BUMSTEAD'S ARREST--CONCLUSION
With the first sound of the crash Captain Turton and Mr. Weatherby
were out of their berths, and on deck. The searchlight of the
_Mermaid_ showed plainly what had occurred. Neither boat was
dangerously damaged, the passenger steamer hardly suffering at all.
Captain Turton took this in at a glance, and then, with the assistance
of the mates, he quieted the frightened passengers.
"How did it happen, Nat?" asked Mr. Weatherby gravely.
"That fellow went wrong!" exclaimed Nat, in his nervous excitement.
"Whoever was steering that boat gave the wrong signals. I'm positive
of that. Twice I warned him to keep away, but he kept crowding me
closer, until he rammed me. It was his fault."
"There will have to be an investigation," said the pilot. "I'm sorry
this happened."
"Ahoy the _Mermaid_!" came a hail from the other boat. "What's the
matter with you fellows, anyhow? Can't you keep on your own side of
the channel? My bows are stove in, and you've injured one of my men!"
"Who are you?" called back the pilot.
"Captain Carter, of the _Liberty Bell_."
"It was your steersman's fault," shouted Mr. Weatherby. "Are you in
any danger?"
"No, but I'm going to lay-to until morning, and then I want to know
who's going to settle for my damage."
"We'll see you in the morning, then," was the pilot's answer.
Nat passed an uneasy night. Though he knew the fault of the collision
was not his, he worried lest he might not be able to prove it. There
might be an old pilot in the other vessel--a pilot up to all sorts of
tricks, who, even if he was wrong, could so make matters appear as to
throw the blame on Nat.
"If he does, that ends my career as a pilot," thought our hero.
Soon after breakfast Captain Turton, with the pilot and Nat, went
aboard the other vessel. Her bow was quite badly damaged, but the
break did not extend below the waterline.
"Did you say some of your men were injured?" asked Captain Turton,
when he had greeted the commander of the _Liberty Bell_.
"Yes, sir, my mate, Joseph Bumstead. His leg is broken."
"What?" cried Nat and the pilot in the same breath.
"Bumstead is his name. I don't see anything peculiar in that," replied
Captain Carter, looking at the two in surprise.
"Well, as it happens, there is something peculiar about it," went on
Captain Turton. "We have a warrant for his arrest on a serious charge.
However, if his leg is broken, he isn't very likely to get away, and I
think we can proceed with the investigation. I want to find out who is
to blame for this."
"Your steersman, of course," was Captain Carter's quick answer.
"It's natural you should say that. But we'll see."
Several members of the crew of both vessels were called as witnesses.
Nat told his story, of how he had tried to warn the other vessel away,
and how the steersman of it had persisted in crowding him.
"By the way, who is your pilot?" asked Mr. Weatherby. "I haven't seen
him since I came aboard."
"I have no regular pilot," answered Captain Carter. "My mate, Mr.
Bumstead, whom I recently engaged, was steering when the collision
occurred. He told me he could qualify as a pilot."
"Hum," remarked Mr. Weatherby. "I think it will be a good plan to
question Bumstead."
"He's in his bunk."
"Then we'll go there. Come, Nat."
The rascally mate started when he saw the boy, and his face, that was
flushed with a slight fever, grew pale.
"Well, you've caught me, I see," he fairly snarled. "But luck is
against me."
"Yes, we've caught you in more ways than one," said the pilot.
"How do you mean?"
"I mean that you gave the wrong signals last night, either
intentionally or through ignorance, and that you caused this
collision."
"Who says so?"
"Half a dozen witnesses. Members of your own crew, for that matter."
"My own crew?"
"Yes."
"I don't believe it."
"It is true, nevertheless."
"Name the men," growled Bumstead. He was suffering considerably, yet
he still had some fight in him.
For reply two of the deckhands were called in, and each, after much
urging, told his story in detail.
"That ain't true," growled the mate, but his voice sounded weak and
uncertain.
"It is true," cried one of the men. Bumstead had treated him roughly
the day previous, and he was glad of a chance to "square accounts."
"So it is--every word," put in the second deckhand who had been
summoned.
"You are all against me," muttered the mate. "It's a plot, I reckon."
"No plot at all," cried Captain Turton. "We are simply bound to get at
the bottom of this affair."
To this Joseph Bumstead made no reply.
"I'd like to know why you told me that you could qualify as a pilot,"
put in Captain Carter, and his voice had anything but a pleasant ring
to it.
"I can qualify."
"I don't believe it."
"He is no pilot, and never was," said Nat. "He has done very little
steering."
"You don't know what I've done," growled the mate.
"Yes, I do know!" exclaimed the boy quickly. "I know a good bit more
than you think I do."
"Ha! What do you mean by that?"
"You'll find out later. We'll settle one question at a time."
