About a dozen ladies and only two gentlemen were embarked in the boat, and Ash got under way. There was just breeze enough to make it lively and pleasant sailing. The sea was regular and moderate, so that there was nothing to call for any extra skill on the part of the skipper. The wind being west, he ran down the lake as far as Split Rock, and then returned. He did not get her best speed out of the sloop, and by the time he reached the wharf the hour had expired.
The party were landed; and Ash supposed the contract had been completed, especially as the gentleman in charge handed him four half-dollars, of which he seemed to have an abundant supply. But the excursionists were hardly on shore before another gentleman appeared, followed by a dozen more ladies, and took the boat for another trip.
Ash did not object, and he was gone the same time with the second party. On his return to the wharf he found another party ready for him, with the Topovers assembled on the wharf. The gentleman who had paid him before gave him four more half-dollars, and he spoke for the boat for the third trip.
Ash mildly suggested that he had had no dinner. Though he had for the last two hours been the undisputed skipper of the Goldwing, he had not yet become so ethereal as to lose his boyish tendency to be hungry. The gentleman said they were in no hurry, and they would wait for the skipper to take his dinner.
"I'll take this party out, Ash Burton," interposed Tom Topover, with cheek enough to fit out a lightning-rod agent. "You can get your dinner while I am gone."
"That won't do," replied Ash, in the mildest of tones.
"What's the reason it won't do?" demanded Tom, beginning to bluster. "I can handle the boat as well as you can."
"You don't know any thing at all about a sailboat," added Sam Spottwood, more for the benefit of the gentleman in charge of the party than to irritate Tom.
"Say that again, and I'll knock you into the middle of last week," bullied Tom. "I am going with this party, and Ash can get his dinner."
"We prefer the one who has managed the boat before," interposed the gentleman, who measured Tom at a glance.