CHAPTER XXIV. A TRICK OF THE ENEMY.

The next port was Priam, eight miles distant; and the _Ucayga_ dashed merrily on her way, seeming to feel and rejoice in the responsibility which was imposed upon her. Certainly she was doing all that was expected of her. We were approaching the _Ruoara_; for that was the name of the old boat, though it was a misnomer now to her, for she did not deign to visit the town after which she was called. She was making her best time, which, however, was very poor time, compared with the new boat. Her captain was evidently hurrying her all he could. I made the signal with the steam-whistle, to indicate that the _Ucayga_ intended to pass her on the port hand.

I was not a little startled to see her put her helm to starboard, and crowd over upon our track, as though she intended to bother us. I took the wheel with Van Wolter, and when she had forced herself in ahead of us, I sounded the whistle to go on the starboard hand of her.

“Give her a wide berth,” said I to my companion.

“I reckon we can hit as hard as she can,” chuckled the mate.

“But we won’t hit at all, either hard or soft,” I added.

“She has put her helm to port, as though she did not mean to let us pass her.”

“She can’t help herself,” I answered, as I crowded the helm over, so as to give her a wide berth.

By this time we were abreast of her, and the old tub was so clumsy that she found it impossible to crowd us any further. She had come up so that we could recognize faces on board of her. Near the wheel-house stood the major and Tommy, looking as ugly as they conveniently could look. They would have sunk us in the deep waters of the lake if they could. I was not disposed to irritate them; for I knew how miserably they felt, as they gazed upon our crowded decks, and as they saw our palatial craft sweeping swiftly by them. It did not appear that the _Ruoara_ had more than forty or fifty passengers.

“We can afford to be polite,” said I to Waddie. “We will give them the compliments of the day as we pass.”

“Don’t vex them,” replied Waddie.

“If they wish to take a common civility as an insult, they may. On deck, there!” I cried to the hands forward. “Stand by, and dip the ensign and the jack!”

Two of the crew promptly obeyed my order. The ensign at the stern, and the jack at the bow, were dipped three times, just as we came abreast of the _Ruoara_. Our passengers were disposed to be exceedingly good-natured, and before I was aware of their purpose, they were engaged in giving three cheers, and in demonstrating with hats, handkerchiefs, and other articles. Not a sign of acknowledgment was made by the old boat, and I am afraid that the magnate of Middleport did not feel as happy as the people in our boat. We passed her, and soon left her far behind.

We made our landings at the other ports of the lake, creating no little excitement by our unexpected appearance. We took all the passengers and freight that were waiting for a passage, leaving nothing for the old boat, for the first-comer always carried off the prize. Promptly on the time I had marked down on my program, the _Ucayga_ entered the narrow river on which Hitaca is located. We whistled with tremendous vigor to inform the people of the place of our arrival, for I was very anxious that Colonel Wimpleton should be apprised of our approach.

Van Wolter was perfectly at home in the navigation of this river, and piloted the boat, without any delay, to the broad lagoon which forms the harbor of the town. It was just half-past seven when the bow line was thrown on shore, and in a few moments more the steamer was fast to the wharf. Our approach had been heralded through the town, and the landing-place was crowded with vehicles, which had come down to convey our passengers to the hotels, or to their homes. With them had come a goodly delegation of the solid men of Hitaca, as well as the miscellaneous rabble which always waits upon the advent of any new sensation.

Almost the first person I recognized on the wharf, from my position on the hurricane-deck, was Colonel Wimpleton. The _Ucayga_ had been discovered and identified when miles down the lake, and her owner would have learned of her coming, even if he had not been engaged with the steamboat-builder on the creek near the wharf. I looked at him with interest, for though we had achieved a triumphant success, we had acted without his sanction, and even without his knowledge.

The moment the boat touched the wharf, the colonel rushed on board and hastened up to the place where he had seen Waddie and me. He looked as though he was laboring under some excitement, but I had yet to learn whether he was angry or not. Certainly he did not look very gentle; but then his astonishment at seeing the _Ucayga_ at Hitaca was a sufficient explanation of his troubled aspect.

“What does all this mean, Wolf?” he demanded, rather sharply; but this was his habit.

“If any one is to blame, I am the one, for I told Wolf to run the boat to this place to-day,” interposed Waddie.

“But what are you here for?”

“We were compelled to come, sir,” I replied. “The action of the railroad line left us no other course. If you will walk into my room, sir, I will explain the whole matter; and I hope it will prove satisfactory to you.”

