A SAILBOAT IN THE TROUGH OF THE SEA.
When the Marian was half-way across the lake, the waves began to
diminish in force; and within an eighth of a mile of the high shore the
water was comparatively smooth. The barge was then headed to the
southwest, and had a quiet time of it till she reached Sandy Point. The
Gildrock and the Winooski had followed her, and were now about an eighth
of a mile astern of her.
Dory Dornwood was very popular with all the students, not because he was
the nephew of the principal, but on account of his fairness, his pluck,
and his good judgment. Though Captain Gildrock believed and trusted in
him, no one could accuse him of partiality. Perhaps the coxswains of the
two twelve-oar barges, who knew that Dory was on board of the Marian,
considered it wise and prudent to follow the lead of the eight-oar barge
for this reason.
On shore everything was as silent as the tomb. At Sandy Point, Paul
looked with deep interest for the appearance of any person in the
vicinity of the site where the cottage had stood. It was possible that
Major Billcord had sent one of his men from Westport to ascertain what
the Bristol family intended to do about the removal of the cottage or
the furniture which it contained; but Paul could see no one.
"It looks as though the coast was clear," said he, when he had completed
his survey of the point and the woods in the rear. "I don't believe any
one has been here since we left last night."
"Major Billcord must have regarded it as utterly impossible for your
mother or you to do anything more than remove some of your furniture,"
added Dory. "I am sure he did not think of such a thing as your taking
the cottage away; and I don't believe he would have considered it
possible for the Beech Hillers to do such a job. Probably he did not
count us in, or think of us at all."
"It was lucky for my mother that you came along in the Goldwing as you
did, for you have saved her all she had in the world," said Paul, with
enthusiasm.
"Now, where is the tin box in the hollow of a tree?" asked Dick Short,
as the barge approached the entrance to Sandy Bay.
"The tree is near the neck, and I had to climb up about ten feet to
reach the hollow in which the tin box was put," replied Paul. "As the
Chesterfields are expecting to have a big time in dumping the cottage
into the lake, this afternoon, they may come up early. I have no doubt
they will pull around here in their boats."
"Then I think we had better get away from the point as soon as
possible," replied the coxswain. "We don't want to get into any row with
them."
"I suppose you are not afraid of them," added Paul, laughing.
"I don't think we are, and most of the fellows wouldn't enjoy anything
better than a skirmish with them," replied Dick Short. "But the student
that does anything to bring on a row with them would be out of favor
with the principal, and might have to spend a few days in the brig for
it."
Paul had never heard of the brig, and Dick described the strong-room, or
black hole, to him. The brig is the place of confinement, or prison, on
board ships of war, and the principal had such an apartment in the
dormitory. But there had been very little use for it since the earlier
days of the school, and not half a dozen of the students had ever seen
the inside of it.
"I don't see any of the Chesterfield boats," added Paul, as he looked
along the shore. "By the big wooden spoon! Isn't the lake stirred up
ahead of us!"
"The wind has full sweep across North West Bay, where the lake is four
miles wide. It looks decidedly foamy over in Button Bay," replied Dick
Short.
"By the big wooden spoon!" repeated Paul, as he rose in his seat in the
stern-sheets.
"Sit down, Paul," said the coxswain, rather sharply. "We don't allow any
fellow to stand up in this boat when he gets excited. What is the matter
now?"
"There is a sailboat over there, and she looks as though she was tipping
over!" exclaimed Paul, dropping into his seat.
"She is over, as true as you live," added Dick, rather louder than he
usually spoke, but with hardly more excitement, so thoroughly had the
students been trained to keep cool in emergencies.
At the same time he glanced at his crew; but not one of them had turned
around to obtain a view of the event described by Paul and the
coxswain, for they had been schooled to keep their eyes on the officer
of the boat. The crew took more pride in observing this general order
than almost any other.
Dick Short gazed with all his might at the struggling sailboat, for a
moment, but he seemed to be in doubt, for the craft was at least a mile
distant. Besides himself, no one but Paul, whose judgment in regard to
the management of a sailboat was not to be relied upon, had even glanced
in the direction indicated.
