A MOMENTARY silence following upon Mr. Lilburn’s remark was broken by a
question from Grace. “We are away out in the bay now, aren’t we, papa?”
she asked.
“Yes, daughter, and must turn presently, for Max’s leave of absence
will be over by the time I can take him back to the Academy.”
“But I may hope to be with you all again to-morrow and the next day,
when the graduating exercises are over, may I not, papa?” asked Max.
“I think so; provided you keep out of scrapes,” his father replied,
laying a hand affectionately on the lad’s shoulder as he spoke, for
Max was now close to his side. “And one evening or the other—both
if you like—you may bring some of your mates with you, and perhaps
Cousin Ronald and you yourself may be able to entertain them with some
exertion of your ventriloquial powers.”
“Oh, thank you, papa,” said Max delightedly; “nothing could be better.
Cousin Ronald will, I dare say, make great sport for them, and perhaps
I could do a little myself. But whom shall I invite? I am very sure
any of them would be delighted to come.”
“I leave the selection to you, my son,” replied the captain. “Choose
any whom you think the right sort of company for yourself and us and
likely to enjoy being here.”
“Thank you, sir. How many shall I ask?”
“Well, my boy, as we are not expecting to keep them over night, six or
eight would not, I think, be more than we can accommodate comfortably.”
“And that will be as many as I care to ask at one time,” Max said with
satisfaction. “Hunt will be glad to come, I know, and he’s a nice
fellow.”
“You’ll want to ask those who are anxious to make Cousin Ronald’s
acquaintance, I presume,” said his father.
“Yes, sir, some of them; if I asked all it would include my whole class
besides a good many belonging to the others,” laughed Max.
“Very well,” said his father, “you know about how many we can
accommodate, and I leave the selection to you, feeling quite sure that
my boy will prefer those of good character for his intimate associates.”
“Yes, indeed, papa, and I thank you very much for trusting me.”
The _Dolphin_ was presently at her wharf again and the good-nights
had to be said; but, expecting to have Max with them the next day and
the day after, even his sisters were not sad over the parting, while
the lad himself was jubilant in the pleasant prospect of entertaining
his boy friends and comrades on board the yacht. He hurried to his
room and filled up the few remaining minutes of the half-hour allowed
for recreation before retiring for the night, with giving Hunt, his
room-mate, a glowing account of his visit to his father’s vessel, and
extending the invitation for the next afternoon and evening, which Hunt
accepted promptly and with evident delight.
The next day was spent by most of the party from Woodburn and Ion
in walks and drives about the city and its vicinity, varied by some
attendance upon the exercises at the Naval Academy; but before tea-time
all were on board the yacht again, where they were presently joined by
Max and his party.
The lads were all evidently in high good humor and on the tiptoe of
expectation, knowing that they were about to make the acquaintance of
the ventriloquist of whose tricks Max had told them many an exciting
tale.
The introductions were over, all had been comfortably seated, and some
few minutes spent in desultory chat, when Hunt, addressing Max, who
happened to be his nearest neighbor, asked in a low tone when the show
was to begin.
Max smiled and there was a roguish twinkle in his eyes, while at the
same instant a voice spoke from behind Hunt, “I say, young fellers in
blue, what’s brung so many o’ ye aboard here to oncet?”
There was a simultaneous sudden start and turning of faces and eyes in
the direction from which the sounds had come. But the speaker seemed to
have instantly disappeared, and the momentary start was followed by a
general hearty laugh.
“The captain’s invitation,” replied Hunt, while his eyes and those of
the other lads turned upon Mr. Lilburn.
“All right then,” responded the same voice, seeming now to come from a
more distant part of the deck; “he owns the yacht and kin ask anybody
he’s mind to.”
“Of course,” said Hunt, “and it was very kind in him to ask us. Did he
invite you also, sir?”
“None o’ your business,” came in reply in a surly tone.
