by what you do in the future. I want you to remember this, boys. All of you will have to work in the shops, and wherever there is any thing to do. You will have to learn your book-lessons as well as how to work in wood and metal. But there will be lots of fun as well as hard work. In a few days we shall man this steamer, and every one of you will have a station on board of her.”
“Hurrah!” shouted one of the new pupils in his enthusiasm; and the cheer was taken up by the entire party.
“Before winter I hope some of you will be as competent to handle a sailboat or a steamer as Dory is. But bear in mind that it is not all play. I am going to make useful men of you, and I hope you will second all my endeavors.”
The arrival of the carpenter and engineer interrupted the conversation, and in a few minutes more the Sylph was standing up the lake. It was dark now; and the boys gathered around Captain Gildrock again, for he could not talk without interesting them.
“Who is steering this steamer now, Captain Gildrock?” asked Jim Alburgh.
“Dory is steering her,” replied the captain.
“But it is dark: how can he find his way back to Beech Hill?”
“Did you suppose that ships that cross the ocean, being out of sight of land for weeks at a time, stopped in the night?” asked the captain.
“I didn’t think any thing at all about it,” replied Jim. “I don’t know any thing about it. It is as dark as a pocket, and I should not think Dory could see the land on either side of the lake.”
“He has no need to see it. Do you see that lighthouse on the island?” asked the captain, pointing at Juniper Island.