfor the opinions of the members; they did not seem to have any opinionson the subject.
"We will do just as you say, Mr. Chairman," said Little Paul.
"So we will," added Henry Brown.
"I shall not say," replied Tony. "It is a matter for you to decide.George says we can put it in the Savings Bank, if we don't divide it,and keep it till we find a use for it. Perhaps, though, some of yourparents may want it. If they do, we had better give each his share."
"Let us put it in the Savings Bank," said Dick Chester.
But Henry Brown looked at Little Paul, whose father was a very poor man,and had not been able to work for several months.
"Perhaps we had better divide it," suggested he.
"If you agree to divide it, each member shall have a thirteenth part ofthe whole four hundred dollars," added Tony.
"That wouldn't be right," replied Little Paul. "He gave a hundred toyou; and certainly you are better entitled to a hundred than we are to apenny apiece."
"I will not take more than my share."
"We will only take what Mr. Walker awarded us," said Henry.
"That we won't," added several members.
"No!" shouted the whole club.
"But you _shall_, my lads," said Tony, stoutly. "George and I haveagreed to that."
"But the commander of the ship ought to have a bigger share than thecrew; besides, what could we have done without you?" argued Little Paul.
"And what could I have done without you?"
"It was your skill and courage, as the Mercury says, which did thebusiness."
"It was your prompt obedience that crowned our labors with success. Itell you, boys, it is just as broad as it is long. The money shall beequally divided."
"Then we won't divide it," said Henry Brown.
"Very well; I will agree to that. We shall be equal owners then,"replied Tony, with a smile of triumph; for in either case his point wasgained.
"But what shall we do with it? Four hundred dollars is a heap of money.What's the use of saving it up without having some idea of what we meanto do with it?"
"We can put it to a dozen uses."
"What, for instance?"
"Why, enlarging our library; buying an apparatus, as the Zephyrs aregoing to do; giving it to the poor," replied Tony. "But I was thinkingof something before the meeting."
The boys all looked at the chairman with inquiring glances.
"Out with it," said several of them.
"There are lots of fellows round here who would like to get into a boatclub."
"More than twenty," added Little Paul.
"We have money enough to buy a
nother boat."
"Hurrah!" exclaimed several of the members, jumping out of their chairsin the excitement of the moment. "Let us buy another boat!"
"What shall we call her?" added Dick Chestor.
Several of the boys began to exercise their minds on this importantquestion, without devoting any more attention to the propriety or thepracticability of procuring another boat. That question was regarded asalready settled.
"Ay, what shall we call her?" repeated Joseph Hooper.
"What do you say to the 'Lily?'"
"The 'Water Sprite?'"
"The 'Go-ahead?'"
"Name her after Mr. Walker."
"No; after Tony Weston."
"You are counting the chickens before they are hatched," added Tony,laughing heartily.
"The--the--the 'Red Rover,'" said Joseph Hooper.
"That's too piratical," replied Little Paul.
"I wouldn't say anything about the name at present," suggested Tony.
"Wouldn't it be fine, though, to have three boats on the lake?"exclaimed Henry.
"Glorious! A race with three boats!"
"Who would be coxswain of the new boat?"
"Fred Harper," said little Paul. "The fellows say he is almost as goodas Frank Sedley."
"If we had another boat we should want a commodore," continued Tony."And I was thinking, if we got another, that Frank would be thecommodore, and command the fleet. Then there would be a coxswain to eachboat besides."
"That would be first rate."
"Let us have the other boat."
"Hurrah! so I say."
"I suppose we could buy two six-oar boats for our money," added Tony.
"And have four in the fleet?"
"Perhaps three four-oar boats."
"Five boats in the fleet! That would be a glorious squadron!"
The boys could hardly repress the delight which these air castlesexcited, and several of them kept jumping up and down, they were sonervous and so elated.
"Come, Tony, let us settle the business, and order the boats at once,"said Dick Chester.
"We had better think a while of it. Something else may turn up whichwill suit us even better than the fleet. Of course we must consultCaptain Sedley and George before we do anything," replied Tony.
"They will be willing."
"Perhaps they will, and perhaps they won't."
"I know they will," said Dick.
"We will consult them, at any rate. It is necessary to take a voteconcerning the division of the money."
Of course the club voted not to divide; and it was decided that themoney should remain in the hands of George Weston until the fleetquestion should be settled.
"Now, boys," said Tony, "next Monday is town meeting day, and schooldon't keep. We will meet at nine o'clock and practise for the race,which comes off on Wednesday afternoon, at three o'clock. Let everyfellow be on hand in season."
The club adjourned, and the boys went off in little parties, discussingthe exciting topic of a fleet of five boats, under the command ofCommodore Frank Sedley.