"See here, Bumstead, you might as well own up that you were
responsible," said Mr. Weatherby. "If you try to stick it out you'll
only make matters worse. To my way of thinking, you ran into us on
purpose."
"No! no! I--I----" The mate hesitated, not knowing how to proceed.
"Come, out with it."
"Well--er--if you must know the truth, I--er--I got confused."
"Confused!" roared Captain Carter.
"Ye-es. I--er--I had a headache, and I got a sudden spell of
blindness. I--er--I wanted to put the wheel over, but before I could
get straightened out the damage was done."
"I don't believe a word of that!" exclaimed Captain Turton. "He is a
rascal!"
"No! no! I was confused--I swear it!" groaned the mate. All the
remaining courage was oozing out of him. "I did my best to clear your
vessel, but I simply couldn't do it."
Captain Carter turned to one of his hands.
"Did he act confused, so far as you know?" he questioned.
"I don't know about that," answered the man. "He sure didn't steer the
boat right."
"I sometimes get those dizzy spells," said Bumstead. "They come on me
without warning. When they do come I don't know what I am doing for
the minute."
"You should have told me of this before," said Captain Carter.
"I--er--I was afraid I'd lose my job if I did. But I was confused, I
swear I was. Otherwise, I should never have run into that other boat."
They had to let it go at that, since there was no direct proof of any
intentional desire to smash into the _Mermaid_, and the charge was too
grave to take any chances on. But it was satisfactorily proved that
the mate did give the wrong signals, and that Nat was not to blame.
"Now that is over, we have another matter against you," went on Mr.
Weatherby. "I presume you know what it is, Bumstead."
"Yes," said the other in a low voice.
"Nat, go ashore and call an officer," said the pilot.
"Don't do that!" begged the mate. "I'll confess everything, and I'll
pay the money back with interest."
"Then you admit that you kept the fifteen hundred dollars you were to
deliver to Mr. Morton's son?"
"Yes. It was a great temptation, after I cashed the lumber
certificates. I needed the money badly, and I kept it. I meant to pay
it back, but I--I couldn't."
"And will you pay back the money on the note?"
"Every penny, with interest, if you don't have me arrested."
"What do you say, Nat?" asked Mr. Weatherby.
"I have no desire to see him arrested, though I think he tried to
injure me in other ways than by keeping this money from me. But I
forgive him," answered the boy.
"I think that is the best way," went on the pilot. "You have been
punished almost enough, Bumstead. I hope it will be a lesson to you."
"It will. Mr. Morton was kind to me, and I treated his son very wrong.
I'm--I'm sorry," and the mate turned his face away, so they would not
see him weeping.
Nat was glad to get away from the sad scene. On his way out he passed
Sam Shaw, but that youth had nothing to say, and he turned aside.
"I feel that I owe you an apology," said Captain Carter to Captain
Turton. "I'll discharge that rascal of a mate and his red-headed
nephew, too."
About two weeks later, through the efforts of Mr. Scanlon, the lawyer
who took charge of the case for Nat, the entire sum appropriated by
the mate, together with interest for two years, was recovered, and
turned over to the young pilot, who also received his father's
wallet, which he prized very much. Bumstead and Sam lost their places
on the _Liberty Bell_, and at last accounts they were working as
laborers aboard a grain barge, for the mate had to sell his shares in
the _Jessie Drew_ to pay Nat what was coming to the boy. Sam confessed
his trick about the cigarettes, and Captain Marshall, when he heard
about it, begged Nat's pardon in a letter.
"Well," said Mr. Weatherby to Nat one day, "since you have come into
your inheritance, I suppose you'll give up learning to be a pilot?"
"Indeed, I shall not. I'm going to spend a couple of terms at school,
and then I'm coming back with you again. I want to see my old friends,
Mr. and Mrs. Miller, and do something for them, in return for their
kindness to me. I'm going to be a pilot yet, and, I hope, a good one."
"There is no question but what you will, if you keep on as you have
been going," returned Mr. Weatherby.
Nat used part of the money to better his education, and he gave a
goodly sum to his kind friends, so that they were able to live in
better circumstances. Then the young pilot resumed his work aboard a
big passenger steamer, Mr. Weatherby coaching him, until the aged man
said Nat knew as much as he did, if not more.
To-day, one of the best pilots on the Great Lakes is Nat Morton, who
once was a wharf-rat about the Chicago water front. But he won his
place through pluck and after not a few perils.
THE END
THE WEBSTER SERIES
By FRANK V. WEBSTER
[Illustration: BOB THE CASTAWAY]
Mr. WEBSTER'S style is very much like that of the boys' favorite
author, the late lamented Horatio Alger, Jr., but his tales are
thoroughly up-to-date.
Cloth. 12mo. Over 200 pages each. Illustrated. Stamped in various
colors.
Price per volume, 65 cents, postpaid.