“Truly a gentlemanly reply,” laughed Hunt. “One might readily infer
from it that you were not here by invitation.”
“What do you mean by that, sir?” demanded, the invisible speaker, in
loud, angry tones.
“That your conduct and speech proclaim you no gentleman, while Captain
Raymond is decidedly such.”
“Come, come, friends, don’t let us have any quarrelling here,” came in
pleasant tones from the other side of the vessel.
“Now who are you, sir? This isn’t your fight, and you’d better keep out
of it,” returned the first voice; “your interference will be asked for
when it’s wanted.”
The lads exchanged looks of surprise and one of them asked:
“Are you doing it all, Mr. Lilburn, sir?”
“Ah ha, ah ha! um h’m, ah ha! so you think ’twas I, young sirs!”
exclaimed the old gentleman in pretended astonishment. “And why so? Did
the voices issue from my lips?”
“I cannot assert positively that they did, sir,” returned Hunt, “but
they seemed to come from an invisible speaker, and knowing you to be a
ventriloquist, we think it can all be accounted for in that way.”
“Knowing me to be a ventriloquist, eh, laddie! And may I ask how you
came by that same knowledge?”
“Through our friend, a naval cadet like ourselves, Mr. Max Raymond,
sir. Do not be vexed with him for telling us. It has excited our
admiration and desire to make your acquaintance.”
“Ah, Master Max, so you have been letting these young gentlemen into my
secrets?” Mr. Lilburn said, turning toward Max in pretended wrath.
“Yes, sir,” replied Max in cheerful tones, “and the more you show them
of your skill in that line the better they will be pleased.”
Just then Max’s dog Prince joined the group, wagging his tail and
lifting joyful eyes to his young master’s face.
“Ah, how d’ye do, Prince?” said Max, stroking and patting him. “Are you
glad to see me here again?”
“Yes, sir, indeed I am,” were the words that seemed to come in reply
from the dog’s lips; “and I wish you’d go back with us when we steam
away in this vessel for home.”
“Why, Prince, you talk well indeed for a dog,” laughed Hunt, stroking
and patting Prince’s head.
At that instant there was a frightened cry, “Oh, sic’ a fall as I shall
hae!” followed instantly by a sound as of the plunge of a heavy body
from the side of the vessel into the water.
All started to their feet, several of the men and boys shouting in
tones of alarm, “A man overboard!” and Captain Raymond was about
to issue an order for the launching of a boat, when a glance at Mr.
Lilburn deterred him.
“No occasion, captain,” laughed the old gentleman; “you could never
find that poor unfortunate fellow.”
“No, I presume not,” returned the captain, echoing the laugh as he and
the others reseated themselves.
“Huh! that’s an old trick o’ yours, old feller,” cried the very same
voice that had been heard behind Hunt’s chair. “If I couldn’t invent
suthin’ new I’d give up the business.”
“So I think I shall—for to-night, at least,” returned Cousin Ronald,
but in a disguised voice that seemed to come from a distance.
Then Walter went to his side and whispered in his ear.
Mr. Lilburn smiled and seemed to assent, but at that instant the call
to the supper-table put an end to the sport for the time.
There was some of the same sort of diversion at the table, however,
a roast fowl resenting, with a loud squawk, the captain’s attempt
to carve it; Prince asking audibly for a share when the plates were
filled, and the voice that had been heard talking on deck to the “young
fellers in blue” preferring the same request.
These tricks, though old to the others, were new to the cadets and
caused a good deal of merriment; as did the buzzing bees, peeping
chick, barking pups, and squealing pigs that seemed to have taken
possession of the deck on their return thither.
At length these sounds were replied to by a loud and furious barking
coming apparently from some remote part of the deck, and to which
Prince immediately made response in kind, at the same time rushing away
in search of the intruder.
“A pretty time you’ll have finding that newcomer, Prince,” Walter
called after him.
