CHAPTER XXX.
CAPTAIN GILDROCK DILATES UPON HIS NOTABLE SCHEME.
The first thing Corny Minkfield did was to apologize for his conduct the last day he had been on board of the Goldwing. He was afraid then that Dory had been guilty of some offence which might get them all into a scrape. The skipper accepted the apology, and they were as good friends as ever.
"We are all invited up to Beech Hill," said Thad, when the difficulty between the skipper and Corny had been healed.
"Where is Beech Hill?" asked Dory, who had never heard the name before.
"Don't you know the name of your uncle's place?" demanded Dick Short, laughing.
"I never was there, and I never heard the name before."
"We are going up in the Sylph from Plattsburgh to-night. Captain Gildrock is the bulliest man on the lake," said Nat Long.
"He has got something in his head," added Thad. "He treats us fellows like lords."
"He asked my mother what I was going to do in the way of business; and she told him she should get a place in a store for me as soon as I got through school," said Corny. "You ought to have heard him talk then! He said I was too much of a fellow to be a counter-jumper."
"What is he driving at, Corny?" asked Dory.
"I don't know: he didn't let on; but he has got something in his head."
The skipper found that his fellow-members of the club knew no more about his scheme than he did himself. They had a very jolly time on the trip; but the wind was light, and the Goldwing did not arrive at her destination until nearly dark. Dory hastened to the hotel to report to the landlord, who was very glad to see him.
"I am glad you have come; for there is a gentleman in the house who is very anxious to see you, Dory," said the hotel-keeper.
"Who is it, sir?"
"It is Pearl Hawlinshed's father. When he heard that his son was in trouble, he hastened back."
Dory remembered that he had a secret to keep; and he said nothing, expressing no interest by word or look in the arrival of Mr. Hawlinshed. He asked about the party he was to take out the next morning, and learned that it consisted of two young men from New-York City. They came in while he was at the counter, and he was introduced to them. They appeared to be very gentlemanly young men, and treated the skipper very politely.
After they had talked a while about the trip, they expressed a desire to see the boat; and Dory went with them to the wharf. They were pleased with the Goldwing, and directed Dory to procure the provisions and other supplies for the cruise. They gave him a list of what they wanted, and Dory could not help thinking of what his uncle said when he found "one gallon of best Bourbon whiskey" among the articles to be procured.
On the other side of the wharf was the Sylph. The young men from New York manifested a great deal of interest in the magnificent craft, and wanted to see more of her. But visitors were not allowed on board, for her owner said he should as soon think of strangers coming into his house as into his yacht without an invitation. While the young men were regretting that they could not see more of the beautiful craft, Captain Gildrock, with Dory's mother and sister, came down. At his nephew's request he invited the New Yorkers on board.
Dory had never put his foot on board of the Sylph before, and he was quite as much interested as his passengers. Mr. Jepson was directed to show them through the yacht; but, after they had looked into the engine-room, Mr. Hawlinshed came down the wharf in search of Dory, who was obliged to postpone his examination until another time.
Mr. Hawlinshed took Dory's hand, but he appeared to be very sad. His son's trouble caused him a great deal of sorrow: in fact, the bad conduct of Pearl was the bane of his life. He told Dory that he had sold his farm in order to get his son away from his evil associates near Plattsburgh. He had come to the conclusion that Pearl was worse than his companions. He had done all he could to save him, and had failed. He was going into a new and sparsely settled region himself, and he had hoped to take his son there; but Pearl would not go.
"He wanted to buy the boat I have," said Dory. "He thinks you furnished the money, or at least induced me to buy her, to prevent him from getting her."
"I knew he wanted to buy the Goldwing; for he had a long talk with me about her the evening I first saw you, just as I was starting for Plattsburgh," continued Mr. Hawlinshed. "I think boating has been the ruin of him. He used to go off with young men of dissolute habits, and I think this was what first led him astray. He insisted that I should give him fifty dollars to buy the Goldwing. I refused to do it, and after much violent talk he rushed away from me. You were present the next time we met, Dory," said Mr. Hawlinshed.
"Perhaps it would have been better if you had given him the money," suggested Dory. "He took one hundred and fifty dollars from Mr. Moody's room, and I suppose he did it so that he could buy the boat."
"I am afraid it would have made no difference," replied the sad father with a sigh. "He said he could earn his living, and make some money with her; but it would only have been a career of dissipation for him. I hope you will not permit yourself to be led away while you are running the Goldwing."
