[Illustration: THE YACHT WAS BEARING DOWN UPON THEM.]
THE
YOUNG OARSMEN OF LAKEVIEW.
BY
_CAPT. RALPH BONEHILL._
_Author of_
“_Rival Bicyclists_,” “_Leo, the Circus Boy_,” _Etc._
[Illustration]
NEW YORK
W. L. ALLISON CO.,
PUBLISHERS.
COPYRIGHT, 1897.
BY
W. L. ALLISON CO.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER. PAGE.
I. Jerry, Harry and Blumpo 5
II. Mrs. Fleming’s Runaway Horse 12
III. Jerry’s Bravery 18
IV. Saving the Sloop 24
V. Harry is Rescued 30
VI. The Single Shell Race 37
VII. Who Won the Shell Race 43
VIII. A Prisoner of the Enemy 48
IX. Tar and Feathers 55
X. What Towser Did 61
XI. Off for Hermit Island 67
XII. An Attack in the Dark 73
XIII. Jerry’s Shot 78
XIV. The Hermit of the Island 83
XV. The Hermit’s Secret 89
XVI. An Exciting Chase 94
XVII. Harry’s New Yacht 99
XVIII. The Robbery of the Rockpoint Hotel 108
XIX. The Red Valise 113
XX. The Mishap to the Yacht 118
XXI. Words and Blows 125
XXII. Another Boat Race 132
XXIII. Jerry Starts on a Journey 140
XXIV. The Work of a Real Hero 146
XXV. A Fruitless Search 153
XXVI. Alexander Slocum is Astonished 160
XXVII. Jerry’s Clever Escape 165
XXVIII. Something About a Tramp 171
XXIX. Mr. Wakefield Smith Again 178
XXX. An Unlooked for Adventure 182
XXXI. Nellie Ardell’s Troubles 187
XXXII. A Crazy Man’s Doings 193
XXXIII. The Little Nobody 200
XXXIV. Alexander Slocum Shows His Hand 208
XXXV. A Strange Disappearance 215
XXXVI. Jerry Hears an Astonishing
Statement 222
XXXVII. A Joyous Meeting 229
XXXVIII. Alexander Slocum is Brought to Book 237
XXXIX. Harry to the Rescue 244
XL. A Struggle in the Dark 252
XLI. A Last Race—Good-bye to the Rival
Oarsmen 262
CHAPTER I.
JERRY, HARRY, AND BLUMPO.
“I’ll race you.”
“Done! Are you ready?”
“I am.”
“Then off we go.”
Quicker than it can be related, four oars fell into the water and four
sturdy arms bent to the task of sending two beautiful single-shell craft
skimming over the smooth surface of the lake.
It was a spirited scene, and attracted not a little attention, for both
of the contestants were well known.
“Go it, Jerry! You can beat him if you try!”
“Don’t let him get ahead, Harry. Keep closer to the shore!”
“How far is the race to be?”
“Up to the big pine tree and back.”
“That’s a full mile and more. I’ll bet on Jerry Upton.”
“And I’ll bet on Harry Parker. He has more skill than Jerry.”
“But Jerry has the muscle.”
“There they go, side by side!”
And thus the talking and shouting went on along the lake front. Most of
the boys present were members of the Lakeview Boat Club, but there were
others of the town there, too, as enthusiastic as the rest.
It was a clear, warm day in June. The summer holidays at the various
institutes of learning in the vicinity had just begun, so many of the
lads had nothing to do but to enjoy themselves.
There were not a few craft out besides the two shells to which we have
drawn attention. But they drew out of the way to give the racers a free
field.
On and on went Jerry and Harry until the big pine was reached. Then came
the turn, and they started on the home stretch side by side, neither one
foot ahead of the other.
“It’s going to be a tie race.”
“Pull, Harry! Let yourself out!”
“Show him what you can do, Jerry!”
Encouraged by the shouts of their friends, both boys increase their
speed. But the increase on both sides was equal, and still the boats
kept bow and bow as they neared the boathouse.
“It’s going to be a tie, sure enough.”
“Spurt a bit, Jerry!”
“Go it for all you’re worth, Harry!”
Again the two contestants put forth additional muscle, each to
out-distance his opponent, and again the two row-boats leaped forward,
still side by side.
As old Jack Broxton, the keeper of the boathouse, said afterward: “It
would have taken twelve judges, sitting twelve days, to have told which
had the advantage.”
The finishing point was now less than five hundred feet distant, and in
a few seconds more the race would be over. The crowd began to stop
shouting, almost breathless with pent-up interest. It was surely the
prettiest race that had ever been rowed on Otasco Lake.
Splash!
The splash was followed by a splutter, and then a frantic cry for help.
