Since the vessel was completed and ready for sea, the boat-builder thought there was no further necessity for keeping the affair a secret. If Tom wanted to create a sensation what better chance could he have?
"Captain!" chorused all the boys, crowding up around Tom. "Do you own that beautiful yacht, Newcombe?"
"I do!" was the very dignified reply.
"Well, you're a lucky fellow," exclaimed one.
"You've got the best father in the world!" said another.
"Are you ready, captain?" asked Mr. Graves, stepping into a skiff and picking up the oars. "If you are, we'll go aboard!"
"Are you going to sea, Newcombe?" eagerly inquired a dozen boys. "Let us go with you!"
Tom's time for revenge had come at last. There were, perhaps, thirty or forty boys present, a good portion of whom had belonged to the Night-hawks, and the remainder were "Spooneys," with whom he never associated. He had several times run his eye over the group, but he could not discover a single friend in it. Every one of the boys, at some time or other, had failed to treat him with the respect due the son of the wealthiest man in the village, and now Tom had an opportunity to show them that he had not forgotten it. Without taking the trouble to reply to their request, he jumped into the skiff, turned his back to the boys, and said:
"Shove off, Mr. Graves!"