Chapter 15

EARLY IN THE MORNING.

The skipper of the Goldwing had an excellent appetite, and the other members of the club had regained theirs by this time.

Fortunately they had plenty of provisions, for there was nothing for them to do but eat during the rest of the day. It continued to blow as fresh as it had since the middle of the forenoon till dark.

Dory thought it would abate at night, but there were no signs of a change. The party were pretty thoroughly tired out after the labor and the excitement of the day. The boys gaped until they had nearly thrown their jaws out of joint.

There was room enough in the cabin for four of the club,--two in the berths, and two on the floor between them. Dory decided to sleep in the standing-room, where he was most likely to be waked by any change in the position of the schooner. By eight o'clock all hands were fast asleep. Half of them had nothing better than "the soft side of a board" to sleep on, but they were too tired to need beds of down.

The skipper was the most wakeful sleeper in the party, but he slept for several hours without waking. When he did wake, he sprang to his feet as if conscious that he had neglected his duty as a faithful skipper. He had no idea of what time it was when he sprang to his feet. All was still around him, and the Goldwing appeared to be in precisely the position he had left her when he turned in.

He could no longer hear the roar of the big waves as they dashed against the south side of the island. The violent wind had subsided, and the lake seemed to be as calm as the dream of an infant.

He looked all about him in the darkness, but there was nothing to demand his attention. His companions were all sleeping, and some of them were snoring, on their hard beds. Dory began to gape when there proved to be no grounds for excitement. He concluded that he could not do any better than finish his night's rest. Taking the most comfortable position he could find in the standing-room, he turned in again, and was soon fast asleep.

When he woke in the morning, it was after sunrise. The rest of the club were still fast asleep. The skipper felt like a new man after his long rest. A gentle breeze was rippling the surface of the lake. It came from the westward, and the promise was that the day would be fine. Without calling his companions, he loosed the sails, and turned out the reefs from the fore and main sails. He laced on the bonnet of the jib, and shipped the short tiller, instead of the long one he had used the day before.

So far he had not seen how the sails set when all spread, and he was interested in his present operation. He hoisted the mainsail. It was not so large but that he could handle the throat and peak halyards at the same time. He was entirely satisfied with the set of this sail. The set of the foresail pleased him equally well.

The anchor-rope was rove through a block made fast near the heel of the bowsprit, so that the anchor could be weighed without any difficulty. He succeeded in getting it up without waking his shipmates, though he took no especial pains to avoid arousing them. They had got up at four o'clock the morning before, and probably had not slept much lest they should oversleep themselves, and lose the excursion to Plattsburgh.

Dory hoisted the jib. He was delighted with the appearance of the Goldwing with all sail set. There was hardly a puff of air behind the island, and it was some time before he got fairly under way. But he enjoyed the sight of the boat so much, that he was in no haste to get home. So far as he knew, his mother supposed that he was still waiting on the table in the cabin of the steamer; and she could not be anxious about him. He had not heard of the loss of the Au Sable, and he had no suspicion that his father was not still piloting her up and down the lake.

After a while he succeeded in getting to the southward of Providence Island, so that he could catch the breeze from across the lake. He got just enough to fill the sails; and this afforded him the opportunity to test the working of the boat after he had shifted the ballast, and changed the position of the foremast. There was hardly wind enough for a fair test, but he was delighted to find that the boat carried a weather helm.

As he went farther out from the land, he got more breeze; and the result was entirely satisfactory. Indeed, he had been practically sure that he could remedy the defect in the working of the Goldwing before he bought her. If he failed to do so, he had thrown his money away; for parties would not employ him if he had an unsafe boat. He intended to invite two or three prominent boatmen to sail with him when he had put the boat in first-rate condition, and get their opinion as to her safety and her sailing qualities.

Dory was so much absorbed in the beautiful appearance of the Goldwing, that he neglected to do what an old sailor is continually doing when afloat. He had not looked about him to see what beside the Goldwing was afloat on the lake. He had headed the boat to the south, so as to pass to the west of Stave Island. He was looking ahead, and dreaming of the future.

In the quiet of the still morning he heard a puffing sound at a distance. He turned to see what it was, and discovered a small steamer about a mile to the westward of him. He had seen a boat in that direction when he came out from behind the island, but he took no notice of her. He had forgotten all about the Missisquoi: he had not even thought to look and see if she was still aground on the Garden Island shoal.

