A CHANGE OF LOCATION.
Both of the quarter boats of the Sylph were lowered into the water, and
a shore party landed with Captain Dornwood. The steamer was then left in
charge of the first pilot. The hands on board of the gundalow had poled
her up to the beach where she had grounded.
"I am glad to see you, Dory," said Paul Bristol, when the captain went
on shore. "It was so late that I was afraid you were not coming."
"We have plenty of time to do the job, for I don't think it will take us
a great while. Have you seen anything of the Chesterfields this
evening?"
"Not one of them has been near the point, so far as I know, and I don't
expect to see any of them. I suppose they are dreaming of the fun they
will have in pitching the cottage into the lake to-morrow afternoon,"
added Paul, with a cheerful smile. "But I don't see how you are going to
move the building, Dory."
"If you keep your eye on us sharp for an hour or so you will see,"
replied the leader of the enterprise, as he turned his attention to the
business before him.
After half an hour's hard work, the lumber, blocks, and rigging on the
deck of the scow were landed on the beach. With thirty pairs of hands
the work was not very hard, and they tossed the large sticks about as
though they had been nothing but chips. By this time they understood
what was to be done, and the students were full of enthusiasm. They were
required to work in silence; for though the Chesterfield school was all
of half a mile from Sandy Point, Dory was very anxious lest their
operations should be disturbed by the institute people.
Two heavy timbers were placed under the cottage; the jack-screws were
put in position under them, and the building raised from the posts which
supported it. A plankway was laid on the smooth sand, the posts were
removed, and the cottage set on rollers. The plankway was continued to
the water.
There was a considerable descent from the site of the cottage to the
water. Two heavy ropes were attached to the building, and passed around
a couple of large trees in the rear of it. The plankway was an inclined
plane, and it required but little force to start the cottage on its
journey. With a couple of turns around the trees, the hands stationed at
the check-lines easily controlled its movements, and slacked off only as
the captain gave the word.
In a few minutes the building was rolled down almost to the water. The
gundalow was aground on the shore end. Two heavy timbers were extended
from the deck to the beach and supported by blocks so that they would
bear the weight of the structure. These beams lay nearly level when they
were in position, and just reached the end of the plankway on shore. The
check-lines were eased off again when smooth bearings for the rollers
had been prepared.
When the cottage was about half on the timber-ways the force of gravity
was no longer available, and the building refused to budge another inch.
While Captain Dornwood was on the front of the structure, some twenty of
the students in the rear tried to push it toward the gundalow; but they
could not start it.
"Enough of that!" called Dory, as soon as he saw what they were doing.
"You are acting without orders, and wasting your strength for nothing."
"But the building sticks fast where it is," said Ben Ludlow.
"If you think you can push it ahead you are mistaken," added the
captain. "It has gone as far as I expected it to go of itself."
The two check-lines were then carried on board of the scow, and the
Sylph was backed up to her. The lines were made fast at the quarters of
the steamer. Dory stood on the after end of the gundalow, and, with a
boatswain's whistle, made a signal agreed upon with the pilot to go
ahead.
The lines stiffened and strained, and then the cottage began to move
again. The timber ways had been continued on the deck of the scow, and
the building moved very slowly until the captain gave a second signal
with the whistle.
The rollers were instantly blocked by hands under the direction of the
first officer. But the rear of the cottage just reached the stern of the
gundalow. At least half of the weight of the building rested upon the
sand at the bottom. The water deepened very rapidly near the shore on
the outside of the point, and it became necessary to handle the heavy
burden with the greatest care, for the forward end of the craft would
settle down as soon as the structure was moved any further, forming an
inclined plane, on which the cottage might roll overboard.
There were four iron rings at the stern of the scow, and check-lines
were extended from them to the structure. A double turn was taken in
each over a cleat, and hands placed at these ropes. The signal was again
given for the steamer to go ahead. The building moved a few feet
further, and the rollers were promptly chocked when the captain gave the
whistle to "stop her."
The cottage was not yet exactly in the middle of the deck, and another
movement was necessary. The bow of the scow settled down, but the
check-lines held the house firmly in position. The second move was so
well timed that it placed the building in exactly the right place.
The check-lines were belayed under the direction of the first officer,
while the second officer proceeded to fasten the cottage to the rings in
the bow of the scow. It was to remain on the rollers during the trip to
its destination, and Captain Dornwood made sure that it was secured
beyond the possibility of any accident.
