CAPTAIN GILDROCK HAS DECIDED OBJECTIONS.
"Uncle Royal is a different sort of a man from what I thought he was,
and I am sorry I kept out of the way when he was looking for me. But I
hope, mother, that you don't mean to be dependent upon him or anybody
else," said Dory.
"I have struggled hard to get along, and feed and clothe you children,"
replied Mrs. Dornwood. "If I could get work enough, I could do pretty
well; but"--
"I can take care of you, mother; and I shall do it," interposed Dory.
"You, poor boy! What can you do? I heard that you had been discharged
from your place on the steamboat," added his mother. "Worse than that:
they say you took some money that didn't belong to you."
"Did Corny Minkfield bring that story over here?" demanded Dory
indignantly.
"No: your uncle heard it over at Plattsburgh."
Dory told enough of his story to prove that he did not steal the money
with which he bought the boat, but he could not tell where he got it.
Then he produced the seventy dollars he had in his pocket, and gave that
to his mother.
"Why, Dory, where in the world did you get so much money?" exclaimed
Mrs. Dornwood, as she took the bills; and the amount was more than she
had ever before possessed at one time since she was married.
"I received one hundred and five dollars for a service I rendered to a
man near Plattsburgh, and I earned ten dollars by helping the officer
capture Pearl Hawlinshed," replied Dory.
His mother wanted to know who had given him the money, and for what; and
Dory could only reply that he had promised not to tell. Mrs. Dornwood
was not satisfied, and she greatly feared that her son had been doing
something wrong.
"I can't tell when I promised not to tell," added he. "The man that gave
it to me said that I had saved him from losing a very large sum. With a
part of this I bought the Goldwing."
"I have heard all about the Goldwing Club, and so has your uncle Royal,"
said Mrs. Dornwood. "When he came up yesterday morning, he set about
finding you. We couldn't tell any thing at all what had become of you. I
supposed you was at work on the steamer till Royal told me you had been
turned away."
"It wasn't my fault that I was turned off. Major Billcord blamed me for
what was not my fault," replied Dory.
"Your uncle said as much as that, and declared that he should give Major
Billcord a piece of his mind. At last Royal came to me to know what boys
you played with when you were at home. I gave him the names of all the
boys you used to call the Colchester Club."
"They changed the name to the Goldwing Club," added Dory.
"Your uncle found them all, and they told him all about the boat you had
bought. He took them with him when he went up to Plattsburgh in his
steam-yacht. He wanted them to help him find you," continued Mrs.
Dornwood.
"Then Corny Minkfield told him that I was a thief. If he had staid with
me, he would have heard the detective prove that I was not a thief. But
my uncle heard it all," said Dory.
"He proved that you did not steal the money you paid for the boat from
the man at the hotel; and that was all. No one knows to this minute
where you did get it."
"If you won't believe what I say, I can't help it," answered Dory, with
some indignation in his tones.
"I hope it is all right, Dory; but your uncle is afraid you are getting
into bad ways. He wants to do something for you."
"I don't want him to do any thing for me. I am able to take care of
myself, and you and Marian besides. With the Goldwing I can make five
dollars a day when I can get a party," said Dory.
"You had better see your uncle Royal, and talk with him. He has been
very kind to me, and he thinks a great deal of you," said Mrs. Dornwood.
"Thinks a great deal of me!" exclaimed Dory, hardly able to believe the
statement.
"That is just what he says. We had a long talk about you yesterday
forenoon, after he came back from his trip down the lake after you. He
said you were too smart for him, and he told how you had kept out of the
way of his steam-yacht. He thinks you have talent, and it would be a
great pity to have you go wrong in the world."
Dory was utterly astonished, for he supposed his uncle had a very mean
opinion of him. But he was not quite reconciled to having his mother
dependent on his uncle. He wanted to be independent, and he had been
thinking so much of supporting the family that he was not ready to give
up the idea.
"My brother has no family. His wife died before he left off going to
sea, and he has no children," said Mrs. Dornwood. "He wants me to keep
house for him, and I shall not feel like a dependant. I and my children
are his only legal heirs, though he may give his property away by will
to whomever he pleases."
"I don't exactly like the idea of living on him," added Dory. "I never
did like him, and I can't quite get over the old feeling."
"The old feeling was all wrong, my son. I should think you would like
to live with your uncle, when he has no end of boats, and the finest
steam-yacht on the lake," argued his mother.
"I have as good a boat as I want, and I feel sure that I can support the
family with it."
