_Inspection of the Schooner.--Captain Pratt to the Rescue.--His Engines
and his Industry.--Up she rises!--Who’ll go for Captain Corbet?_
CAPTAIN Pratt was the first to break the silence.
“Wal,” said he, at last, “whar’s Corbet?”
“He’s home.”
“Home? Why don’t he do something?”
“Why, what can he do?”
“Do? Everything.”
“He says the schooner’s lost.”
“Lost!”
“Yes.”
“Did he say so himself?”
“He said the schooner was ‘a gone sucker.’ Those were his own words.”
“And didn’t he try to do anything?”
“No.”
“What--didn’t even try?”
“No.”
“Wal, I declare! I never did think that Corbet had much brains; but this
beats everything. To go and let his schooner go to destruction in this
way, and not even try to save her, is a little beyond what I expected
even of _him_. But how did it happen?”
The boys told him.
“And so,” said Captain Pratt, “he came here next day, and found the
schooner lying here, and did nothing--jest sot down and lamented over
her. Why, what’s the man made of? He’s about the only man I ever heard
of that could sit still and see his property perish.”
“But all the people in the village thought it was lost.”
“Of course. If he said so, they believed him. If he did nothing, why
should they try to do anything? If a man won’t help himself, you don’t
suppose other people’s goin to help him--do you?”
“And do you think, after all, that she could have been saved?”
“Course she could.”
“And she wasn’t lost?”
“Course she wasn’t.”
“Could she be saved now?”
“Course she can.”
“What! and she isn’t lost, after all?”
“Course she isn’t.”
At this astounding intelligence the boys looked at one another in silent
amazement.
“Why, look here,” said Captain Pratt; “what happened to that there
schooner often happens to others. It’s a mighty unpleasant thing to
happen; but schooners do get over it, after all. I’ve helped friends
out of similar scrapes, and have sot several schooners right side up
in worse places than this.. There’s nothing so very bad about this. The
position is a good one for working in, too; and the mud here isn’t so
soft as it is in other places around here by a long chalk. But whatever
got into Corbet’s head I can’t imagine. It beats me.”
“Can you really save her then, after all--you yourself?”
“Course I can--only not single-handed. I’d want some help.”
“And _will_ you?”
“Course I will, with the above proviso. Captain Pratt’s a man that’s
always ready to help a neighbor, and though this here neighbor doesn’t
seem altogether inclined to help himself, yet I’m ready to do what I
can.”
At the generous offer of Captain Pratt the joy of the boys was
inexpressible. They at once poured forth a torrent of questions as to
when he could begin his work, and where, and how, and what they could do
to help him, and whether they could do anything at all; which questions
being all asked at once could not be immediately answered.
“You see, boys,” said Captain Pratt, “I’ll need some help.”
“We’ll do what we can.”
“That’s right. I’ll have to rely on you. I’ve only got two men in the
schooner, and we can’t do all. If you know any men about the village,
send them or bring them along. Send for Corbet, too.”
“O, we want to have it all done without Captain Corbet knowing anything
about it till it’s all over.”
“Why not let him come, and take his share in the work?”
“O, it would be better fun to get him down here, and let him see his
vessel afloat.”
“Fun, you call it! Wal, I won’t dispute about words. At any rate, it
ought to teach him a lesson.”
“But when can we begin?--now?”
“Now?” replied Captain Pratt, with a smile. “Wal--hardly--not just now,
I should say. You see the vessel’s partly in the mud, and a good deal in
the water, and it would be rather difficult to get at her so as to go to
work.”
“How long will it be before we can begin?”
“Not till the tide leaves her.”
“That will be after dark.”
“Yes, this evening; but to-morrow morning the tide will be out, and
everything can be done then.”
“But then we shall be in school.”
“So you will. Well, it’ll have to be managed without you. But, after
all, you won’t be wanted till the evening. My men and I can do all the
fixins. We’ll get everything ready when the tide is out, and then in the
evening, when you come, you will be able to help without getting up to
your eyes in mud.”