All the spare hands were then ordered to the shore, Dory leading the
way. The lumber, jack-screws, blocks, and other material were put on the
scow, for there was still abundance of space forward and abaft the
house. Everything connected with the cottage was put on board.
"By the big wooden spoon!" exclaimed Paul, when the burden of the work
was done. "I didn't believe you could do it with a hundred men."
"We haven't finished the job yet," replied Dory, laughing.
"But I believe you can do all the rest of it," added Paul, filled with
admiration. "These students are good for something besides keeping bread
and meat from spoiling."
"They are good fellows," answered Dory, "but we have not quite finished
over here yet."
"You fellows might come over here some night and carry off the building
of the Chesterfield Collegiate Institute if you felt like it. I don't
see what more there is to do."
A lot of shovels, hoes, and iron rakes had been brought over on the
steamer, and these were now carried on shore. The post-holes under the
cottage were filled up, every particle of rubbish was removed, and the
ground raked over until every thing was as smooth as though no human
being had ever resided within a mile of the spot.
"By the big wooden spoon!" shouted Paul. "It looks just as it did when
we first came here."
"We will leave everything in good order and condition so that Major
Billcord shall have nothing to complain of," replied Dory. "Now make the
Dragon fast to the stern of the gundalow, and we will get under way. I
think you had better stay in the house to see that everything goes right
there."
"All right, Dory, I will do just as you say; but I don't believe you
have started a joint in the cottage. I went up to look at the chimney
with a lantern while you were shifting it, and there is not a crack in
it."
The chimney reached only from a beam to the ridge pole, and a couple of
feet above it, so that the brickwork had required no special
consideration. But the building had been subjected to no hard usage, and
no damage had been done to it. All the furniture remained just as it had
been for two years, and Mrs. Bristol might have kept house in it as well
as when it was stationary.
As soon as the ship's company were all on board of the steamer, or the
scow, the captain gave the word to go ahead. The tow-lines had been
adjusted before. The end of the gundalow, which was aground, grated a
little on the sand, but it came off without difficulty, and the Sylph
with her tow headed down the lake.
The officers of the steamer were so well accustomed to handling the
gundalow that no difficulty was experienced in getting the cottage to
its destination, which was to be at Hornet Point, near the outlet of the
creek into Beechwater. The location had been suggested by Dory, and
agreed to by Captain Gildrock. It was quite as pleasant a spot as the
former site of the cottage, and was but a short distance from the new
boat-house.
The plank and timber ways were laid down as they had been on the other
side of the lake, and the building was moved to the shore as readily as
it had been put on board of the gundalow. By two o'clock in the morning
it was in position on the posts upon which it had rested at Sandy Point.
The materials were all conveyed to the quarry, and the gundalow was left
at its usual moorings.
By this time most of the students were gaping fearfully, and were very
tired. Paul remained at the cottage and went to bed after the departure
of the Sylph. The ship's company were dismissed at the wharf, and before
half past two they were all asleep in the dormitory. Mrs. Bristol and
Lily were up early in the morning, and went out to walk by six o'clock.
After the departure of the students the night before in the steamer,
they had not heard a word about the cottage. They walked over to the
boat-house, where they found the principal, who was an early riser. The
cottage could not be seen from the boat-house, though it could from the
wharf. Bates was bringing up a boat in which the captain was going out
to inspect the operations of the night.
"Good morning, Mrs. Bristol; good morning, Miss Lily. You are up early,"
said the principal.
"But I don't see anything of the cottage," replied Mrs. Bristol, after
they had returned the pleasant salutations of the captain. "I did not
hear a sound in the night, and I suppose Dory was not able to carry out
the plans we talked about."
"They certainly did not make any noise about it; but if you and Miss
Lily will take a seat in this boat, we shall soon ascertain what has
been done," said the captain, as Bates brought one of the four-oar boats
to the landing steps.
The ladies seated themselves in the stern-sheets of the boat, and the
boatman pulled out into the lake. But he kept near the shore, and the
overhanging trees obstructed the view of Hornet Point. In a few
minutes, however, the boat was out far enough to afford its occupants a
view of the mouth of the creek.
"Why, there's the cottage!" exclaimed Lily. "It looks as though it had
stood there since it was built."
"The boys have done their work very well," added Captain Gildrock.
The party landed and walked up to the cottage. Not a particle of rubbish
had been left on the premises; not a plank or a block. Where the sand on
the beach had been disturbed it had been raked over, and everything
looked as neat as though the family had lived there for a year. They
went to the front door and the back door, but both were locked. Paul was
still fast asleep in his chamber, and they did not disturb him.