Just then there was a knock at the door, and the postman handed in a
postal card directed to "Theodore Dornwood." It was from the proprietor
of the Witherill House. Two of his guests wanted a sailboat and a
skipper for three days from Tuesday morning. He had given his address
and terms to the hotel-keeper, and here was the first call for his
services.
"Look at that, mother!" exclaimed the young boatman triumphantly. "Three
days, fifteen dollars! What's the use of being dependent upon uncle
Royal?"
Mrs. Dornwood read the postal, and it looked like an avalanche of
business even to her. Dory regarded his fortune as made. He must leave
for Plattsburgh after dinner, so as to be sure and be there in the
morning. Before this matter was disposed of, Captain Gildrock presented
himself at the house.
The owner of the Sylph spoke very kindly to Dory, and the conversation
soon turned to the events of the preceding Saturday. The captain was not
yet informed in what manner the Goldwing had finally escaped from him.
The young skipper explained it all. Mrs. Dornwood informed her brother
of the reason why her son had avoided him, but the captain did not
allude to this subject in the presence of the boy.
Dory showed the postal card to his uncle, and said he was going to sail
for Plattsburgh after dinner. Captain Gildrock did not like Dory's plan
for earning a living. He objected to it in the most decided manner. He
did not believe he could make a living in this way, for there would not
be sufficient demand for the boat to make it pay.
"But I have a fifteen-dollar job to start with," pleaded Dory.
"That will do very well for one week, Theodore; but you will not find
steady employment for the season. But this is not the strongest
objection to your plan," replied Captain Gildrock.
"I don't see what other objection there can be to the plan," said Dory,
whose heart was set on the scheme.
"Perhaps you will not be able to see it when I mention it; but I think
your mother will," continued his uncle. "If you could select your own
parties, it might do very well. Many people who indulge in boating are
fast livers. You will find that some of your customers are rough
characters. You will have a great deal of drinking in your boat, and
many men who are willing to pay five dollars a day for the boat are not
such persons as I should choose for associates of a son or a nephew of
mine."
"I never drink any liquor, beer, or any thing stronger than coffee,
uncle Royal," protested Dory. "I found half a bottle of whiskey on board
of the Goldwing yesterday morning, and I threw it into the lake."
"Your habits are good now, but it is a question whether they will
continue so if you make a business of taking out parties in your boat.
You will meet men in their gayest moods, when they lay aside all
restraint."
"But I promised the landlord of the Witherill House that I would take
out parties when he sent for me," added Dory. "I think I can take care
of myself.'
"Go in this instance, if you think you ought to do so. I am going up to
Plattsburgh in the Sylph this afternoon. I have invited the Goldwing
Club to go with me, but I suppose you will be unable to join us," said
Captain Gildrock.
"I was going to ask the members to sail down with me," replied Dory.
"Very well: they may go with you, and I will bring them back. I have a
scheme in my mind upon which I have been at work this forenoon; but, if
you have concluded to do a boating business for a living, I shall have
to give it up, at least for the present."
"Has the scheme any thing to do with me?" asked Dory, his curiosity
awakened by the remark.
"It has to do with all the members of the Goldwing Club. I have been to
see Mrs. Short and Mrs. Minkfield in regard to Richard and Cornelius.
But my plan is not yet matured, and I will not say any thing more about
it until we see how you make out boating."
"I bought the boat in order to do something to help mother," added Dory.
"I didn't give forty-two dollars for it for a plaything."
"Your mother tells me that you have done every thing you could to help
her, and have given her all the money you earned. I am very glad to hear
so good a report of you, for I have been told that you were rather wild.
The only doubt I have in regard to you now is as to where the money came
from to pay for the Goldwing."
Dory told all he felt at liberty to tell, but this did not satisfy his
uncle any more than it did his mother.
"A man doesn't give a boy over a hundred dollars without some very
strong motive; and your mother is not likely ever to know the nature of
this mysterious transaction," added the captain.
"I can't break my promise, uncle Royal," protested Dory.
"Some promises are better broken than kept."
Captain Gildrock's residence was about twenty miles up the lake on
Beaver River, where he had a large estate. Dory had never been there,
though he had seen it from the river. It was decided that Mrs. Dornwood
and Marian should go to Plattsburgh in the Sylph and then go home with
the captain, as Dory was to be away for three days.
After dinner Dory went on board of the Goldwing. He had seen and invited
the members of the Goldwing Club to go with him, and they were at the
wharf when he arrived. In a few minutes they were sailing down the
lake.