“I will, Wolf; but I am so excited about that steamboat business that I can’t think of much else.”
“Control yourself, Waddie. Do your duty faithfully at school, and I will try to have everything go right with the boat.”
“I am vexed at this change in the running of those boats. It throws us completely out of our plans.”
“We must expect such things. We can’t have it all our own way, and we must make the best of the circumstances as we find them.”
“Major Toppleton is smart.”
“I told you he would not be content to have the wind taken out of his sails. He rose early this morning, and went up the lake in his yacht. Probably he went on board of that steamer at Gulfport, and directed her captain to proceed directly to Middleport, instead of coming to Centreport first.”
“What is your plan, Wolf? I am curious to know about it. Do you mean to start from Middleport?”
“No, we can’t do that. Major Toppleton controls the water-front of the town, and we could not get a landing-place there.”
“But don’t my father control the water-front on this side? Don’t we let the major’s boats land here?”
“Certainly; and it would be very unwise in your father to prevent them from doing so; for he would thus shut off from Centreport all direct communication with Hitaca, and the other towns up the lake. When he has established a through line, he can afford to keep his wharves for the exclusive use of his own boats, though I question the policy of doing so, even then.”