The sight of the little steamer, like a dozen others on the lake, reminded him of his pursuer of the day before. He looked with interest in the direction of Garden Island. The Missisquoi was not there. She had got out of that scrape. Then he noticed that the little steamer in the middle of the lake was headed directly for the Goldwing. She looked just like his late pursuer.

Dory was rather excited at the thought of a continuance of the chase; for with the light breeze he had no chance at all, and he did not like to come in collision with Pearl Hawlinshed. He looked the boat over very carefully. He had often sailed in her, and steered her; but she was too far off for him to be entirely sure in regard to her identity. But he was confident that it was the Missisquoi.

Certainly Pearl Hawlinshed had some very strong motive for continuing the chase a second day. What could he want of him? Dory concluded that he either expected to recover the Goldwing, or that he connected him in some manner with his father. Whatever his motive, Dory did not want to see him.

He was confident that the steamer he saw was the Missisquoi, and that Pearl was still in pursuit of him. He had led the steamer into a trap the day before, and possibly he might do it again. He could at least run into shoal-water, where the Missisquoi could not follow him. He was familiar with the soundings in all parts of the lake, for his father had instructed him in the navigation.

Dory was assured that the wind would freshen as the sun rose higher; but it would make little difference to him how much wind there was by and by, if the steamer overhauled him before it came. He thought he was making about four miles an hour, but the steamer was good for at least six. She had a mile to gain, and that would take her ten minutes. Following out the calculation, Dory thought the steamer would overhaul him in fifteen minutes. In that time he could make a mile.

"Hallo, Dory! You are up and dressed," exclaimed Thad Glovering, thrusting his head out at the cabin-door.

"Dry up, Thad! I am busy now," replied Dory impatiently; for he was in the midst of his calculation of what he should do to avoid the Missisquoi.

"You don't seem to be doing any thing, Dory," added Thad, as his body followed his head out at the door.

"Don't disturb me, please, but call the fellows. I want them in the standing-room, so as to trim the boat, and make her sail better," answered the skipper, as he went on with his calculation.

He had time to make only a mile before the steamer would be down upon him. He was about abreast of Stave Island now. Less than a mile south of it were two ledges, on which the water was not more than six feet deep. Going to the southward, vessels must keep Juniper Light open to the westward of Colchester Reef Light, in order to avoid these reefs. There were no buoys on them, for they lay outside of any usual course of vessels bound up and down the lake.

The experience of the Missisquoi in getting aground the day before would render her pilot wary about following the Goldwing. The two reefs were half a mile apart; and the pursuer must either keep away from them, or run the risk of getting aground on one of them. The Goldwing could go over either of them in perfect safety, for she drew only three feet with her board up.

Dory was satisfied with his calculation, and he was reasonably confident that the Missisquoi would not get within a quarter of a mile of the Goldwing; but, if this expedient failed, he had another to which he intended to resort.

The other members of the club had come out into the standing-room, and seated themselves as they had been required to do the day before. They were all wide awake; but they had been cautioned by Thad not to disturb the skipper, and they were silent till he spoke to them.

"You have come to life again, fellows," said he when he had fully arranged his plan.

"So have you, Dory," replied Corny. "Thad said we were not to speak to you, or we should bust your calculations. We all thought you had the blues."

"I suppose you know the steamer that is following the Goldwing," replied Dory. "It is the Missisquoi, and she is after us again to-day. I have been thinking how we should keep out of her way."

"How are you going to do it?" asked Corny. "We may enjoy the fun if we know something about it."

The skipper explained his plan in full, and his companions were quite interested in it. There was no chance for a race while only a four-knot breeze favored the Goldwing. With a good stiff breeze the skipper believed he could beat the steamer; but, in the absence of such a wind, he must resort to strategy. But strategy was quite as exciting to his companions as a race. It afforded the opportunity for one craft to come out better than the other.

The wind was sensibly freshening, but the Goldwing did not need any more wind just then. She was almost up with Stave Island Ledge, and her skipper was disposed to wait and see what his pursuer would do. As he approached the dangerous reef,--dangerous to any craft drawing more than five feet,--he started his sheets, and stood to the eastward of the rocks.

The Missisquoi was within an eighth of a mile of the Goldwing, and the skipper saw that Captain Vesey was at the wheel. He seemed to know about the reef, and sheered off. Probably he had discovered by this time that Pearl Hawlinshed knew even less than he did about the difficulties of navigation in Lake Champlain.