“O, well, we’ll all be down.”
“How many can you muster? A dozen boys like you will be enough.”
“O, we can muster more than that, if you wish it. We will bring down the
whole school.”
“All right then. You see it will be about eight men’s work. I and my
men make three, and you lads ought to make up the rest. It’ll be mostly
pullin that you’ll be wanted for.”
“Pulling?”
“Yes--histin. I’ll rig some tackle for you. Besides, I’ll have to get
the vessel clear of mud at low tide. There can’t be much in her here.”
“Why, we thought, from what Captain Corbet said, that by this time she
would be sunk so deep that she would be half buried in the mud, and half
full of it.”
“Nonsense! The mud just here on this slope isn’t very deep. Six or eight
inches of mud is about all she’d sink in. Two or three hours’ work will
clear all that away, and then all that is left for us to do is to get
her right side up, and I’ll rig the tackle for that.”
“I must say, Captain Pratt,” said Bart, “it’s un commonly good in you to
take so much time and trouble.”
“O, as for that,” said Captain Pratt, “neighbors must be neighborly, and
seafarin men most so. Besides, I hain’t got anything in particular to
do to-morrow, and I’d like very well to turn a hand to this. But I
don’t see yet why Corbet should go and be such a precious old goose. The
vessel ain’t worth much, but she’s worth settin right side up; that I’ll
maintain.”
The captain then proceeded to explain his plan of action to the boys
more minutely, so that at last they perceived how very simple and
feasible it was, and wondered now that Captain Corbet should have given
up his vessel so readily, without making any effort, where an effort
would have been so very easy.
“I understand now, I think,” said Bart, “why Captain Corbet gave up
the vessel. It was the babby. He wanted to be able to devote himself
altogether to his domestic cares.”
After spending some further time the boys took their departure, with
the understanding that they were to return on the following day after
school, with all the boys that they could muster.
By seven o’clock on the following morning, Captain Pratt was at work
at the Antelope. The tide had retreated far enough to allow of an
investigation of her condition, though the water which had filled her at
the last tide had not run out of her. His first work was to bore a few
auger holes along the lower part of her deck, to let all the water run
out. The Antelope was not, after all, so very deep in the mud as had
been supposed by the boys. It had covered her taffrail some inches, but
this could be shovelled away without any very severe exertion; and
it was to this that Captain Pratt and his men first directed their
energies. Two hours’ work sufficed for them to clear away all this,
after which they turned their attention to other things. First of all,
as the water had now run out, Captain Pratt stopped up the auger holes
tightly, and then prepared to close the hatchways. This was a work
of extreme difficulty. The hatches which belonged to the schooner had
floated away long ago, and it was necessary to make new ones. This
was at length done by working up some stuff that was on board Captain
Pratt’s vessel, which they then proceeded to fasten to the hatchways of
the Antelope. The position in which the schooner lay made it excessively
difficult. She was on her side on a slope in such a way that her deck
overhung them somewhat as they worked, so that they labored at a
great disadvantage; however, they persevered, and at length had the
satisfaction of seeing that the new hatches were fastened in with
sufficient firmness to suit their purposes, and were judged to be
sufficiently water-tight for the present emergency.
The work thus far, important though it was, had been essentially
preliminary; and now the machinery had to be arranged for the immediate
work of raising the fallen vessel to her proper position. Captain Pratt
and his men took a number of spars from their schooner, and selecting
three of them, bound their ends together, and stood these three like a
tripod, as near to the schooner as possible, and close by the foremast.
Three more bound together in a similar way were placed near the
mainmast. From the top of each of these a tackle-block was suspended,
and a line also was passed from each, and run around a tree which stood
about a dozen yards away from the edge of the bank. Another line
passed from each tackle-block, and was fastened around each mast of the
schooner.
Captain Pratt’s design was now evident.
