“I wasn’t complaining,” Jack protested. “I was only wondering whether it was going to be a success, after all.”
“Can’t you wait about five minutes till somebody besides us gets wind o’ the ferry?” spluttered the old man. “Give ’em time, son, give ’em time. Why, the season hasn’t half begun yet. Most of the cottages along the shore are still empty. Another week or two will make a difference; you see if it don’t.”
Sure enough, business did “look up” a few days later, much to the satisfaction of both Jack and his father. Mr. Holden, though he had never discouraged the boy in his project, had always been a little skeptical as to whether the ferry would bring much grist to the mill, but he now grew really enthusiastic, for there were times when the Sea-Lark carried as many as fifteen people at a time. To some extent Cap’n Crumbie was responsible for the boy’s success in the early stages of the ferry’s career, as he rarely allowed a party of sight-seers to wander down to his wharf without urging them to make the trip in the Sea-Lark.
“Wunnerful sight over there on the Point,” he would say. “You get a view from there that ain’t equaled in all New England. Ferry-boat won’t be more’n a few minutes, sir, before it’s back, and it’s a fine day for a sail.”
“I shall have to give you a commission,” declared Jack, once, after the watchman had detained almost a boat-load of people until his return.
“Now, don’t talk foolish,” replied Cap’n Crumbie. “It’s just to keep me from gettin’ tired o’ myself. Some night maybe I’ll borrow the sloop and take a party for a moonlight trip round Indian Head. Meanwhile, I can’t stand here and see you losing good money.”
“That’s a bargain, Cap’n Crumbie,” replied Jack. “Any evening you want the Sea-Lark you just mention it.”
That afternoon Jack left the hotel landing with several passengers, including the lady who had given him fifty cents on the first day. She was going into the town shopping, but Jack noticed that she stood for a moment on the wharf before embarking, and wore a rather anxious expression as she looked out toward a canoe that was being paddled about in the vicinity of Gull Island.
“Don’t you think the wind is a little too strong for any one to be out there in a canoe?” she asked.