by Oliver Optic
CHAPTER X.
THE MISSISQUOI IN PURSUIT.
Of course Dory Dornwood had no suspicion of what had transpired on shoresince he departed in the Goldwing. The hunger of the other members ofthe club reminded him that he might make a long passage to Burlington,or that he might be compelled to lie at anchor for a whole day before itwas safe to cross the lake in the present state of the weather. He mightbe hungry himself as well as his companions, and he had not thought tolay in a stock of provisions for the voyage.
For this reason he was all the more willing to land at Plattsburgh. Hehoisted the reefed mainsail again, and directed a couple of the party toget up the anchor. The Goldwing darted off at a furious rate, as she hadbefore, when the fresh breeze filled her sails. She took the wind on herquarter at first; but Dory soon braced her up as she rounded thesoutherly beacon at the end of the breakwater, and headed the boat forthe main shore.
"How does she work now, Dory?" asked Thad when the boat was on hercourse. "Does she carry a lee helm?"
"Not at all. It takes all my strength to keep her from luffing up,"replied the skipper.
"There's another new word," added Corny Minkfield. "What in the worlddoes 'luffing up' mean?"
"'To luff' is to come into the wind. I mean by that, to turn the head ofthe boat in the direction from which the wind comes," replied Dory. "Butwhat she does under her present sail don't settle the question. I tookthe bonnet off the jib before I left the wharf this morning."
"The bonnet!" shouted Corny. "Does the boat wear a bonnet?"
"Of course she does. You never made the mistake of putting a boat in themasculine gender. You always say 'she' in speaking of a boat; and ofcourse she wears a bonnet when she goes out."
"But when the weather is bad you take the bonnet off; and that is notthe way the ladies do," suggested Thad.
"In rough weather the bonnet makes it all the rougher," added Dory. "Thebonnet is a continuation of the jib, laced to the lower part of thesail. Taking off the bonnet amounts to the same thing as reefing thesail."
"Reefing the sail is taking in a part of the sheet by tying it up in afold," said Nat Long, looking very wise.
"Not much!" answered the skipper.
"That's what my father told me; and he is a deck-hand on board of theChamplain," persisted Nat.
"I don't believe he said any thing of the kind, Nat. Taking up a part ofthe sheet by tying it into a fold would be a queer operation. Do you runaway with the idea that the jib is a sheet?"
"I don't run away with the idea; but of course a sail is a sheet."
"Not at all. This is a sheet," answered Dory, raising the main sheet,the end of which he held in his left hand, while he steered with hisright.
"How can that be a sheet when it is a rope?" demanded Nat incredulously.
"You are thinking of the sheets between which you sleep. In a boat allsheets are ropes. This is the main sheet, because it is fastened to themain boom,--the stick at the lower part of the sail. This is the jibsheet," continued Dory, indicating the rope attached to the lower partof the jib, which led aft into the standing-room, where the helmsmancould haul it in or let it off as occasion required.
"There is a man hailing us from the shore," said Thad, as PearlHawlinshed called to Dory from the railroad.
"I don't want to see that man," said Dory, recognizing the voice of thedisagreeable man from whom he had fled when he left the wharf.
"Do you know him?" asked Thad.
"I never saw him until this morning. He bid against me for this boat,and he is mad because he didn't get it," replied the skipper. "I thinkhe means to do me mischief if he can, and he can't if I keep out of hisway."
He could not answer any questions without endangering his great secret.He was on the point of tacking when he heard the call. To go up to thewharf would be to fall into the company of Pearl, and he decided not todo it. Instead of coming about, he let off the sheets, and headed theGoldwing to the southward.
"You are going the wrong way, Dory," said Thad.
"I don't care about going on shore at Plattsburgh again, fellows; but wewill get something to eat at Port Jackson," replied Dory, withoutexplaining his reason for not wishing to land at the town.
"But we shall starve to death before you get there," protested Corny."We have not had a mouthful of any thing to eat to-day. Captain Veseysaid we might go with him if we would be on board at five o'clock in themorning, and we had no chance to get any breakfast."
"I am sorry I can't do any thing for you just now; but it is only sixmiles to Port Jackson, and I think we shall be there in about an hour,"replied Dory. "I think the fellow that hailed me is wicked enough to getthis boat away from me if he can; and I don't care about meeting himagain."
The members of the Goldwing Club settled down in the most comfortableplaces they could find. A couple of them took possession of the berthsin the cuddy, and two others stretched themselves on the seats in thestanding-room. They were not so wild as Captain Vesey had reported themto be on the passage from Burlington. They were faint and hungry; for itwas now nearly noon, and the voyagers in the Missisquoi had fasted thegreater part of twenty-four hours.