"I can't see for the life of me why Pearl did not buy the boat if he wanted her so badly," added Dory. "She is worth ten times what I paid for her."
"He expected to buy the boat for twenty or twenty-five dollars; and, when she went above that, he was mad. He did not believe you could pay for her, and that she would be put up for sale again, and he could get her at his own price. If you had told me you meant to buy a boat, I should have tried to dissuade you from it; but you would not tell me. You said it was your secret."
"I was afraid you might object."
"I should certainly. I should have sent the hundred dollars I gave you to your mother if I had known you meant to buy the Goldwing. You kept your secret, and you have kept mine I suppose; for that terrible scene in the woods appears not to be known to any one but the three who were present at the time."
"But my uncle and my mother believe there was something wrong about that money," added Dory. "I think they believe I stole it, or took it for doing something wrong."
"Is that your uncle on board of the steamer?" asked Mr. Hawlinshed, indicating the captain, who had seated himself with his sister and niece on the hurricane deck. "I wish you would introduce me to him, and I will soon set you right."
Dory conducted him to the presence of the captain and his mother, and introduced him to both of them. Mr. Hawlinshed told the whole story of his relations with his unfortunate son, who was now in jail. He related the particulars of the scene in the woods, and assured them that he had given Dory one hundred and five dollars for the good service he had rendered on that occasion.
"I am very glad to have this matter cleared up," said Captain Gildrock.
"I am happy now," added Mrs. Dornwood. "That money had worried me ever since I heard of it."
"I should not have allowed your nephew to buy that boat if I had known what he was going to do with the money," added Mr. Hawlinshed. "I think that boats have been the ruin of my boy; and, when they are used to take any and every body out for a frolic, they seem to me to be worse than bar-rooms and other bad places," continued Mr. Hawlinshed.
"My sentiments exactly!" exclaimed Captain Gildrock, looking at Dory.
"Of course I don't think there is any thing bad in the boat itself; but my son was going to take out parties, and make a business of it. Some very fair sort of men leave all their good behavior at home when they go off on these boat-scrapes, and I don't like to have a boy of mine with them at such times."
Dory felt very uneasy during this conversation. He began to have his doubts about the business in which he had engaged. There was nothing bad in the use of boats, but Captain Gildrock contended that a man ought to be as careful in regard to whom he took into his boat as into his house. It was not the boat or the boating to which Mr. Hawlinshed and Dory's uncle objected, but only to the miscellaneous parties he would be obliged to take out in order to earn his living.
Mr. Hawlinshed did not care to have the story of the scene in the woods repeated at this time; for it might make it go harder with Pearl on his trial. But those to whom he had told it were too glad to have Dory's secret cleared up to care any thing more about the matter, though they were full of sympathy for the unhappy father.
Mr. Hawlinshed went back to his hotel. The New Yorkers finished their survey of the Sylph; and she soon left with the Goldwing Club, with the exception of Dory, on board. Not a word had been said in regard to Captain Gildrock's plan.
Dory slept on board of the Goldwing that night. The next morning he started with his passengers. They went over to Mallett's Bay first on a fishing-excursion. When they got there, the skipper was astonished to find that the polite young gentlemen from New York were too tipsy to use the bait and lines he had procured. They drank all they could hold, and then went to sleep. They had not told Dory where to go next, and he anchored to wait for further orders.
At noon they both turned out, but it was only to drink till they were tipsy again. They insisted that the skipper should drink with them; but, when he asked them who was to take care of the boat if he did as they did, they gave up the point. They remained in Mallett's Bay all the first day. The next morning they wanted to go to Missisquoi Bay, and the skipper sailed the Goldwing to that part of the lake. The second day was like the first. On the third they had drank so much that they could not keep up the debauch, and they gambled with props in the cabin.
Dory was disgusted with his passengers; but, when he landed them in Plattsburgh, they were as sober and polite as though they had been with their mothers all the time. The skipper received his fifteen dollars, and that was all the satisfaction he got out of the cruise. He returned to Burlington the next day, and spent the afternoon in looking for another party at the hotels.
There was no more business that week. The next week he got only a half-day job, taking a party of ladies and gentlemen across the lake. Three dollars was all he made that week; and he was beginning to be discouraged when he received a postal from the Witherill House. It was a fishing-party to Mallett's Bay. The young gentlemen from New York were saints compared with his present passengers. They got crazy drunk; and, when a shower came up, they threatened to throw the skipper overboard because he anchored the boat to avoid a squall. Dory was afraid of his life, and five dollars a day was no compensation for the misery he endured.
