Taylor and the new captain swore terribly; but the sheriff was immovable.
CHAPTER XVI
THE EXCURSION TO WHITEHALL
Lawry was no lawyer, and was therefore unable to form an opinion in regard to the legality of the steps by which the Woodville had been taken from him. It was an accomplished fact, and he was as disconsolate as though he had lost his best friend. He went on shore, and until the peremptory order of the sheriff was given, he expected to see the steamer shoot out from the wharf and disappear beyond the point, in charge of another person than himself.
He had refused to pilot the steamer under the new order of things, not because he wished to be spiteful to his brother, but because he was smarting under a sense of injustice, which unfitted him for the duty. Though he did not comprehend the legal measures which had been taken, he felt that there was something wrong. The Woodville belonged to him, not to his father; and though he was willing to give all his earnings for the support of the family, and even to pay off the mortgage on the place, he felt that it was not right to take the steamer from him.
He stood on the wharf, paralyzed by the calamity which had overtaken him. He wanted to do something, but he did not know what to do. The sheriff, by his caution, had defeated the plans of the new captain, and Lawry was waiting to see what would happen next. He wished to see Mr. Sherwood, and he would have hastened up to his house if he could have endured the thought of losing sight of the steamer even for a moment. Ethan was still on deck, for though he refused to run the engine, he felt it to be his duty to stand by and see that no accident happened, for the steam was up, and the fireman was an unskillful person.
Ben Wilford and Taylor were disappointed and chagrined at their failure to get off. They stormed and swore, till it was apparent that storming and swearing would not start the steamer. The sheriff positively refused to let the boat depart without a competent pilot and engineer.
"What shall we do, Wilford?" said Taylor. "Can't you persuade your brother to take hold again?"
"He's as obstinate as a mule; but I'll try," replied Ben.
"Offer him twenty dollars for his day's work," added Taylor.