The Goldwing was under the lee of the land, where there was no sea; butthe wind came in very sharp puffs, as the openings in the shore exposedthe boat to the unsteady blast. But she carried so little sail that shewent along very easily, and showed no more tendency to upset than anywell-built boat would in such puffy weather. The party on board sawnothing in her behavior to warrant the bad reputation she hadestablished.
Three miles brought the boat to Bluff Point; and the shore was soelevated here, that the skipper stood farther out into the lake so thathe might not lose the wind. The Goldwing behaved so well, that Dory wasbeginning to have a great deal of confidence in her, so that he did nothesitate to venture farther from the shore.
The schooner appeared to be making about six miles an hour. Passingbetween Valcour's Island and the main land, the Goldwing arrived atPort Jackson inside of an hour; but, before the boat entered the littlebay on which the port is situated, the boys had another sensation. Doryhad hardly thought of looking astern in the run of the Goldwing downfrom Plattsburgh.
"There's a steamer coming down the same way we did," said Dick Short, ashe rose from his place on the seat, just as the schooner was going intothe port. "It looks just like the Missisquoi."
"It is the Missisquoi," added Thad, after he had surveyed the boat.
"It certainly looks like her," said Dory, who was trying to make outwhat this appearance meant.
His companions had told him the destination of the Missisquoi; and hewas satisfied that she could have no business in this part of the lake,as she was to be used in towing lumber in the north. He had seen thelittle steamer go up to the wharf where the Goldwing lay. He could notget rid of the idea that her present trip to the southward was in someway connected with him, and that Pearl Hawlinshed was on board of her.
But he could not disappoint the hungry clubbists again, and he ran theschooner into the bay. He immediately informed his passengers that hecould remain at the port but a few minutes. He was going up to the storeto obtain provisions for the boat, and would give them something to eatas soon as she was under way again. Then it appeared that only one ofthem had any money,--Corny Minkfield, whose mother had given himpermission to make the trip over to Plattsburgh,--and he had only half adollar.
Corny went with Dory to the store. They bought a large supply of breadand crackers, a salt fish, and finally the storekeeper offered to partwith a ham he had cooked for the use of his own family. Half a smallcheese was added to the stock of provisions, which Dory paid for, andthey hastened back to the wharf.
"Have you seen any thing of that steamer?" asked Dory, as he came withinhailing distance of his companions.
"She has not shown herself yet," replied Thad.
"We have been gone longer than I intended, for the boiled ham took moretime than all the rest of the things," replied Dory, a
s he and Cornydeposited their joint burden on the forward deck of the Goldwing. "TheMissisquoi was this side of Crab Island when I saw her, and she can't befar off."
"What do we care for the Missisquoi now?" asked Corny.
"Cast off that bow line, Dick Short," added Dory, without answering thequestion.
The skipper shoved the schooner off from the wharf, and told Dick tohoist the jib. Heading the Goldwing to the eastward, Dory stood out ofthe harbor. The boat was hardly under way before the Missisquoi put inan appearance at the northern entrance of the bay. Dory kept on hiscourse after he had calculated the point at which the steamer was likelyto come nearest to him.
"There she is!" exclaimed several of the club in the same breath. "Sheis striking in ahead of us."
The Missisquoi was less than a quarter of a mile from the Goldwing. Itcould plainly be seen that there were two men in her pilot-house; andDory was confident that Pearl Hawlinshed was one of them. His intentionswere certainly very serious if he had gone to the expense of hiring asteamer to chase him. Probably he had found some way to break up thesale of the Goldwing. But, whatever his mission, the skipper did notwant to see him. He was too closely connected with the secret of thenight before to come any nearer to him. He decided, that, if the son ofhis liberal friend succeeded in "interviewing" him, he would have to runfor it.
"I don't understand what that fellow wants of you, Dory," said CornyMinkfield.
"And I don't understand it any better than you do," replied Dory. "All Ihave to say about it is, that I don't like the looks of the fellow, andI mean to keep out of his way. Pass round the grub, Corny."
Dory thought the food would stop their mouths, and it did. Hisfellow-voyagers asked no more questions, for they were too busy with theprovisions to give attention to any thing else.
As the Goldwing went out from the land, she began to feel the force ofthe wind, and she darted ahead under the influence of the sharp puffs. Afew minutes later the Goldwing passed the bow of the Missisquoi not morethan forty rods from her.