First of all he had cleared away the mud that had covered the taffrail
of the schooner, and emptied her of water; then he had battened down the
hatches so that at the next rising tide no water should enter her; and
finally he had rigged the tackle-blocks so as to hoist up the schooner
to an erect position by means of the united efforts of all that could be
mustered. But the schooner, as she now lay, could not be raised by such
means. It was necessary to have additional help, and that help was to
be found in the rising tide. When the water should rise so as to be deep
enough for the schooner to float in, the task of pulling her up to an
erect position would be comparatively easy.
Captain Pratt’s labors were energetically performed, and finally, just
as he had completed his tackle arrangements, the tide began to flow
around the schooner.
In another hour the water was high around her; still another, and
the tide was at its fullest height, and Captain Pratt began to look
anxiously for the boys.
Meanwhile the boys on the hill had all heard of the proposed enterprise,
and, from the largest to the smallest, were filled with intense
excitement. They chafed impatiently against the restraints of the
school, and waited with extreme difficulty for the closing hour. At
last it came; and then, with loud shouts, and screams, and laughter,
the whole school set off at a run for the scene of action, which they
reached just as Captain Pratt began to feel impatient.
“Hooray!” shouted the gallant captain, as he saw them pouring down
towards the wharf. “Here you are,--and lots of you, too. You’re just in
time, too. The tide’s up, the tackle is rigged, and all we’ve got to do
now is to go to work.”
The boys looked hastily around, and though they could not see all that
had been done, yet they could comprehend the purpose of the tackle which
they saw before them, and had no doubt whatever that the undertaking
would be perfectly successful.
“Now, boys,” said Captain Pratt, “you can’t all bear a hand, but you
small boys’ll have to be satisfied with lookin on. I’ll choose the
biggest to help me, and show you where you’ve got to pull.”
Saying this, he selected from among the boys: Bruce, Arthur, Bart, Tom,
Phil, Jiggins, Muckle, Sammy Ram Ram, Johnny Blue, Billymack, Bogud,
and Pat, and these he stationed at the tackle which was attached to the
foremast, while he himself and his two men went to the lines which were
attached to the mainmast.
“Now, boys,” said he, “it’s no use to pull every which way. Pull
together as I give the word. Mind--it’s a long pull, a strong pull, and
a pull all together. I’ll sing, and you pull at the chorus---that’s the
way.”
Saying this, Captain Pratt burst forth with a rude song, which was,
“Up she rises;
Hi ho, cheerly, men!
Heave her up;
Hi ho, cheerly, men!
All together;
Hi ho, cheerly, men!
Heave with a will;
Hi ho, cheerly, men!”
And at every cry, “Hi ho, cheerly, men,” Captain Pratt and his men gave
a pull, and the boys, watching him, pulled also. At first they were a
little irregular, but they soon caught the time, and pulled as regularly
as the men. And thus, with a long pull, and a strong pull, and a pull
all together, they sought to raise up the fallen schooner.
The schooner felt it. Already the mud had been detached from its grasp,
and the water which flowed around formed an additional assistant,
buoying it up, and supporting it as they pulled. The clinging mud
was the only thing to contend with. The first pull loosened its hold
somewhat, the second and third did this still more, and finally the
fourth raised the masts above the surface of the water. Again and again
they pulled, and higher and higher came the masts, until at last, when
high up in the air, all further pulling was rendered unnecessary by
the schooner, which threw herself upon her keel in the water, and thus
righted herself of her own accord. She did not sit very fair, it is
true, for the mud which had accumulated on one side of her hold gave
her a lop-sided appearance; but that mattered little to the boys. It was
enough triumph to them that she was afloat, and so they celebrated their
triumph in long, loud cheers.
Having thus righted the schooner, Captain Pratt prepared to secure her
in a proper manner.
“We’ve righted her, boys,” said he, “and now let’s take care that she
shan’t be wronged.”
With this end in view, lines were fastened from the schooner to the
shore, and Captain Pratt finally pronounced her free from danger.
