The Cruise of the Dazzler

The three set off down the street to the brow of the hill, where they looked down upon Union Street, far below and almost under their feet. This they called the Pit, and it was...

It was plain that Fred and Charley had spread the news of their descent into the Pit, and of their battle with the Simpson clan and the Fishes. He heard the nine-o'clock bell wi...

Joe was clumsy in the darkness, not knowing the names of things and the places where they were to be found; but he made fair progress, and when he had tossed the gaskets into th...

All afternoon the _Dazzler_ pitched and rolled at her anchorage, and as evening drew on the wind deceitfully eased down. This, and the example set by French Pete, encouraged the...

"Come! Cast off those gaskets--lively!" 'Frisco Kid ordered. "Now lay on to the peak-halyards--there, that rope--cast it off the pin. And don't hoist ahead of me. There! Make fa...

The wind freshened as they got clear of the land, and soon the _Dazzler_ was heeling it with her lee deck buried and the water churning by, half-way up the cockpit-rail. Side-li...

Heaving in on the anchor-chain till it was up and down, 'Frisco Kid and Joe ceased from their exertions. Everything was in readiness to give the _Dazzler_ the jib, and go. They...

"How 's that?" cried 'Frisco Kid, as he finished making the _Dazzler_ fast fore and aft, and sat down on the stringpiece of the tiny wharf. "What 'll we do next, captain?"

Joe did not mind. In fact, he was glad he had not caught the first fish, for it helped out a little plan which had come to him while swimming. He threw the last cleaned fish int...

A skiff grazed the side of the _Dazzler_ softly and interrupted Joe's reveries. He wondered why he had not heard the sound of the oars in the rowlocks. Then two men jumped over...

A few minutes later, and still wrathful, Joe went in to dinner. He ate silently, though his father and mother and Bessie kept up a genial flow of conversation. There she was, he...

French Pete was uninjured from the fall overboard with the _Dazzler's_ mast; but the sea-anchor, which had gone with him, had not escaped so easily. The gaff of the mainsail had...

The afternoon sea-breeze had sprung up and was now rioting in from the Pacific. Angel Island was fast dropping astern, and the water-front of San Francisco showing up, as the _D...

They ran across the shining sand, the Pacific thundering its long surge at their backs, and when they gained the roadway leaped upon bicycles and dived at faster pace into the g...

On the following morning, after breakfast, Joe was summoned to the library by his father, and he went in almost with a feeling of gladness that the suspense of waiting was over....

After the conversation died away, the two lads lay upon the cabin for perhaps an hour. Then, without saying a word, 'Frisco Kid went below and struck a light. Joe could hear him...

Both lads ran into the cockpit. They were on the edge of the breaking bar. A huge forty-footer reared a foam-crested head far above them, stealing their wind for the moment and...

But life in the Pit at best was a precarious affair, as the three Hill-dwellers were quickly to learn. Before Joe could even possess himself of his kites, his astonished eyes we...

'Frisco Kid was discontented--discontented and disgusted. This would have seemed impossible to the boys who fished from the dock above and envied him greatly. True, they wore cl...

Following Brick Simpson's directions, they came into Union Street, and without further mishap gained the Hill. From the brow they looked down into the Pit, whence arose that ste...

Joe roused with a start, bewildered at the unusual scene; for sleep had banished his troubles for the time being, and he knew not where he was. Then he remembered. The wind had...