A portion of the high float in front of the boathouse had unexpectedly
given way, and a short, stocky, reddish-black youth had gone floundering
over board.
“Blumpo Brown has gone under.”
“It serves him right for standing away out on the edge of the float.”
“Help! Help!” cried the youth in the water.
“Hold on, Harry! Jerry, don’t run into me!”
Alarmed by the cries, the two racers turned around, easing up on their
oars as they did so. A single glance showed them that the unfortunate
one was directly in their path.
“We must stop!” cried Jerry Upton to his friend.
“All right; call it off,” responded Harry Parker. “It was a tie.”
As he finished, both shells drew up, one on either side of Blumpo Brown.
Each of the rowers offered the struggling youth a helping hand.
Blumpo was soon clinging to Jerry’s shell. He was dripping from head to
foot, and not being at all a handsomely-formed or good-looking youth, he
presented a most comical appearance.
“It’s too bad I spoiled the race,” mumbled Blumpo. “But that’s just
me—always putting my foot into it.”
“I guess you put more than your foot into it this time,” was Harry’s
good-natured comment, as he ran close up alongside.
“Where shall I land you, Blumpo?” questioned Jerry Upton.
“Anywhere but near the boathouse,” returned Blumpo, with a shiver that
was not brought on entirely by his involuntary bath. “If you land me
there the fellows won’t give me a chance to get out of sight.”
“I’ll take you up the lake shore if you wish,” said Jerry. “I intended
to go up anyway in a row-boat.”
“All right, Jerry, do that and I’ll be much obliged to you,” returned
Blumpo Brown.
“You are going along, aren’t you, Harry?” continued Jerry, turning to
his late rival.
“Yes, I want to stop at Mrs. Fleming’s cottage,” replied Harry Parker.
In a moment more Harry had turned his shell over to old Jack Broxton and
had leaped into a row-boat.
“Ain’t you fellows going to try it over again?” asked several on the
shore, anxiously.
“Not now,” returned Jerry. Then he went on to Harry, in a lower tone: “I
didn’t expect to make a public exhibition of our little trial at speed,
did you?”
“No; not at all. It was a tie, and let it remain so.”
Jerry soon left his shell; and then four oars soon took the row-boat far
away from the vicinity of the shore; and while the three boys are on
their way up the lake, let us learn a little more concerning them,
especially as they are to form the all-important characters of this tale
of midsummer adventures.
Jerry Upton was the only son of a well-to-do farmer, whose farm of one
hundred acres lay just beyond the outskirts of Lakeview, and close to
the lake shore. Jerry was a scholar at the Lakeview Academy, and did but
little on the farm, although among the pupils he was often designated as
Cornfield.
Harry Parker was the oldest boy in the Parker family, which numbered two
boys and four girls. Harry’s father was a shoe manufacturer, whose large
factory was situated in Lakeview, and at which nearly a fourth of the
working population of the town found employment.
It had been a singular incident which had brought the two boys together
and made them firm friends. Both had been out skating on the lake the
winter before, when Harry had lost his skate and gone down headlong
directly in the track of a large ice-boat, which was coming on with the
speed of a breeze that was almost a hurricane.
To the onlookers it seemed certain that Harry must be struck and killed
by the sharp prow of the somewhat clumsy craft. But in that time of
extreme peril Jerry had whipped up like a flash on his skates, caught
Harry by the collar, and literally flung himself and the boy, who was
then almost a stranger to him, out of harm’s way.
This gallant deed of courage had been warmly applauded by those who saw
it. It also came to Mr. Parker’s ears, and from that time on the rich
shoe manufacturer took an interest in the farmer boy. He persuaded Mr.
Upton to allow Jerry to attend the academy, and promised that the boy
should have a good position in the office of the factory, should he wish
it, when his school days were over.
Harry was already a pupil at the academy, and it was here that the two
boys became warm friends. It was nothing to Harry that Jerry was a
farmer’s boy and that he was sometimes called Cornfield. He knew and
appreciated Jerry for his true worth.
And now what of Blumpo Brown, you ask? There is little to tell at this
point of our story concerning that semi-colored individual. He was alone
in the world, and had lived in Lakeview some ten years. Previous to that
time his history was a mystery. Where he had come from no one knew, and
if the truth was to be made known, no one but Blumpo himself cared. He
was a very peculiar youth, often given to making the most ridiculous
remarks, and many persons around Lakeview fancied he had considerable
Indian blood in him. He lived in half a dozen places, according to the
condition of his finances, and picked up his precarious existence by
working for anyone who would employ him. He might have had a steady
situation more than once, but it was not in Blumpo’s composition to
stick at one thing for any great length of time. We will learn much more
concerning him as our story proceeds.
[Illustration]