"On the table you see a wooden model of the boat we are to build. Its form and size are exactly indicated by the three plans I have explained. We are not ship-builders, only amateurs; and, while I shall take pains to have you understand the theory and practice of the art, I do not feel obliged to follow all the methods in use. So far as I know, no such model as the one on the table was ever made before. As I shall direct the construction of the boat, I shall do it in my own way, though it may not be according to the accepted rules.
"I have kept you now longer than I intended, for, after the hard work you did last night, and the very quiet and business-like way in which you did it, I shall make the rest of the day a holiday. The Beech Hill fleet is at your service, and you may spend the day in any proper manner that you please. To-morrow afternoon we will dissect this model, and give out the work of building the boat. In the meantime I shall be glad to receive suggestions as to her name; but no student must send in more than one name, for I wish you to have decided opinions."
CHAPTER XI. ROUGH WATER ON LAKE CHAMPLAIN.
The wind was very fresh from the northwest on the lake, and its surface was covered with white-caps. Above Split Rock Point the lake looked like a sea of foam, and heavy waves rolled in upon the beach in Porter's Bay. Even Beechwater was considerably agitated. Prudent mothers would have thought it dangerous to go out upon the lake at such a time.
Apparently for the reason that the water was rough on Lake Champlain, the students elected to have an excursion in the barges. The principal did not object, for the boys had been trained to rough weather, and they knew how to handle the boats in any sea that ever was stirred up on fresh water, albeit the waves are often more perilous on large lakes than on the ocean.
Oscar Chester was the coxswain of the Gildrock, and Thad Glovering of the Winooski. The former was still used by the first class, and the latter by the second. But the classes had been considerably changed, and vacancies in the first had been filled from the second and from the most advanced of the new pupils. The third class consisted mainly of new scholars.
The twelve-oar barges each had a crew of thirteen, including the coxswains. Nine of the third class were detailed for service in the new eight-oar barge, and there was one who had no station in any boat. One of the thirty-six students to which the school was now limited had been taken sick, and returned to his home in the winter. He was from the far South, and the climate was too severe for him. His place had not been filled before the coming of Paul Bristol. He was to be a spare hand for the present, and was to take the place of any one who was absent.
The eight-oar barge was the Marian, in honor of Dory's sister, and the name had been given by the students. Paul had spoken to Dory about the tin box in the hollow of the tree, and it had been arranged to visit Sandy Point in the Goldwing: but when the students decided to go out in the barges, the plan had been changed. Dick Short, though a first-rate mechanic, and one of the best boatmen in the fleet, had been transferred to the third class because he was deficient in some of his book studies, and could not keep up with his class-mates.