CAPTAIN GILDROCK’s FIRST LESSON IN NAVIGATION.
Mr. Brookbine secured the door of the ice-house, and put the key into
his pocket. The interior was ventilated for the benefit of the
provisions that were kept on the ice when the steamer was on a long
cruise, but there was no window or other opening which would admit a
particle of light.
“What’s the trouble, Mr. Brookbine?” asked Jepson the engineer, who
was the master-machinist and an instructor of the school.
“That is the most desperate young cub I ever happened to encounter,”
replied the carpenter, as he proceeded to relate what had happened in
the Goldwing and on board of the steamer.
“Captain Gildrock will bring him to his senses,” added the engineer,
laughing; for he believed the captain could do any thing that was
within the scope of mortal man.
“I am ready to have him begin where I leave off; but there won’t be
much left of the young rascal when I get through with him if I have to
deal with him,” replied the carpenter.
“We are likely to have a sweet time with these young fellows if many
of them are like that one,” added Mr. Jepson. “He wants to get even
with Dory, does he? I reckon Dory will be willing to give him a
chance, though I never knew of the skipper’s getting into a fight on
his own account.”
Dory had already become a great favorite at Beech Hill. He was a smart
boy, but he was not perfect by any means. He had a great deal to
learn, but he was willing to learn it. The instructors in the
scholastic department had not yet arrived, but the mechanical
directors were already his fast friends. Even the servants, of whom
there was a small army on the estate, always smiled when he went among
them; for he was invariably kind and obliging to them, and willing to
assist them by all the means in his power. Besides, he was regarded as
the heir of the magnate of Beech Hill; and it was prudent to “keep on
the right side of him.”
Of course the nine other boys who had arrived that day all talked
about the exciting events which had transpired since they left
Burlington in the forenoon. Still, no one belonging to the steamer
heard them say any thing. They made no comments on the conduct of
Oscar: possibly they were afraid they might be reported to him. But
they had learned to feel a great admiration for Dory; first, because
he was not afraid of the rebel, and, second, because he could handle a
sailboat and manage a steamer.
It was about dark when the Sylph arrived at the landing in Burlington.
Captain Gildrock was on the wharf, waiting her coming. As soon as he
went on board, Mr. Brookbine reported the case of discipline to him,
and informed him that the prisoner was confined in the ice-house.
“All right: let him stay there,” replied the captain, when he had
listened to the account of the doings of the new scholar. “Then Dory
has had a hard time of it. I was afraid he might have some
difficulty.”
“No fear for Dory,” replied the carpenter, laughing. “He can take care
of himself. He fought his own battle in the Goldwing, and won the day
every time.”
“I knew that Chester was the worst fellow in the party, but I did not
expect him to break out so soon. I am glad to hear that the others
have behaved well,” said Captain Gildrock, as he walked forward where
the boys were assembled. “How are you getting on, boys?”
“First-rate, sir,” replied several of them in the same breath.
“I am glad to hear it; and none of us will have any trouble as long as
we mean well. What you mean is more than half the battle in morals. I
did not expect you so soon, and I am afraid Dory has not looked out
for your stomachs.”
“Yes, he has, sir,” said Ben Ludlow. “He had a basket of provisions on
the boat, and we fed out of that.”
This was the lunch he had taken the night before, and it had served
over a dozen instead of two. But the boys had been so much excited by
the novel event of a sail in a fresh breeze that they were not in
condition to do justice to the rations.
When the captain learned that the scholars had eaten only the supply
of food intended for two, he took the whole party to the hotel to
supper. After Captain Gildrock and Dory returned, the engineer and
carpenter went. The latter suggested that the prisoner in the
ice-house had been forgotten.
“I shall not forget him, but he may go without his supper to-night. A
little fasting will do him good. His father and mother are both dead,
and his uncle is one of the richest men in the State. He told me that
nothing but the sharpest discipline would do him any good. He will run
away as soon as he gets a chance; and this must be prevented,” replied
the captain.
Jepson and Brookbine returned in less than half an hour. The captain
had quite a chat with the boys while they were waiting. He told them
something about his plans, and was so kind and familiar with them that
they began to like him.
“I am told that some of you have been wild boys, and have been turned
out of school,” said he. “Except in one instance, I don’t know who
they are. I prevented your parents and others from telling me any
thing about your misconduct. You are all alike to me so far, and every
boy has his own reputation to make.
“You will not be judged at all by the past, but by what you do in the
future. I want you to remember this, boys. All of you will have to
work in the shops, and wherever there is any thing to do. You will
have to learn your book-lessons as well as how to work in wood and
metal. But there will be lots of fun as well as hard work. In a few
days we shall man this steamer, and every one of you will have a
station on board of her.”
