CHAPTER V.

A QUESTION OF AUTHORITY.

There was no difficulty in sailing the Goldwing up the lake, any more than there had been down the lake. Though Ash Burton had never steered with a wheel before, he had observed Tom Topover while he was at the helm, and he was soon familiar with its management. The late captain was greatly annoyed to see the sloop going along so well in the direction in which she would not go before; but Ash was too much delighted with his occupation to think of indulging in any triumphant expressions, and he said nothing. Like most boys who live near the water, he was ambitious to become a boatman, though his experience had been very limited.

"The wind is better now than it was when I had her," said Tom, after he had watched the motion of the sloop for a time. "She goes along very well now."

"The wind is exactly the same now as it was before," added Sam Spottwood, when he saw that the new skipper made no reply to this remark. "You can see the vane on Captain Gildrock's stable, and it points exactly to the west as it has all day."

"I don't care nothin' about the vane, I say the wind is better than it was when I was steering her," returned Tom rather sharply. "You could see for yourself that she wouldn't go this way when I had her."

"That was only because you did not know how to handle her, and Ash does," added Sam; and one of the original Topovers would hardly have ventured to make such a remark.

"If you say that again, I will bat you over the head, Sam Spottwood," retorted Tom, shaking his head.

"I have said it once, and that is enough," continued Sam, who had not yet been subdued by a thrashing.

"We are almost over to the wharf," interposed Ash, who wished to prevent a quarrel. "The only way to get to the grounds from the pier is through the boat-house, and the doors are all locked. I did not think of it before, but we can't land there."

"We don't want to land there or anywhere else yet a while," growled Tom, for the success of Ash in handling the sloop had reduced him to a very bad humor.

"You don't mean to use this boat any longer, do you?" asked the new skipper.

"If you can make her go, I can," answered the Topover sourly; "and I'm going to do it."

"We can land at the old wharf," continued Ash, as he looked about him without heeding the remark of the leader of the gang.

"We don't land at the old wharf or any other," added Tom. "I'm going to sail this boat for an hour or two before I go on shore."

"You can't sail her: you don't know any more about a boat than a goose!" exclaimed Sam imprudently, though he spoke the literal truth.

"Say that again, Sam Spottwood!" blustered Tom, doubling his right fist, and looking very savagely at the speaker.

"You are not deaf, and you heard what I said. It's no use for me to say it again," replied Sam.

"You dassent say it again!"

"We took this boat to get ashore in after we had been cast away, and I don't believe in using her any more than is necessary," said Sam, deeming it wise to change the subject.

"I don't let any fellow tell me that I can't handle a boat," replied Tom.

"I said it, and I shall not take it back, for it is true; and you proved it, Tom Topover," returned Sam boldly, for neither he nor Ash had ever submitted to the bullying of the bravo, though they had thus far escaped a fight.

But Tom had a feeling that either of them would fight, and he had always been obliging enough to stop short of a blow.

Ash Burton was delighted with the occupation of steering the boat, she worked so prettily; and he was sorry when she approached the landing. He had been on the point of proposing another turn around the lake, when his predecessor in office announced his determination to sail the boat himself. This put a new aspect upon the business of using a boat borrowed without leave. All his manly virtue came back to him, and he resolved not to remain any longer in the boat if Tom was to sail her.

By this time the Goldwing was not more than a hundred feet from the wharf, and it was time to decide what should be done. If he went to the wharf, the party would be no better off than on board of the sloop, for they could not get away from it without climbing over the boat-house. On the other hand, if the present skipper came about, Tom Topover would insist upon taking the helm. But the course of the yacht must be changed at once, or she would run into the wharf.

Ash Burton put the helm hard down at a venture, and without waiting to decide the main question. Things looked stormy ahead to him. The sloop promptly came up to the wind, and the boom went over in readiness for the other tack. It would not take more than a minute or two for the lively craft to reach the old wharf. Ash realized that he was still the captain, and by the consent of Tom. He headed for the landing-place he had chosen.

The wind was blowing squarely upon the old wharf, which made it very difficult for an inexperienced skipper to bring the boat alongside of it. The structure was low enough to allow the boom to swing out over it, and thus spill the sail as the craft came up to it; but the manœuvre requires skill, and the new skipper was not confident enough in his own powers to undertake it. He chose a safer way; and when he came up with the wharf, he threw the sloop up into the wind, intending to lower the sail and let her fall off till she came to the landing-place.

