By this time we were abreast of her, and the old tub was so clumsy that she found it impossible to crowd us any further. She had come up so that we could recognize faces on board of her. Near the wheel-house stood the major and Tommy, looking as ugly as they conveniently could look. They would have sunk us in the deep waters of the lake if they could. I was not disposed to irritate them; for I knew how miserably they felt, as they gazed upon our crowded decks, and as they saw our palatial craft sweeping swiftly by them. It did not appear that the Ruoara had more than forty or fifty passengers.
“We can afford to be polite,” said I to Waddie. “We will give them the compliments of the day as we pass.”
“Don’t vex them,” replied Waddie.
“If they wish to take a common civility as an insult, they may. On deck, there!” I cried to the hands forward. “Stand by, and dip the ensign and the jack!”
Two of the crew promptly obeyed my order. The ensign at the stern, and the jack at the bow, were dipped three times, just as we came abreast of the Ruoara. Our passengers were disposed to be exceedingly good-natured, and before I was aware of their purpose, they were engaged in giving three cheers, and in demonstrating with hats, handkerchiefs, and other articles. Not a sign of acknowledgment was made by the old boat, and I am afraid that the magnate of Middleport did not feel as happy as the people in our boat. We passed her, and soon left her far behind.
We made our landings at the other ports of the lake, creating no little excitement by our unexpected appearance. We took all the passengers and freight that were waiting for a passage, leaving nothing for the old boat, for the first-comer always carried off the prize. Promptly on the time I had marked down on my program, the Ucayga entered the narrow river on which Hitaca is located. We whistled with tremendous vigor to inform the people of the place of our arrival, for I was very anxious that Colonel Wimpleton should be apprised of our approach.
Van Wolter was perfectly at home in the navigation of this river, and piloted the boat, without any delay, to the broad lagoon which forms the harbor of the town. It was just half-past seven when the bow line was thrown on shore, and in a few moments more the steamer was fast to the wharf. Our approach had been heralded through the town, and the landing-place was crowded with vehicles, which had come down to convey our passengers to the hotels, or to their homes. With them had come a goodly delegation of the solid men of Hitaca, as well as the miscellaneous rabble which always waits upon the advent of any new sensation.
Almost the first person I recognized on the wharf, from my position on the hurricane-deck, was Colonel Wimpleton. The Ucayga had been discovered and identified when miles down the lake, and her owner would have learned of her coming, even if he had not been engaged with the steamboat-builder on the creek near the wharf. I looked at him with interest, for though we had achieved a triumphant success, we had acted without his sanction, and even without his knowledge.
The moment the boat touched the wharf, the colonel rushed on board and hastened up to the place where he had seen Waddie and me. He looked as though he was laboring under some excitement, but I had yet to learn whether he was angry or not. Certainly he did not look very gentle; but then his astonishment at seeing the Ucayga at Hitaca was a sufficient explanation of his troubled aspect.
“What does all this mean, Wolf?” he demanded, rather sharply; but this was his habit.