The boys hastened to assure their host that they couldn’t think of anything that would afford them so much pleasure as a sail in his neat little cutter, and so one day’s sport was provided for. We may run far enough ahead of our story to say that they thoroughly enjoyed their boat-ride, but whether or not they saw any fun in some things that followed close upon the heels of it, is another matter altogether.
Having drawn the canoe high and dry upon the beach, the boys went into the house and up to Egan’s room, which contained his small but well-chosen library, his hunting and fishing outfit, and a few specimens of his skill as a sportsman and cabinet-maker; for Egan understood the use of tools, and spent every stormy day when at home in his shop. Prominent among his specimens was a magnificent white swan which, after being so badly wounded that it could not take wing, had led him a two hours’ chase in the teeth of a fierce gale, and through water covered with huge cakes of ice, that every now and then were thrown by the waves against the sides of his yacht with force enough to make her tremble all over.
“I had a jolly time, but a wet one,” said Egan, whose eyes sparkled with excitement when he spoke of the circumstance. “But didn’t father scold me when I came ashore? Well, I deserved it, for it was a careless trick, going out in all that wind and ice when not another boat would venture away from the shore; but I wanted the swan, and I desired to test my yacht, which had come into my possession only a week before, and that was the reason I did it. By the way,” added Egan, pointing to something which, enclosed in a frame of his own construction, hung suspended from the swan’s long, white neck, “do you know what that is?”
Yes, the boys knew what it was as soon as they looked at it. It was the five dollar bill that the paymaster had given him for the part he had borne in putting down the Hamilton riot. Every boy who was in that fight had received the same amount, and they had one and all declared that nothing could induce them to spend a cent of it; but the pancakes at Cony Ryan’s proved to be too strong a temptation for some of them to resist, and our five friends were among the very few who had held to their resolution.
Breakfast being over and a substantial lunch provided, the boys returned to the cutter, which had been christened the “Sallie” by her proud captain and owner. Hopkins declared that she was named after Asa Peters’ sweetheart—the one he had intended to take to the show on the day that Don and Egan borrowed his clothes; but the indignant master of the yacht affirmed that there wasn’t a word of truth in it, adding that if he had been going to name his boat after anybody’s girl, he would have named her after his own, who was by all odds the very handsomest one in America.
Having stowed their guns and cartridge-belts away in one of the lockers, the boys went on deck to get the yacht under way. Egan was the only sailor in the party, but the others, who, during their cruise in the Idlewild in pursuit of Enoch Williams and his band of deserters, had learned to tell a halliard from a down-haul, were able to give him considerable assistance, and in a very few minutes the Sallie was flying down the bay with all her canvas set except the big topsail, which her cautious captain did not think she could stand, seeing that there was no boat for her to race with, and no wing-tipped swan scudding along in front of her.
Being fairly under way, the boys began amusing themselves as live boys generally do when they are entirely satisfied with themselves and their surroundings—by singing songs and telling stories. Egan, who stood at the helm, was roaring out (with little regard to time and melody, it must be confessed), “I’m going to fight mid Zeigle,” when, just as he was saying that he would like to have “sweitzer kase and pretzel” for rations rather than “salty pork,” the Sallie shot around a low point which jutted out into the bay, and bore swiftly down upon what appeared to be an immense flock of canvas-backs and red-heads. They were floating about among the waves with their heads erect, as if they were on the point of taking wing, while about two hundred yards farther down the bay, approaching on rapid pinion, was another and much larger flock, which was already beginning to “swing” as if preparing to alight among the ducks on the water.
“Great Scott!” cried Don, making a headlong rush for the companion ladder. “Why didn’t I bring my gun up with me?”
“Well, that is rich!” exclaimed Egan, with a hearty laugh. “I thought you had hunted ducks often enough to know the difference between a live bird and a decoy. Don’t you see that sink-box right in the midst of them?”
Yes, Don saw it, after he had taken another and a closer look, and he saw too that the objects which he had at the first glance mistaken for canvas-backs and red-heads, were wooden counterfeits, so closely resembling live birds in form and coloring that almost anybody, except an expert, would have been deceived.