by Oliver Optic
CHAPTER XI.
THE BEGINNING OF THE CHASE.
"Goldwing, ahoy!" shouted Pearl Hawlinshed from the bow of theMissisquoi. "I want you, Dory Dornwood!"
The skipper of the Goldwing decided to take no notice of the dangerousman. The other members of the club were so deeply interested in fillingtheir empty stomachs that they gave no attention to the call of Pearl.The provisions had been taken into the cuddy, and Corny was helping hiscompanions. Those who were not in the cabin were sitting on the floor ofthe standing room, and they could not see the Missisquoi.
"Don't you hear me? I say, I want to see you, Dory Dornwood!" shoutedPearl again with all his might.
Dory could see that those in charge of the Missisquoi were not managingthe chase very well. Instead of steering the steamer to a point aheadof the Goldwing, Captain Vesey had run her directly for her. If theschooner had come to when directed to do so, as the captain of herevidently expected, it would have been all right. As it was, theGoldwing had made the eighth of a mile by the blunder.
Dory had practically intimated to his pursuer, that, if he wanted him,he must come after him. He knew that the steamer could not make morethan eight miles an hour at her best, and she was not likely to do aswell as this in the heavy sea of the lake out from the shore. Theskipper of the Goldwing did not expect to outsail the Missisquoi underhis present short sail.
When Pearl saw that Dory had no intention of coming to and waiting forhim to go on board of the schooner, he called to Captain Vesey to followthe Goldwing. Instead of doing so, he rang his bell to stop the engine.Dory could not hear what passed between the captain and his passenger;but he was aware that an animated discussion was in progress on board ofthe steamer.
The Goldwing was certainly behaving very well for a boat with such a badreputation. Dory had been gaining confidence in her ability everymoment of the time since she left the breakwater. It was evident to himthat sailing on the wind was her weak point, or rather her dangerousone. But she had the wind on her port quarter at present; and Dory didnot care to run her directly before the wind, as he would have beenobliged to do if he had taken a direct course for Burlington.
The skipper no longer doubted the ability of the Goldwing to cross thelake, violent as the sea was at a distance from the shore. He headed herfor Garden Island, nearly half a mile south of Valcour's Island, whichsheltered the boat from the full force of the strong wind. From GardenIsland to Providence Island, off the south-western extremity of SouthHero, it was only two miles and a half. Not more than half of thisdistance would be through the roughest water; for Valcour's sheltered aconsiderable portion of the course.
Dory wondered what the discussion between the captain and the passengerof the Missisquoi was all about. He judged that the master of thesteamer was not willing to follow the Goldwing any farther. He hopedthey would continue the dispute for a while longer. If they did, heshould be out of their reach in a short time; for he was confident theschooner was making at least six miles an hour.
But the skipper was not to be fully gratified; for the next time helooked about at the steamer, she was under way again, and with her bowpointed to the Goldwing. She was half a mile astern of the schooner, andthis was a considerable distance for her to gain. But Dory began to feelthe excitement of the race, for it was evident that there was to be arace.
The high land at the southern end of Valcour's Island was making italtogether too mild for the Goldwing, for the Missisquoi was evidentlygaining very rapidly upon her. Dory started the sheets, and ran to thesouthward, where he could get more wind. The steamer promptly changedher course, and followed the schooner. It was plain that Captain Veseyor Pearl Hawlinshed, whichever was managing the steamer, had no idea ofusing any thing like tact or stratagem in the chase. Probably the pilotdid not consider that any thing of the kind was necessary, and that thesteamer ought to overhaul the sailboat simply by outsailing her.
By this time the other members of the Goldwing Club had eaten all theycould, and their occupation became uninteresting. Corny put theprovisions into a locker in the cabin, and there was enough left for twoor three meals more. First one stood up, and then another, until all hadtaken a view of the Missisquoi.
"The steamer is chasing you, Dory," said Thad, as though he had made adiscovery. "She is following us with all her might."
"I know it," replied Dory, looking behind him at the steamer.
"What is she chasing us for?" asked Corny.
"She wants to catch us," added Dory.
"Is it to find out whether she can beat the Goldwing?" asked Nat. "She'sa steamer, and she ought to beat her every time."
"Perhaps she ought to, but I don't intend that she shall."
"You don't expect to run away from a steamer, do you, Dory?" said DickShort.
"I don't expect to let her catch us; but it will depend upon how fastthat steamer can go," added Dory.
"But what does she want to catch us for, Dory?" persisted Corny,repeating the question he had put before.
