"We shall have to wait an hour or two," he said; "the boat won't be ready to start before three o'clock at the earliest."
"I am not so sure," was the reply. "Perhaps the steamboat will not be as late as the packets."
When they reached the wharf, no steamboat was there. Far up the river they saw, slowly moving off in the distance, a vessel, which they knew must be the Clermont, from the line of smoke that lay behind it. Immediately they began to inquire what it meant and were told, "Oh! that is one of Fulton's notions. He has given strict orders that the boat shall always leave the wharf exactly on advertised time." This was a novelty almost as great as the steamboat itself. Sailing vessels had been dependent upon the wind, and stages upon the conditions of the roads and the weather; neither made any pretence of running upon schedule time. Fulton's idea of punctuality was new and caused much grumbling for a time; but with the coming of the railroads it became an absolute necessity.
What were the two men to do? But two things could be done. They might take passage on a packet, or wait for the next trip of the Clermont. They decided to wait, as they were anxious to try the steamboat; they had had enough experience with the slow sailing vessels, and their poor accommodations. They did not permit themselves to be late a second time. In fact, the clocks had hardly struck twelve when they stepped aboard the Clermont.
The hour before the departure of the boat was spent in examining it from stem to stern. The original Clermont had been greatly improved. The wheels were now properly protected; a rudder, specially adapted to the boat and the river, had been constructed. Most noticeable were the accommodations for the passengers, which were almost elegant when compared with the poor quarters of the packets. In fact the Clermont had become "a floating palace, gay with ornamental painting, gilding, and polished woods."
At one o'clock sharp the boat quietly left the wharf. The wind was blowing freshly down the river and the tide was going out. A packet started at the same moment from a neighboring pier. The steamboat at once turned its prow up the stream, but the packet headed for the Jersey shore, as it could sail against the wind only by making long tacks. This greatly increased the distance it had to travel, and before sunset the Clermont had left the packet many miles behind.
The next morning everything was still going smoothly when the two passengers saw a little way ahead another packet, which had left New York before the steamboat. This sloop was making tacks like those they had watched the previous afternoon, and the Clermont was rapidly gaining on it. Suddenly John exclaimed, "What are they doing? Are they trying to run us down?" It was evident that the packet was coming straight for the steamboat; but the captain of the Clermont shut off steam at once and the packet passed its bow without doing harm.
COLLISION OF THE CLERMONT AND THE SLOOP.