"I am afraid you never will be on board of the Woodville."
"I'm pretty sure she can be raised, though I may not have the means to do it myself," continued Lawry.
"You shall have all the means you want, my boy," replied Mr. Sherwood. "We owe you a debt of gratitude which we shall never be able to pay, and if you want anything, don't fail to call upon me."
"If you need any help, Lawry, I'm with you," said Ethan French.
"Thank you; I dare say I shall want all the help I can get," answered Lawry, as he took his leave of the family.
"I'm the owner of a steamboat!" thought he. "I'm a lucky fellow, and I shall make my fortune in the Woodville. I can take out parties, or I can run her on a day route from Burlington up the lake; and there is towing enough to keep me busy all summer."
Excited by the brightest visions of the future, he came in sight of his father's cottage. It looked poorer and meaner than it had ever looked before; and perhaps he thought it was hardly a fit abode for a steamboat proprietor. When he saw the tall mast of the ferry-boat, with the sail flapping idly in the wind, he was reminded of the events which had occurred on board of her that afternoon. It was mortifying to think that his father had even been tempted to steal; but he was rejoiced to know that he had been induced to return the six thousand dollars to the owner.
Lawry had not seen his father since he left the landing-place to board the Woodville. He was not at the house when the party landed, after the catastrophe, and Lawry was glad he was not there, for his absence assured the anxious son that he had gone in search of Mr. Randall. Amid the exciting events which had followed the painful discovery that his father intended to steal the six thousand dollars, the young pilot had not thought of the matter, for his mind was entirely relieved by Mr. Wilford's promise to give up the money.
Lawry went into the house; his father had not yet returned, and his mother asked him a hundred questions about the steamboat disaster, as she set the table for supper. When the meal was ready, Mrs. Wilford went to the door and blew a tin horn, which was intended to summon the ferryman to his tea.
"I think father has not got back yet," said Lawry.