"I thought I told you about it. The man in the bow wanted to buy theGoldwing. I bid over him, and got the boat. That made him mad. This isall I know about the reason for his chasing us. He is a wicked fellow,and I think he means to do me harm. All I want to do is to keep out ofhis way," replied Dory. "I don't know what he wants of me, and you arejust as wise as I am. We won't say any thing more about that matter."
"Of course he will catch you," added Thad. "Who ever heard of such athing as a sailboat running away from a steamer?"
"No matter whether we ever heard of such a thing or not, we are going totry it now," replied Dory. "But I can't have you fellows flying aboutall over the boat any longer. Two of you sit on each side of me, and Ithink there will be fun in this thing before we get through with it."
"All right, Dory: you are the captain of this ship, and we will do justwhat you say," replied Corny.
The boys disposed of themselves as the skipper directed, and sat asstill as they could, which was not saying much. But Dory was satisfiedthat they would keep still enough as soon as the boat got a little moreto the eastward, where she would feel the full force of the strongbreeze.
"She is gaining on us, Dory," said Thad; and he and his companions werewatching the Missisquoi all the time. They were beginning to get excitedover the race, though they seemed to be sure that it would soon come toan end by the steamer overtaking the Goldwing.
"I expect her to gain on us while we are here in still water; but Ithink she will roll a great deal more than the Goldwing when we get outinto the lake," replied Dory.
"Creation! didn't she roll coming over from Burlington?" exclaimedCorny. "I thought she was going to roll clear over. Mr. Button theengineer said Captain Vesey did not know how to handle her."
"Don't you expect that the Goldwing will roll in the big waves?" askedThad.
"Of course she will; but she sits lighter on the water than thatsteamer, and she won't dive into the waves so deep. But wait, and weshall soon see what we can do," replied Dory. "You fellows have eatenall you can, and I have not had any thing since my breakfast early thismorning."
"I will steer for you, Dory, while you eat your dinner," proposed Corny.
"Did you ever steer a sailboat, Corny?" asked Dory with a smile.
"I never did; but I think I can do it," replied the volunteer.
"I would rather have you make a beginning when it don't blow quite sohard. If the Goldwing is going to upset, I want to know how it is done."
No one in the party had ever sailed a boat, and the skipper was notwilling to resign the helm to any of them. At his request Corny broughthim something to eat, and he disposed of it while he kept his place atthe helm. By the time he had finished his first slice of ham, and acorresponding portion of bread and cheese, the Goldwing was up withGarden Island. The skipper, for his own purposes, had run to the west ofit. Although he felt like disposing of another slice of ham, he was toomuch interested in his occupation to attend further to the question ofrations
just then.
Dory did not tell his companions what he had been thinking about; but hehoped to leave the Missisquoi at this point, or to get a better start ofher. He preferred to explain his plan after he had carried it out if itwere a success, or to keep silent if it were a failure. He watched theMissisquoi very closely, for his own movements would depend upon hers.There was plenty of water to the northward of the island, but there wasa shoal to the southward.
If the captain of the steamer had been wise, if he had had his eyesopen, he would have kept to the eastward; but he followed directly inthe wake of the Goldwing, and was within less than a quarter of a mileof her.
"Do you know how much water the Missisquoi draws, Thad?" asked Dory, asthe Goldwing came up with the island.
"I heard Captain Vesey say that she drew six feet when she had her coalin," replied Thad.
"I heard him say so when we were off Apple-Tree Shoal," added Corny. "Iasked him why he didn't go close up to the buoy; and he said there wasnot more than six feet of water on the shoal, and the boat might touchbottom."
"I thought she didn't draw over five feet. If she draws six, so much thebetter," added Dory.
"Why is it so much the better, Dory?" asked Thad.
"Hold on all, and don't ask any more questions!" said Dory, laughing. "Ihave business on my hands just now, and I will tell you all about it inabout ten minutes."
The skipper had gybed the boat under the lee of Valcour's; but the windwas too fresh where he was now to repeat the manoeuvre. It was a galein this part of the lake, and the Goldwing worked very lively.
"Corny, I want you to handle that jib-sheet," said he when he was readyfor his next move.
"But I don't know how," pleaded Corny.
"Do what I tell you, and do it in a hurry when I give the word. This isthe jib-sheet, fast to this cleat. When I shift the helm, the jib willshake. Haul in upon it as fast as you can, and get all you can, and keepit when you get it. I shall do the same with the main-sheet."
The skipper put the helm down.