Another week satisfied Dory that the business was a failure, for he did not obtain a single fare. He went to his mother, and told her he had had quite enough of it. He was ready to sell the boat, though the Goldwing Club had fine times in her when she was not engaged; and there were plenty of fine times for them. He had been offered a place in a dry-goods store, and he was willing to take it.
"I think you had better see uncle Royal before you take the place," said his mother. "I have never sailed in the Goldwing, and Marian and I would like to have you sail us up to Beech Hill."
"What does uncle Royal want me to do, mother?" asked Dory, who suspected that the captain and his mother had something on their minds.
"I don't know. You must let him speak for himself," replied Mrs. Dornwood.
The next morning Dory took his mother and sister into the Goldwing, and sailed up to Beech Hill. His mother had to act as his pilot, for he did not know how to take the boat from the river to the estate. Leaving Beaver River, he followed a narrow and crooked stream, though it was very deep, till he reached a small lake, on the shore of which stood the house of Captain Gildrock.
The party received a warm welcome, and Mrs. Dornwood stated the business that had brought them to Beech Hill. Seated in the library, the great question was opened for discussion and settlement.
"Go into a store!" exclaimed Captain Gildrock. "There are more merchants and traders in the country now than can get a living, and mercantile life is a desperate struggle in these days. Be a mechanic, Theodore."
"A mechanic!" exclaimed Mrs. Dornwood.
"A mechanic, Patty," added the captain decidedly. "The first thing a boy wants is an education, and the next is a good trade. I have been thinking of this subject for years. Now I am going to tell you about my scheme. I want to help supply the country with good, educated mechanics."
"I don't think mechanics need much education, Royal," suggested Mrs. Dornwood.
"There you are mistaken, Patty. What this country, especially the Eastern and Middle States, needs more than any other class of men, is educated mechanics,—skilled labor. Too many boys want to be shopkeepers, and wear fine clothes."
"I should like to be a mechanic, uncle Royal," said Dory.
"So would the other members of the Goldwing Club," continued Captain Gildrock. "Now I will tell you about my scheme. For the last year I have had enrolled about a dozen of the young fellows of this vicinity as volunteers on board of the Sylph. Jepson and I have been instructing them in seamanship and mechanics. Jepson has instructed them in the science of the steam-engine, so that they know all about the building of one, though they haven't the practical skill to build one. They have acted as engineers and firemen of the yacht; and every one of them is competent to run a marine engine, or any other."
"Those were the young fellows that were pulling your boats that day, were they not?" asked Dory.
"They were, Theodore. The only men I employ on board are the cook and a waiter, but I have required every one of these young men to learn to do plain cooking. All of them have served a term in the galley. I am captain, and Jepson is the first officer, of the Sylph. I have taught these students how a vessel or a boat is built, how to sail a boat or a ship; I have instructed them in navigation, and required them to get the latitude and longitude of every principal point on the lake; I have taught them how to heave the log, and keep a vessel's dead reckoning; I have required them to survey portions of the lake, and make charts of their work. They have been greatly interested, and they have profited by their opportunities. Not one of them has rich parents, and all of them must soon earn their own living; and you may be sure that not one of them will be a shopkeeper, a lawyer, a doctor, or a minister."
"I should say that was first-rate," added Dory, with enthusiasm. "I suppose some of them will be sailors."
"About half of them have a desire to go to sea, and some of them have got places as engineers, oilers, and firemen. Two of them will run stationary engines. I have done with them; for most of them were obliged to go to work, and take care of themselves."
"Won't they go in the Sylph any more?" asked Dory.
"I have done all I could for them, and so has Jepson. So far as our teaching facilities are concerned, they have learned out. My new scheme contemplates doing the same work in a more thorough and practical manner. The trouble with my past crew was, that I did not have them more than one day in a week; though we occasionally put in a week at a time in vacation, as at the time when I went down the lake to find you. That was their last cruise; and they were discharged, so to speak, two weeks ago."
"Are you going to ship another crew like that, uncle Royal?" inquired Dory eagerly.
"Not as I did the last one. I am going to establish a sort of practical school," replied the captain.
"I should like to ship for one," added Dory.