“But this is a very strange movement on your part; and without a word from me,” said Colonel Wimpleton, as I led the way into my stateroom. “You have broken up your trips to Centreport, and there will be a howl of indignation there when I return.”

“Not at all, sir. We shall run every trip from Centreport to Ucayga, as usual.”

“Well, explain yourself,” continued the magnate impatiently. “Does the boat need repairs, that you have brought her up here?”

“No, sir; she is in good order in every respect. This morning, Major Toppleton made his next move, and we have not had a single through passenger on the down trips to-day. As I supposed he would do, he ordered his boat not to go to Centreport until after our steamer had started. He took his yacht and went over to Gulfport early this morning, so that the first boat did not touch on our side of the lake till the _Ucayga_ had sailed.”

“That’s one of his tricks.”

“Well, sir, I don’t know that I blame him. He means business, and he meant to keep all the through passengers. At Ucayga, to-day, he and Tommy crowed over me, and defied me to do anything I pleased. Now, sir, if you look at my time-table, you will see that we can, by hard work, make two trips a day from Centreport, and one from Hitaca, to and from the foot of the lake.”

The great man put on his spectacles, and proceeded to examine the program which I had placed in his hands. With the explanations I made, he comprehended the whole subject. His countenance lighted up with pleasure as he realized that he had the means in his hands, even now, to win the day in the battle with his great enemy.

“Why didn’t you mention this thing before, Wolf?” he asked.

“I didn’t think of it, sir. When Major Toppleton made his next move, as he called it, I went to work on the problem, to see what could be done. I didn’t like the idea of running from Centreport with only half a freight. I want to make the boat pay.”

“She will pay handsomely under this arrangement. Do you think we need another boat, now?”

“Yes, sir; I do. This boat will be going from half-past six in the morning till half-past seven at night; and the hands will be on duty from five in the morning till nine at night. The boats will all need repairs, and there will be no time to make them.”

“You can have two sets of hands, if you like.”

“But we can make only one trip a day from Hitaca to Ucayga.”

“Well, that is really enough, for the railroad line has very few passengers up in the morning, or down in the afternoon. We shall take the lion’s share of them. This boat-builder has raised his price so much that I have not yet made a contract with him.”

“We can try our plan for a while, if you approve it, sir,” I replied.

“Certainly I approve it.”

Waddie produced the handbills he had procured at Centreport, and a person was employed to distribute them all over Hitaca. Colonel Wimpleton inserted advertisements in the papers, paying liberally for “editorial puffs” of the new line. Everything promised an entire success for the enterprise.

At quarter-past eight, the old _Ruoara_ made her appearance, and moored at the wharf just above the _Ucayga_. It was a meager show of passengers which landed from her, and I could well understand the rage which filled the bosom of the major and his son, as they stood upon the hurricane-deck gazing at the new steamer. I wondered what their next move would be, for it was not in the nature of either of them to submit to the mortifying defeat they had sustained. I could think of nothing that it was possible for them to do to retrieve their misfortune, unless the major built new steamers, or continued the Lake Shore Railroad to Hitaca.

As they did not come near me, I did not devote much attention to a consideration of their case. Having nothing more to do on board, I took a walk on shore with Waddie. I visited a clothing-store, and purchased a suit of blue clothes, which included a frock coat. When I got up the next morning, I put on the new garments, and surveyed myself in the glass. The effect was decidedly satisfactory. I had a glazed cap, for I was not quite ready to don a high hat. As I surveyed myself, I had hopes that I should not again be accused of being a boy.

At quarter of six the _Ruoara_ left the wharf. I could not see more than a dozen passengers on board. I looked in vain for Tommy and his father. Soon after, the people began to pour in upon the decks of the _Ucayga_, to the great satisfaction of Colonel Wimpleton. Our handbills had accomplished their purpose, and our triumph was to be even greater than that of the day before. I was very much excited by the lively scene around me. Carriages and other vehicles were constantly arriving with freight and passengers, and I found enough to do in answering questions and hurrying up the men engaged in loading freight. Five minutes before the hour of starting, the scene became a little more quiet. I stood upon the wharf, looking at the situation, when I saw Major Toppleton and his son, accompanied by a stranger, approaching me.

“There he is!” said Tommy, pointing to me with his finger. “Grab him!”

Hearing the words, I deemed it prudent to hasten on board, for I concluded that this was the sequel to the affair of the day before in Middleport. I hurried to the plank; but before I could reach the deck, the stranger seized me by the collar. I struggled to escape, but the man was too strong for me.

“I have a warrant for your arrest,” said he.

A trick of the enemy!