He called Sam Spottwood, and pointed out to him the halyards. Tom was busy about something else just then, and did not notice what the skipper was saying. At the right moment, Ash put the helm down, and when the sail began to shake, he shouted to Sam, who had returned to the forecastle.

"Let go!" was his order, and the hand addressed understood him.

The halyards were both cast off; and the sail came down, aided by Sam, with a rush.

"What are you about, Ash Burton?" demanded Tom Topover, as the canvas came down on his head, and filled him with consternation, for he thought something had broken. "What's the matter now?"

"Nothing at all," replied the skipper pleasantly. "Stand by with the boat-hook, Sam."

"What do you want with a boat-hook?" asked Tom, who had been studying the situation with a view to sailing the boat himself again.

"Fend off, Sam," added the captain. "We don't want to strike the wharf too hard: it might injure the boat."

"We don't want to strike it at all!" blustered Tom, springing to his feet, and taking in the new order of things at a glance. "Is the sail broke, that made it come down?"

"Nothing is the matter with it, so far as I know," replied Ash.

"What made it come down, then?"

"Because I ordered Sam to let go the halyards, and he did as I told him."

"You told him to let down the sail?" demanded Tom.

"Of course I did: if I hadn't, the boat might have been smashed against the wharf," Ash explained.

"What did you come near the wharf for?" growled Tom.

"Fend off, Sam," added the skipper.

By this time the Goldwing was so near that the wharf could be reached with the boat-hook, and Sam fastened to it. He eased off the boat so that she came alongside without any crash. The sail was in the standing-room, and there was no pressure on her, so that she behaved like a lamb. Ash Burton, seeing that his mission on board was completed, went forward to join his friend and crony.

"You did this on purpose!" stormed Tom, when he realized the situation.

"Of course I did," replied Ash, with abundant good-nature, as he had carried his point.

"What did you bring us in here for? Who told you to do it?" demanded Tom.

"As I was the captain of this craft, I did not take any orders from any one. Wasn't I the skipper, with your consent, till we came to the wharf?" asked Ash.

"Didn't I say I wanted to sail her myself?"

"I don't care what you said: I was the captain, and I have brought the boat to the wharf."

It looked as though there were going to be a storm, and Ash, without hurrying himself, stepped on the wharf. He was followed by Sam, the four original Topovers remaining in the standing-room. Their leader, though no process of reason could convince him against his inclination, was nonplussed at the argument of the retiring skipper.

Just at that moment the sound of a sharp whistle came across the little lake. It was followed by a succession of shouts, and all the party looked in the direction from which the sounds came. On the opposite shore stood half a dozen boys, who proved to be the rest of the Topover gang. Some of them were among the new recruits to the group who ran together, and were inclined to think more of Ash and Sam than of the veritable leader. Others were original associates of those in the boat, though of a milder type of rascality.

"There's the rest of our fellows!" exclaimed Tom, willing to dodge the question of authority which had just come up.

"Come over here, and give us a sail!" yelled one of the party over in the grove, loud enough to be understood.

"Where are you going now, Ash?" asked Tom, in the mildest tone he could command.

"The fun for to-day is all over, and we may as well go home," replied the last skipper.

"We are going to take a little sail in this boat now that we have her, and there is plenty of fun ahead," continued Tom. "Won't you go with us?"

"You don't know how to handle the boat, and I won't go in her with you for skipper," interposed Sam Spottwood, before Ash had time to reply. "You came very near upsetting us once or twice, and I don't risk my head with you."

"I can handle the boat as well as Ash can," answered Tom, but his manner was now adapted to carrying his point. "We might as well have a sail as go home without one. Captain Gildrock is away in the Sylph, and he won't be back till dark. Before that time we will put the boat back where we found her, and no one will be the wiser for the fun we have had."

"You are more likely to leave her on the bottom of the lake than you are to put her back at her moorings," returned Sam.

Nim Splugger and Kidd Digfield then began to talk in a low tone to their leader. They had sense enough to see that Tom could not handle the boat, and very likely they feared that the prediction of Sam Spottwood would be verified.