"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."