But the words were hardly spoken when a third loud bark was heard
coming apparently from yet another quarter, and Prince, repeating his,
rushed in that direction; then three or four dogs seemed, from the
sounds, to be barking, snarling, yelping as though a furious canine
fight was in progress; though nothing could be seen of the combatants
except the huge form of Prince as he searched in vain for the intruders
of his race.
But the noise woke the little ones who had been put to bed in the cabin
below, and a frightened wail from them brought a sudden hush, while
Violet rose hastily and hurried down the companionway to sooth and
reassure her darlings.
That put an end to the ventriloquial sport, and the remainder of the
short time allowed for the visit of the cadets was spent in more quiet
fashion, desultory talk and the singing of songs.
They had been steaming down the river and bay and back again while they
talked and sang; the wharf was reached shortly after nine o’clock and
the lads returned safely and in good season to the Academy.
They one and all expressed themselves as highly delighted with their
visit to the yacht and were very enthusiastic in their praises of the
ladies; particularly Grandma Elsie and Violet, whom they pronounced the
sweetest, most beautiful and charming women of their acquaintance.
They felt acquainted with them now, they said, for after Cousin Ronald
and Max had ceased their ventriloquial performances they had had an
opportunity to talk with the ladies as well as to listen to the music
with which they kindly entertained them.
“I have always thought you a fortunate fellow, Max,” remarked Hunt as
they were preparing for bed, “and since seeing the yacht and that young
grandmother and stepmother of yours, I am more fully convinced of it
than ever. I was just going to say I wondered at so young and lovely a
creature as Mrs. Raymond marrying a man with a son of your age, and
two other children not young enough to be her own; but remembering what
your father is—so handsome, noble-looking, so entirely everything any
one could ask or desire—I do not wonder at all at her choice. In fact,
she may consider herself quite as fortunate as he in the selection of a
partner for life.”
“So I think,” responded Max heartily; “for to me it seems that my
father’s superior—indeed, I might say his equal—is not to be found
anywhere; and I know Mamma Vi would agree with me. I have never known
him speak a hasty, sharp, or unkind word to her, and he waits upon
her as gallantly as he could possibly have done in the days of their
courtship.
“As to the children left him by my own mother—my father promised before
marrying Mamma Vi that she should have no care or trouble in regard to
them; that he would take all that upon himself; and so he has and does;
when he has been at home with us we have always felt that he did. So it
is no wonder if we esteem him the dearest and best of fathers; while
Mamma Vi is hardly a mother, but more like an older sister to us—unless
it may be to Grace, the youngest of our set.”
Here the signal for the extinguishing of lights and retiring to rest
put a stop to the conversation, and in a very few minutes the lads
were soundly sleeping.
One more day was spent at Annapolis by the Woodburn and Ion people;
then an early evening train carried the latter party northward, and an
hour later the _Dolphin_ steamed away with the others.
Walter and Rosie would have been glad to go with their mother, but she
and their grandfather had decided that it would be better for them to
continue their studies for the present, as the time for the summer
holidays was not distant; and like the well-trained, affectionate
children they were, they submitted cheerfully to her decision,
determining to make the best possible use of their opportunity for
education.
Their mother expected to be at home again in a fortnight, or sooner,
but they had rarely been separated from her for even a day, and the
parting was a trial to both. They bore it bravely, however, slept well
that night on board the yacht, and rose the next morning apparently as
gay and light-hearted as their wont.
They were both early on deck, where they found the captain and Lulu
together, watching the sun just peeping above the waver far away to the
east.
“Good-morning, brother Levis and Lu,” called Rosie, tripping across the
deck in their direction. “I thought Walter and I were extremely early,
but there is no use in anybody trying to get ahead of you two in early
rising.”
“Good-morning, little sister,” responded the captain, turning toward
her with his pleasant smile. “There was no occasion for you and Walter
to leave your couches quite so early this morning, or for either of
you to do so. I believe Lulu and I happen to be of the kind who need a
little less sleep than do many others.”