The boys now crowded around the Antelope to see what marks she bore
of her late calamities. There she floated before them, her masts and
rigging plastered with mud, yet afloat, and able once more to plough
the seas after her own fashion. A few among them managed to scramble
on board, the righted schooner. The scene around was not particularly
attractive. The mud still clung close to the deck and rigging, and even
Captain Pratt’s work around the hatches was already coated over with
thick slime. The scene was not an attractive one, and they did not
remain there long.
“She wants cleanin,” remarked Captain Pratt, after a long
survey,--“that’s a fact; an what’s more, she wants corkin--no
doubt,--an a good coat o’ tar. She wants new spars, an riggin, an
chains, an anchors,--a new deck, too, and pumps wouldn’t be out of the
way; and for that matter, while they were about it, they might as well
put a new hull onto her. By that time she’d be fit to carry taters, and
Corbet might make a little money out of her. But it would cost a
good bit to do all that, and so I dar say Corbet’ll sail her as she
stands,--if he sails her at all. Arter all, he might as well, bein as
she’s jest as good now as ever she was. She never was much; but then
she’s been lucky, and did well enough for Corbet. It would be kind of
onnateral to see him aboard of any other craft than this here.”
“Boys,” said Bart, “something ought to be done in honor of this great
occasion; and above all, we ought to make up some way to bring Corbet
face to face with his restored Antelope. Shall we tell him at once, and
let him come down?”
“No, let’s leave it till he finds out. Let’s give him a shock of
surprise.”
“But how will we know anything about his surprise, unless we are here on
the spot at that great meeting between Corbet and his lost but restored
schooner?”
“O, we’ll have to manage it so as to be here when he comes down to see
it.”
“We ought to arrange some plan.”
“Shall we let him know what has happened, or get him to come down here
for something else?”
“O, we ought to get him to come for something else, and then his
surprise will be all the greater.”
“But what else?”
“That we’ll have to think over.”
“We ought to make haste about it, then.”
“Yes, we ought to decide before the end of the week.”
“The end of the week! Nonsense! Why not to-day?”
“To-day?”
“Of course. Now’s the time. We must get him down to-day, while we’re all
here. If we don’t, he’ll be certain to hear all about it before tomorrow
from some one else.”
“Yes, of course.”
“To-day’s the time.”
“Yes, to-day. We’re all here. I want to see the meeting. I wouldn’t lose
the sight for anything.”
“Well--what shall we get up to bring him here?”
“O, let’s send word that Captain Pratt wants to see him on very
particular business.”
“That won’t bring him, especially if he’s got the babby. He wouldn’t
come down before when the business was still more important.”
“We couldn’t send some word about a potato freight, I suppose.”
“No, for three reasons; first, because it isn’t the truth; secondly,
because he believes that he has no schooner; and thirdly, because he is
indifferent to potato freights.”
“Well, what shall we tell him, then?”
This conversation went on, every one speaking at once; but no one being
able to think of any plausible message to send to Captain Corbet which
should be true, and at the same time not disclose the actual facts. At
last they concluded that it was impossible to make up such a message;
and as the time was passing, they determined to send for him at all
hazards.
But who would go?
Pat at once offered, much to the relief of all the others, who wanted
to be on the spot when Captain Corbet arrived. Pat, however, was very
good-natured, and didn’t at all mind the long walk, but promised to be
back in an hour, along with Captain Corbet.
“Don’t tell him about the schooner, unless you have to,” said Bruce.
“Sure an what’ll I tell him, thin?”
“O, tell him anything at all, so long as it’s the truth, and no humbug,
you know. Just tell him in a general way something or other.”
“Somethin or other in a gineral way?” repeated Pat.
“Yes, something that’ll make him come down, you know; and don’t tell him
about the schooner, unless you have to.”
“Deed, thin, an I won’t. I’ll tell him somethin in gineral, an nothin in
particular.”
“But no humbug, you know.”
“No--surely not; it’s mesilf that won’t.”
And with these words Pat took himself off.