IN WHICH ERNEST AND THE COMMISSARY VISIT CANNONDALE.
Mr. Parasyte, angry as he was, had sense enough left to see that he
could accomplish nothing by remaining longer at Camp Fair Play. The
spirit of freedom that prevailed there was unsuitable to his
constitution.
"'I go, but I return,'" said he, in the language of Catiline to the
Roman senate.
"When you return we shall receive you with all due respect, Mr.
Parasyte," said Harry Vallington.
Mr. Greene chuckled, and shook his fat sides with suppressed mirth;
and it was plain the principal had a very doubtful ally in the person
of the deputy sheriff. And the ill-mated pair walked towards the
landing, where we saw them embark, and leave the shore.
"Mr. Parasyte has more pluck than I gave him credit for," said Bob
Hale, after we had silently watched the departure of the boat. "Isn't
it a pity a man who knows so much, and is such a good teacher, should
be a tyrant?"
"He is intellectually great and morally little," added the parson,
with a savor of the cloth he was destined to wear. "He has always been
politic, and we have felt his tyranny only in little things, which are
all the more mean because they are small. He is now fully roused; he
is too obstinate to back out, even when he knows and feels that he is
in the wrong; and now he will lay policy aside. I tell you, fellows,
you must make up your minds for a hard battle, for Mr. Parasyte is in
earnest. He will leave no stone unturned to reduce us to subjection;
and if I mistake not, 'breaking away' will prove to be no joke. If any
of the students feel like giving up, now is the best time to take the
back track, for the farther we go the deeper in the mire we shall be.
If there are any who are sick of their bargain, they had better say so
now."
"No!" "No!" "No!" shouted the boys, till the sound became a unanimous
voice.
"I see you are all of one mind," continued Vallington. "I deem it
right to tell you now that, in my opinion, Mr. Parasyte is no
contemptible foe to deal with. He will make a good deal of trouble, if
he does not cause much anxiety, perhaps suffering, in our ranks."
"What can he do?" asked one of the boys.
"I don't know. He hasn't told me what he intends to do, and probably
he will not," replied our chief, facetiously.
"Can't you guess?" asked another boy; and there seemed to be a general
desire to anticipate the terrible things the principal would attempt
in order to reduce the rebellious pupils to subjection.
"I am no Yankee, and I can't guess. I can mention several things he
might do."
"Tell us, if you please!" called out one of the more timid of the
boys.
"Very likely he will attempt to starve us out by surrounding the
island with boats, and preventing us from obtaining provisions. He
must know that we have a very small stock of eatables on hand."
"We will trust to our commodore to break his lines, if he blockades
our camp," laughed Tom Rush.
"He may come with a force of men in the night, and take away the
boats."
"You said we should keep a watch at night," suggested Fred Mason.
"We hope the commodore will be able to protect his squadron," said Bob
Hale.
"I shall do my best to insure the safety of the boats, or to run the
blockade, if one is established," I replied, with becoming modesty;
and in fact I was getting so excited over the prospect, that I rather
hoped there would be an attempt to blockade us, or to carry off the
boats, that I might have an opportunity to exercise my talent for
navigation and strategy.
"And Mr. Parasyte may collect a force, and come over to capture the
whole of us. He can charge us with stealing his boats, or something of
that sort. He has already obtained a warrant for the arrest of
Thornton, and to have him taken away from us would be about the worst
thing that could happen," said Vallington.
"We will not let them take him," interposed a belligerent student.
"What will you do?"
"Pitch the sheriff overboard," replied the spunky speaker.
"That will not do," I added. "I hope no fellow will think of such a
thing as resisting an officer of the law."
"No, that wouldn't do," continued Vallington. "If Mr. Greene could not
arrest Thornton because he was out of his county, Mr. Parasyte will
get a sheriff from the proper county to do the job."
"That's so," said Bob Hale. "He will do his worst, you may depend upon
that."
"I have an idea!" I shouted, under the inspiration of my new thought;
and it really seemed to me like a brilliant suggestion.
"What is it?" demanded our leader.
"Suppose we change our quarters?"
"Where shall we go?"
"To Pine Island. It is about seven miles from here, or nine miles and
a half from Parkville," I answered.
"What shall we gain by moving?" asked Vallington, deeply interested in
my proposition.
"Several things. We are now six miles from Cannondale, where we must
procure our provisions, while Pine Island is less than three."
"That's a decided advantage, if we are to be starved out," added the
commissary.