=Only A Farm Boy=
_or Dan Hardy's Rise in Life_
=The Boy From The Ranch=
_or Roy Bradner's City Experiences_
=The Young Treasure Hunter=
_or Fred Stanley's Trip to Alaska_
=The Boy Pilot of the Lakes=
_or Nat Morton's Perils_
=Tom The Telephone Boy=
_or The Mystery of a Message_
=Bob The Castaway=
_or The Wreck of the Eagle_
=The Newsboy Partners=
_or Who Was Dick Box?_
=Two Boy Gold Miners=
_or Lost in the Mountains_
=The Young Firemen of Lakeville=
_or Herbert Dare's Pluck_
=The Boys of Bellwood School=
_or Frank Jordan's Triumph_
=Jack the Runaway=
_or On the Road with a Circus_
=Bob Chester's Grit=
_or From Ranch to Riches_
=Airship Andy=
_or The Luck of a Brave Boy_
=High School Rivals=
_or Fred Markham's Struggles_
=Darry The Life Saver=
_or The Heroes of the Coast_
=Dick The Bank Boy=
_or A Missing Fortune_
=Ben Hardy's Flying Machine=
_or Making a Record for Himself_
=Harry Watson's High School Days=
_or The Rivals of Rivertown_
=Comrades of the Saddle=
_or The Young Rough Riders of the Plains_
=Tom Taylor at West Point=
_or The Old Army Officer's Secret_
=The Boy Scouts of Lennox=
_or Hiking Over Big Bear Mountain_
=The Boys of the Wireless=
_or a Stirring Rescue from the Deep_
=Cowboy Dave=
_or The Round-up at Rolling River_
=Jack of the Pony Express=
_or The Young Rider of the Mountain Trail_
=The Boys of the Battleship=
_or For the Honor of Uncle Sam_
CUPPLES & LEON CO., Publishers. NEW YORK
THE BOY RANCHERS SERIES
By WILLARD F. BAKER
_12mo. Cloth. Illustrated. Jacket in full colors_
[Illustration: THE BOY RANCHERS IN CAMP]
_Price per volume, 65 cents, postpaid_
_Stories of the great west, with cattle ranches as a setting, related
in such a style as to captivate the hearts of all boys._
=1. THE BOY RANCHERS=
_or Solving the Mystery at Diamond X_
Two eastern boys visit their cousin. They become involved in an
exciting mystery.
=2. THE BOY RANCHERS IN CAMP=
_or The Water Fight at Diamond X_
Returning for a visit, the two eastern lads learn, with delight, that
they are to become boy ranchers.
=3. THE BOY RANCHERS ON THE TRAIL=
_or The Diamond X After Cattle Rustlers_
Our boy heroes take the trail after Del Pinzo and his outlaws.
=4. THE BOY RANCHERS AMONG THE INDIANS=
_or Trailing the Yaquis_
Rosemary and Floyd are captured by the Yaqui Indians but the boy
ranchers trailed them into the mountains and effected the rescue.
=5. THE BOY RANCHERS AT SPUR CREEK=
_or Fighting the Sheep Herders_
Dangerous struggle against desperadoes for land rights brings out
heroic adventures.
=6. THE BOY RANCHERS IN THE DESERT=
_or Diamond X and the Lost Mine_
One night a strange old miner almost dead from hunger and hardship
arrived at the bunk house. The boys cared for him and he told them of
the lost desert mine.
=7. THE BOY RANCHERS ON ROARING RIVER=
_or Diamond X and the Chinese Smugglers_
The boy ranchers help capture Delton's gang who were engaged in
smuggling Chinese across the border.
_Send For Our Free Illustrated Catalogue_
CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY, Publishers New York
* * * * *
Transcriber's Note: A list of illustrations, which was not present in
the original edition, has been created for this electronic text. In
addition, the following typographical errors present in the original
print edition have been corrected.
In Chapter V, "shaking his first" was changed to "shaking his fist".
In Chapter VIII, "He knew it would take him several years engineer set
in operation the powerful pumps, to be a capable one, but he
determined to get a good ground work or the higher branches of it, and
so he listened carfully to all that Mr. Weatherby told him." was
changed to "He knew it would take him several years to be a capable
one, but he determined to get a good ground work or the higher
branches of it, and so he listened carefully to all that Mr. Weatherby
told him."
In Chapter XI, a missing quotation mark was added after "I never put
it there".
In Chapter XVI, "let him have the whole businesss" was changed to "let
him have the whole business".
In Chapter XVII, "the Sanlons wanted to begin their trip" was changed
to "the Scanlons wanted to begin their trip".
In Chapter XVIII, "the other vessed" was changed to "the other
vessel".
In Chapter XX, an extraneous quotation mark was removed after "No,
sir".
In Chapter XXIII, "throwing back his boat" was changed to "throwing
back his coat".
End of Project Gutenberg's The Boy Pilot of the Lakes, by Frank V. Webster