“Yes,” said Lulu, with a loving look up into her father’s face, “papa
would let me sleep another hour if I wanted to, but I almost always
wake early and do so enjoy the little time that it gives me with
him before the others are up and wanting some of his attention for
themselves.”
“I don’t wonder,” said Walter, “for I like to be with mamma the first
thing in the morning dearly well.”
The boy’s voice sounded a little choked at the last, and he dropped his
eyes lest the others should see the sudden tears welling up in them.
The captain laid a kind hand on the lad’s shoulder. “If our dear mother
is awake now she is doubtless thinking lovingly of her youngest son and
asking God to bless and keep him from all evil. You may hope to see her
again in about two weeks, which will pass very quickly, and in the mean
time let us think of all we can accomplish to give her pleasure on her
return,” he said. “Shall we not, little brother?”
“Yes, oh, yes, sir!” replied Walter, looking up brightly into the
pleasant face above him. “I mean to study hard and keep all your rules
carefully, so that you can give her a good account of my conduct and
recitations. Oh, there’s the sun just entirely up out of the water!
What a grand sight it is!”
“One that I never weary of,” said Captain Raymond in a meditative tone
and gazing eastward upon the newly risen luminary as he spoke. “It
reminds me of Him who is called the Sun of righteousness, because He is
the quickener, comforter, and illuminator of His people.”
“Papa, didn’t people in the Old Testament times worship the sun?” asked
Lulu.
“Yes,” replied her father, “it is thought that the Moloch of the
Ammonites, the Chemosh of the Moabites, and the Baal of the Phœnicians
was the sun.”
“I remember that the Israelites also sometimes wandered away from
the true God and worshipped Baal,” remarked Walter; “that Elijah the
prophet slew of Baal’s prophets four hundred and fifty men; and that
afterward Jehu filled a house with Baal’s prophets, priests, and
worshippers and had them all put to death.”
“Yes,” the captain said, “that was in accordance with the command of
God given in Deuteronomy, seventeenth chapter. I will read it to you,”
he added, taking a small Bible from his pocket. Turning to the passage
he read:
“If there be found among you, within any of thy gates which the Lord
thy God giveth thee, man or woman that hath wrought wickedness in the
sight of the Lord thy God, in transgressing his covenant, and hath gone
and served other gods, and worshipped them, either the sun or moon, or
any of the host of heaven, which I have not commanded, and it be told
thee and thou hast heard of it, and inquired diligently, and behold
it be true, and the thing certain that such abomination is wrought in
Israel; then shalt thou bring forth that man or that woman, which have
committed that wicked thing, unto thy gates, even that man or that
woman, and shalt stone them with stones till they die.”
“That gives us some insight into God’s hatred of idolatry,” remarked
the captain, closing the book.
“Yes, sir,” said Rosie. “I am reading Deuteronomy just now in my
regular course. I was at the fourth chapter yesterday, and was struck
with what is said there about the worship of images. Won’t you turn to
the chapter and read it aloud to us, brother Levis?”
“Certainly,” he replied, opening the book again and turning to the
passage to which she had referred. Beginning at the fifteenth verse he
read:
“Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves; for ye saw no similitude
on the day that the Lord spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of
the fire; lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the
similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female, the likeness
of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged fowl
that flieth in the air, the likeness of anything that creepeth on the
ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the waters beneath the
earth: and lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou
seest the sun and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven,
shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the Lord
thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven.... Take
heed unto yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of the Lord your God,
which he made with you, and make you a graven image, or the likeness
of anything which the Lord thy God hath forbidden thee. For the Lord
thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God. When thou shalt beget
children and children’s children, and ye shall have remained long in
the land, and shall corrupt yourselves, and make a graven image or
the likeness of anything, and shall do evil in the sight of the Lord
thy God, to provoke him to anger; I call heaven and earth to witness
against you this day, that ye shall soon utterly perish from off the
land whereunto ye go over Jordan to possess it; ye shall not prolong
your days upon it but shall utterly be destroyed.”