"It is so far from Parkville that our movements could not be observed
from the shore," I continued. "And Pine Island is at least four times
as large as Cleaver Island, which would make it four times as
difficult to blockade."
"Pine Island! Pine Island!" shouted the rebels, in concert, as they
began to perceive the advantages of the proposed location.
"If the fellows don't object to working a part or the whole of the
night, we might be in our new quarters before morning; and if we keep
a good lookout, we may stay there two or three days before Mr.
Parasyte finds out where we are."
"Pine Island! Pine Island!" was the chorus which came from the throng
of boys, all of whom had gathered near the bluff.
"Those in favor of moving to-night, say ay," continued Vallington.
"Ay!" shouted the students, with one voice.
"Those opposed, say no."
There was not a dissenting voice.
"It is a unanimous vote," added the leader. "Commodore Thornton, you
are charged with the execution of this order, and you will make your
preparations accordingly."
"But what shall we do for provisions?" asked the commissary, troubled
about the proper administration of the affairs of his department. "We
must have something to eat before dinner-time to-morrow; and if we are
to keep out of sight, I don't see how we are to get anything."
"Perhaps Commodore Thornton can afford us some information on that
subject," said Vallington. "Our safety and success depend mainly upon
the vulgar things which the stomach requires."
"There is a good breeze now, General Vallington, and--"
The students interrupted me with a hearty laugh at the new title I had
given to the parson.
"A truce to titles," laughed our leader.
"You call me commodore, and I think it is no more than fair that I
should give you your proper title."
"But you were duly elected commodore of our squadron."
"Mr. Chairman, I move that Henry Vallington be created
general-in-chief of all our forces, by sea and by land," I continued.
"Second the motion," added Bob Hale. "I call upon the secretary to put
the question."
The question was put by Fred Mason, and carried, unanimously.
"I am very much obliged to you for the honor you have conferred upon
me; but we can hardly afford the time now to talk about titles. You
were going to say something about the breeze, Commodore Thornton."
"I say that there is a good breeze now, General Vallington; and I
think, if the commissary is ready, we can reach Cannondale in the
Splash by nine o'clock. It is half past seven now," I replied, looking
at my watch.
"The commissary is all ready," said Tom Rush.
"What time shall you return?" asked the general.
"By eleven or twelve. I think the fellows had better turn in, and
sleep till we return," I suggested. "There will be time enough then to
load the scow, and reach the island by daylight."
The general approved of this idea, but was afraid the boys were too
much excited to sleep. I called those who had been detailed to serve
as boatmen to assist in putting the Splash into the water, and, with
Tom Rush alone, started for Cannondale. The breeze was fresh, and
before the time I had mentioned we landed at our destination.
Since I had owned the Splash, I had spent all my vacations and
holidays, and indeed all my spare time every week day when boating was
practicable, on the lake. A spirit of adventure had prompted me to
make long trips, and I had sometimes spent half the night in my lonely
cruises. The darkness, therefore, was not an obstacle with me to the
navigation of those familiar waters. I knew every point, headland,
bay, and inlet, at midnight as well as noonday.
Lake Adieno, though a fresh-water lake, was not always the smoothest
of navigation. Its shores were nearly level land, and there was
nothing to shelter it from the blasts when the wind blew; and, with
an uninterrupted reach of twenty miles from east to west, old Boreas
had room enough to kick up quite a heavy sea. In a strong north-west
or south-west wind, boating on the lake was no child's play.
We landed at Cannondale, and secured the Splash at the steamboat pier.
For several years I had purchased the groceries for the cottage of my
uncle; and since I had owned the sail-boat, I had as often procured
them at Cannondale as at Parkville, and I was nearly as familiar with
the streets of the former as with those of the latter.
We found a grocer and a provision-dealer, of whom Tom Rush purchased
the supplies we needed. Of the former the commissary purchased ten
kegs of crackers, and a variety of small stores, and of the latter
sixteen hams, twenty pounds of salt pork, and twelve bushels of
potatoes. At the baker's we obtained all the soft bread on hand--about
a hundred loaves. These articles amounted to more than the assessments
levied on the members, but Tom and I made up the balance. The
provision-dealer harnessed his horse and carted the stores down to the
pier; and, grateful for the patronage we had given him, and the cash
paid him, he asked no troublesome questions; and we simply told him
that the goods were for the school, which was then camping out.
The Splash was loaded to her utmost capacity, and we decided to land
the stores at Pine Island before we returned to our companions.