"I have had my eye on the members of the Goldwing Club, for they are just the boys I desire to take. I don't want any sons of rich men. I want those who need looking after, and I think the Goldwings fill the bill. I shall take only half a dozen to begin with. I want them all to come to Beech Hill, and live here. I won't take them on any other terms. I shall look out for their book-learning; but, at the same time, the boys must become carpenters and machinists. They must work at these trades, and others as the plan is enlarged. I shall keep them busy all day long, from one end of the year to the other. We shall build houses, boats, bridges, wharves, and eventually steam-engines, and various kinds of machinery. I expect to see the time, though it may not be for ten years, when we can build a steamer like the Sylph, including her engine, and about every thing on board of her."
"It seems to me you are laying out a great undertaking, Royal," said Mrs. Dornwood.
"If I can make honest and useful men out of even half a dozen boys like the members of the Goldwing Club, who are in danger of going to ruin, my money will be well spent. A kind Providence permitted me to make a fortune before I was forty-five, though I had to work hard for it. I have no wife, no children. I think I can realize more enjoyment from a portion of my money in this way than I can in any other. It is wholly to my taste and fancy, this scheme of mine; and it holds out to me a thousand times as much pleasure as any business enterprise I can think of. That's the whole of it, Patty."
"It is a good deal better to use your fortune in that way than to risk it in speculating in stocks, as a great many rich men do," added Mrs. Dornwood sagely. "But it seems to me that you mean to work the boys very hard,—from morning till night from one year's end to the other."
"But I mean that they shall have abundance of recreation. They will be the crew of the Sylph; they shall have hours for their games; they shall have plenty of reading, both for recreation and for study: and if they don't enjoy themselves from morning till night, and from one end of the year to the other, it will be my fault as well as their own."
"When will this thing begin?" asked Dory.
"I intend to make a beginning by the first of September next. Patty, you must move up to Beech Hill at once, now that Theodore has given up the boating-business. You may tell the other members of the Goldwing Club all about my plan, my boy. I have seen the parents of some of them. They can see their friends as often as they please, and spend Sunday at home if they wish. If you see any other boys like those of your club, you may report them to me; but don't ask them to come to the school, or hold out any inducements to them. I must pick the boys myself."
"But I must take time to sell the boat I bought," suggested Dory.
"You needn't sell her, Theodore. I have no sailboat of just her size, and she may be useful. Now keep cool, and remember that it will take some time to get the school into running order, and fit up our shops. But we will begin the scholastic work at once, so that the boys will not lose what they have learned in school."
Captain Gildrock talked about his plan till dinner-time; and the skipper of the Goldwing was so delighted with it, that he felt as though he wanted to fly. He went all over the estate at Beech Hill, and examined the boats with a professional eye. In the middle of the afternoon the family started for home in the schooner.
In the evening Dory went to see all the members of the Goldwing Club, and their eyes were as big as saucers while they listened to the notable scheme of the retired shipmaster. They were quite as enthusiastic as Dory over the idea. The next day their mothers had consented to their joining the embryo school, which was as yet without a name.
Mrs. Dornwood gave up her house, and at the end of a week Dory sailed the family up to their new home at Beech Hill. The other boys were to come up on the first day of September, which was two weeks hence. Though the Sylph was without a crew, the captain made up one, and they visited various parts of the lake on business and for pleasure. Mr. Jepson, who had first come to Beech Hill as the engineer of the steam-yacht, resumed his old position. Dory was wheelman, and a couple of men who worked on the place did duty as deck-hands. Dory liked this position as pilot even better than sailing the Goldwing, though his services were often in demand as skipper of the schooner.
For more than a year Dory had felt as though he were all adrift in the world. He wanted to get some steady work by which he could help support the family. He had not succeeded very well. But now, for the first time since he had come to think for himself, he did not feel as though he was All Adrift in the world. He was settled with the future before him, and he was resolved that it should be filled with good work.
He read in the newspaper that Pearl Hawlinshed had been sent to the state prison for a year and a half; and he could not help thinking what a terrible thing it was for a young man who had a kind and devoted father, whose existence had been bound up in him, to come to a bad end.
Dory Dornwood was no longer "All Adrift;" and the Goldwing Club were anchored with him. In another volume we shall look in upon them in their "Snug Harbor" as "The Champlain Mechanics."
YOUNG FOLKS' TROPHIES OF TRAVEL.
OUR BOYS IN INDIA:
The Wanderings of two Young Americans in Hindostan, with their exciting adventures on the Sacred Rivers and Wild Mountains.