"Stand by to toss!" called Dick. "Toss!"
At the last word the crew brought their oars to a perpendicular.
"Now you can look, and I wish you would do so," continued the coxswain,
as he fixed his own gaze upon the sail, which was dead to leeward, and
some distance south of Button Island.
The students were glad enough of the permission, for they had as much
curiosity, and were as much disposed to get excited, as the average of
boys. They gazed with all their eyes at the sail in the distance.
"What do you think of it, Dory?" asked Dick Short.
"I should say that sailboat is half full of water, and that the skipper
has lost his head," replied Dory, after he had taken in the situation.
"She is rolling in the trough of the sea, and they seem to be trying to
take in sail."
All the crew gazed in silence at the sailboat; but no one of them
ventured to give an opinion, if he had any, in relation to the disaster.
Dory had more experience in sailing a boat than any other student, and
perhaps they were not inclined to speak in the presence of an expert.
But Dick Short was an excellent boatman, and he deferred only to the
skipper of the Goldwing.
"She must be rolling the water into her all the time, and she may go to
the bottom at any moment," added the coxswain, whose opinion coincided
with that of Dory. "We must go to their assistance at once."
Dory indicated his assent to this proposition only by a nod of his head,
for he did not like to appear before the crew to be even an adviser of
the coxswain.
"Ready!" called Dick; at which every member of the crew at the oars
fixed his eyes upon the officer.
"Let fall!" and all the blades dropped into the water. "Give way!" and
the rowers bent to their oars.
The Marian was headed towards the disabled sailboat, and in a few
moments she was going at full speed. The coxswain did not hurry the
oarsmen, for he knew better than to exhaust them before the hard work
came on. The lake was comparatively smooth under the lee of the land,
but in a few minutes they would be in the boiling waves of the broad
bay.
"Have you seen anything of the Sylph?" asked Dory of the coxswain.
"She went up the lake when we crossed to the west shore," replied Dick.
"The last I saw of her she was off Scotch Bonnet. I think the principal
has gone up to Port Henry to order a barge-load of coal, for I heard him
tell Mr. Jepson he should do so soon."
"Then by this time he is too far off to see that sailboat," added Dory.
"He couldn't do much if he did see it, for he has not hands enough to
handle the steamer and man a boat," said Dick.
"He would manage to render all the assistance needed if he saw the
boat," replied Dory, with a smile; for he could not conceive of such a
thing as his uncle failing in any duty in an emergency. "He could put
the sailboat under the lee of the Sylph, and take every person out of
her."
"Of course he would do all he could, and he would save the people at all
hazards," continued Dick, still straining his vision to get a better
idea of the situation of the sailboat. "But how about the tin box in the
hollow of the tree, Paul?"
"I shall have time enough to get that before the fellows go to the point
to tip the cottage over into the lake," replied Paul. "This boat begins
to leap like a greyhound chasing a rabbit."
"The boat will do very well as long as we can keep her end-on to the
sea," added Dory, who thought the new pupil might be alarmed when the
barge got into the worst of it. "But remember that you are to do nothing
without orders from the coxswain. Simply keep your seat and look out for
yourself."
"I think I can stand it as long as the rest of you," replied Paul, with
a cheerful smile. "I won't meddle with anything till I am told to do
so."
"The Gildrock and the Winooski are following us, and the fellows are
putting in the heavy strokes," said Dory.
"Are they gaining on us?" asked Dick.
"I think not."
The sea was very heavy ahead of the Marian, but the waves were not like
those of the ocean. They were shorter and more "choppy." But the boats
made tolerably good weather among them. In a smart sea, speed is
desirable; and it is the element in the progress of the boat which
insures safety. At such a time there are two forces acting, the
propelling power of the boat and the action of the waves. In heavy
weather there is a struggle between the two forces. In the case of the
sailing craft, the waves had got the better of the boat.
With the three barges, the advantage was on the side of the boats. They
went ahead fast enough to keep the upper hand of the waves.