“I would have you all notice,” the captain said, again closing the book
and speaking with earnestness, “how plainly and repeatedly God forbids
the worship of images, likenesses, or of any of the creatures or things
he hath made; how repeatedly and expressly he commands us to worship
him and him alone.”
“Ah, no wonder that the popish priests forbid their people to read the
Bible for themselves,” said Rosie, “for from it they would soon learn
the wickedness of bowing down to and worshipping images, crucifixes,
and pictures.”
“Yes,” replied Captain Raymond, “and I would far sooner lay my children
in the grave, dearly, dearly as I love them, than to see them bowing
down to images and pictures; serving ‘gods the work of men’s hands,
wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.’ How
precious is the promise that follows in that same chapter, ‘But if from
thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou
seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul. When thou art in
tribulation and all these things are come upon thee, even in the latter
days, if thou turn to the Lord thy God, and shalt be obedient unto his
voice (for the Lord thy God is a merciful God), he will not forsake
thee, neither destroy thee nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which
he sware unto them.’
“Verily I believe that we of the Anglo-Saxon nations are the literal
descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—God’s own chosen people—so
that we have the strongest claim to these precious promises; but let
us never forget that they are ours only as we fulfil the prescribed
conditions; without true repentance and true faith we shall no more be
saved than those of other nations who do not seek the Lord while he may
be found and call upon him while he is near.”
Just then little feet came pit-pat across the deck, a sweet child voice
calling out, “Good-morning, papa, dear papa, I’s an early bird too,
isn’t I?”
“Quite an early bird for such a wee one,” the captain answered, holding
out his arms, then as she sprang into them clasping her close and
kissing her fondly again and again; the next moment doing the same by
Grace, who had followed closely in Elsie’s wake.
The rest of their party soon joined them, then came breakfast and
family worship; after those an hour or two on deck; then the vessel
steamed into the harbor, her passengers landed and found the Woodburn
carriage in waiting, with those from Fairview and Ion; Edward and Zoe
with their twin babies in the one, Lester and Elsie Leland, with their
two boys, in the other.
Affectionate greetings were exchanged, and soon all were on their
homeward way. They found the drive delightful, the roads in excellent
condition, gardens, fields, and woods arrayed in all the luxuriant
verdure and bloom of the month of roses.
The children in the Woodburn carriage seemed full of mirth and jollity.
“Really I don’t believe anyone of you is sorry to be nearing home
again,” their father said, regarding them with eyes full of paternal
affection and pleasure in their evident enjoyment.
“No, indeed, papa,” cried the little girls in chorus, while Ned said in
his baby fashion: “I’s blad, papa; my home is a dood place; me ’ikes
it, me does.”
“Mamma echoes that sentiment, baby boy,” laughed Violet, giving the
little fellow a hug. “There’s no place like home; home with dear papa
and all the dear sisters in it.”
“Bruver Maxie too?” returned the little fellow in a tone between
inquiry and assertion.
“Ah, no; not just now,” Violet answered with a slight sigh, for she
loved Max and missed his cheery presence in the house.
“Ah, here we are!” the captain exclaimed presently as the carriage
turned into the driveway.
“And everything is looking oh, so lovely!” cried Lulu, clapping her
hands with delight. “And there is Marian on the veranda, waiting for
us.”
The other two carriages were not far behind. It had been arranged that
all should dine together at Woodburn; so they also turned in at the
gates, and presently all had alighted and were one after the other
warmly greeting Marian. She was glad to learn that Mr. Lilburn had
been invited to make Woodburn his home for some weeks and had accepted
the invitation, so that she would see much of him for a time at least
and become better acquainted. He had been so kind to her that she felt
already a warm affection for him as a near and dear relative.