By HARRY W. FRENCH,
Author of "Castle Foam," "Ego," "Nuna the Bramin Girl," "Gems of Genius," etc.
With 145 illustrations. Royal Octavo, 7 × 9-1/2 inches. Bound in emblematical covers of Oriental design, $1.75. Cloth, black and gold, $2.50.
The great Indian Empire is the champion land for romance and adventure. In this story a little Yankee lad is kidnapped from his home. By the aid of a detective, an older brother, a lad of 16 years, traces him to India. The adventures of the two, one as a captive, the other as a rescuer, in different parts of the empire, are thrilling, dealing as they do with the Natives, the Snake Charmers and Jugglers, Royal Personages and Mountaineers, Tiger Hunts, Elephant and Rhinoceros Fights. The descriptions of Scenery, Customs and Wonders are graphic and instructive. Many of the illustrations are from special photographs taken for the author while in India.
DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD;
A BOY'S ADVENTURES BY SEA AND LAND.
By CAPT. CHARLES W. HALL.
Author of "Adrift in the Ice-fields," "The Great Bonanza," etc. With numerous full-page and letter-press illustrations. Royal Octavo, of which new editions are now ready. Handsome cover, $1.75. Cloth, gilt, $2.50.
If a handsomer or more enjoyable book for boys has been issued, or is yet to issue, from the press in time for Christmas, we would like to see it. Rob Randall is the name of the boy whose adventures form the material for this story. Rob, like many another boy of his years, has a hankering after travel, and he is destined to get his fill of it. He ships on board a schooner bound to Greenland, is ship-wrecked on the coast of Labrador, visits Iceland, skips down to and through Scotland, England, France, Holland, Russia, Asia, and heaven knows where else besides, until, having travelled this wide world all over, he lights in at last at San Francisco, and finally brings up at his place of beginning—the little village of Stonehaven, on the coast of New England. Rob, in one respect, is like Japhet that Captain Marryatt has written about—he was off on these travels of his in search of his father. The book is full of information, and is written in a style that cannot fail to command the attention of its readers. The scenes which it portrays are illustrated by 200 beautiful pictures.—Pittsburg Times.
Sold by all Booksellers and Newsdealers.
LEE AND SHEPARD, Publishers, Boston.
YOUNG FOLK'S TROPHIES OF TRAVEL.
With the Young Americans in the Land of the Rising Sun.
THE WONDERFUL CITY OF TOKIO;
OR,
The Further Adventures of the Jewett Family and their Friend Oto Nambo.
By EDWARD GREÉY.
Author of "Young Americans in Japan," "The Golden Lotus," etc. With one hundred and sixty-nine illustrations. Royal Octavo, 7 × 9-1/2 inches, with cover in gold and colors, designed by the author, $1.75. Cloth, black and gold, $2.50.
In the great city of the great Empire of Japan, which the Japanese themselves call wonderful, the Young Americans find new cause for wonder at the strange customs and curious sights. Under the guidance of "Oto Nambo," their staunch friend, they assist at a fire, dine at Tokio restaurants, are entertained by Amateur performers, visit all the points of interest, and meet with many adventures; but the most interesting part of the book to American boys will be the visits to and descriptions of the different trades, many of which are illustrated, and all of which are described, from the "seller of folded fans" to the maker of "broiled bean curd." Fully equal in interest and uniform with
YOUNG AMERICANS IN JAPAN;
OR,
The Adventures of the Jewett Family and their Friend Oto Nambo.
By EDWARD GREÉY,
With one hundred and seventy full-page and letter-press illustrations. Royal Octavo, 7 × 9-1/2 inches. Handsomely illuminated cover, $1.75; Cloth, black and gold, $2.50. A new edition of which is now ready.
Mr. Edward Greéy was a member of the famous expedition which in 1854 caused "the land of the Rising Sun" to be opened to Eastern civilization. He afterward returned to Japan, "living among its estimable people, studied their language and literature, and what they termed 'learned their hearts.'" He is thus qualified to be a trustworthy guide to this, the youngest and oldest of nations. His pen-pictures of Japanese scenery and customs are graphic, and by the introduction of spicy conversation are made dramatic. Markets and bazaars, shaké shops, and Buddhist temples, jin-riki-shas and jugglers, are all brought before the eye.
Sold by all booksellers and newsdealers, and sent by mail, postpaid, on receipt of price.
LEE AND SHEPARD, Publishers, Boston.