“Hurrah!” shouted one of the new pupils in his enthusiasm; and the
cheer was taken up by the entire party.
“Before winter I hope some of you will be as competent to handle a
sailboat or a steamer as Dory is. But bear in mind that it is not all
play. I am going to make useful men of you, and I hope you will second
all my endeavors.”
The arrival of the carpenter and engineer interrupted the
conversation, and in a few minutes more the Sylph was standing up the
lake. It was dark now; and the boys gathered around Captain Gildrock
again, for he could not talk without interesting them.
“Who is steering this steamer now, Captain Gildrock?” asked Jim
Alburgh.
“Dory is steering her,” replied the captain.
“But it is dark: how can he find his way back to Beech Hill?”
“Did you suppose that ships that cross the ocean, being out of sight
of land for weeks at a time, stopped in the night?” asked the captain.
“I didn’t think any thing at all about it,” replied Jim. “I don’t know
any thing about it. It is as dark as a pocket, and I should not think
Dory could see the land on either side of the lake.”
“He has no need to see it. Do you see that lighthouse on the island?”
asked the captain, pointing at Juniper Island.
“But that does not give light enough to enable the pilot to see the
shore on either side,” replied Jim.
“That is not what a lighthouse is for. The light it gives don’t amount
to any thing half a mile from it. The light only marks certain
localities. Now look up the lake all of you,” continued Captain
Gildrock, pointing in the direction of Split-Rock light. “Do you see
that light?”
“Yes, sir!” shouted Lick Milton. His name was T. Licking Milton, but
he had a nickname.
The rest of the boys soon made out the light, and some of them shouted
as loudly as the first speaker.
“Juniper Island light is on our right now. Dory will run on till the
steamer is in range with this light and Split Rock, which is twelve
miles and a half from here. Then he will head for the Split-Rock
light, keeping Juniper exactly astern of him,” continued the captain.
“Why don’t he run for Split Rock now?” asked Ben Ludlow.
“He would run upon Quaker-Smith’s Reef, about four miles from here, if
he did. Now, my boy, can you walk straight from where you stand to the
flag-pole at the stem of the steamer?”
“No, sir, I cannot. That thing is in the way,” replied Ben, after he
had looked the matter over.
“Precisely so: the capstan is in your way. Now go over to the side of
the steamer.” Ben obeyed, and the boys watched the demonstration with
interest. “Can you walk straight to the stem of the boat now?”
“Yes, sir, I can. There is nothing in my way.”
“Then, if you keep in range with the port gangway and the stem, there
will be nothing in your way, will there?”
“Nothing, sir.”
“That is exactly the principle on which we pilot a steamer or any other
vessel. But sometimes the matter is much more complicated, and we have
to take a dozen different ranges in going a dozen miles. Pilots learn
all these ranges, and get their bearings from various objects on the
shore. You can see the capstan; but we cannot see the obstructions in
our way in sailing a vessel, for they are under water. They are all
laid down on the chart, and we can learn our courses from that.”
“But isn’t there any thing on that reef to let you know where it is?”
asked Dave Windsor.
“There is nothing on Quaker-Smith’s Reef, for it is out of the usual
track of vessels. It is about a mile from the eastern shore of the
lake. When the water is as low as it is now, this steamer would get
aground on it. But at the entrance to harbors they put buoys, and also
on rocks and shoal places in or near the usual track of vessels.”
“What sort of things are buoys?” asked Bob Swanton.
“Generally they are logs of wood, anchored to the bottom. These are
called spar-buoys. Others are made of metal, hollow, and shaped like a
couple of frustrums of cones joined at the big end. These are can-buoys.
There are other kinds, but you won’t find them in this lake.”
“Spar and can buoys. We can remember them,” added John Brattle.
“The spars are all painted red, black, or striped. When going into a
harbor, red buoys must be left on the starboard hand; that is, on your
right. Black buoys must be left on the port, or left, hand. When you
see a buoy painted with black and red stripes, it is a danger buoy;
and you may go on either side of it. When you see one painted up and
down with black and white stripes, you must go close to it. Sometimes
the buoys are numbered: then the even numbers are on the red buoys,
and the odd ones on the black buoys. But you must learn all these
things by seeing them.”
“What are the colored lights on the sides of this steamer for?” asked
Bob Swanton.
“The red light is on the port side, and the green on the starboard.
They are to show any vessel approaching us which way we are going,”
replied the captain. “But I can explain this better when we see the
lights of another vessel.”
All hands were on the lookout for another vessel at once.