THE NEW HEAD OF THE MILLWEED FAMILY.
Captain Gildrock judged, from the appearance of Oscar Chester’s face,
that he had been severely punished for his assault upon his superior
officer. He had not heard a word about the second battle at
Plattsburg. Though Bates knew all about it, he never meddled with what
did not concern him.
He walked away from the pilot-house, satisfied that Dory could take
care of himself if the second pilot wanted any thing more of him. Mr.
Jepson had divided the firemen into watches, and two of them were now
off duty. The principal saw Bolingbroke walking the hurricane deck,
and called him. In answer to his question, Bolingbroke told him all
the particulars of the fight on shore. Of course the statement was
highly favorable to Dory.
If no one else knew it, the principal did, that Will Orwell was a
crony of the second pilot. From him he could get the other side of the
story, if there was any other side to it; and he called the second
officer. Orwell’s story did not differ materially from that of the
fireman, and the captain was satisfied that the assault upon his
nephew had been entirely unprovoked. He knew all about the difficulty
in the boat, and on board of the steamer the night before.
The captain was satisfied that Chester had been sufficiently punished,
especially when he considered what a shock the pride of the wilful boy
had received in his failure to thrash Dory. Doubtless his attempt to
run away had been caused by his defeat. He was humiliated and
mortified at the result.
Of course Peppers did not act without instructions. The principal
expected a demonstration on the part of the rebel. He had written to
the officer the day before, requesting him to be on the wharf when the
Sylph arrived, and instructing him to watch Oscar all the time the
latter was on shore. He was to bring him off if he attempted to run
away.
Peppers soon ascertained which of the boys he was to “shadow,” and
followed him wherever he went. Orwell remained in his company till it
was time to return to the wharf. Oscar declared that he would not go
on board again, and tried to induce his crony to join him in his
flight into the country.
Orwell was second officer, and was delighted with his experience in
the Beech-Hill Industrial School so far. It was better than a play to
him, and nothing could have induced him to run away from the agreeable
life which had just opened upon him. He had reasoned with his friend
very earnestly, and even had the pluck to tell him flatly that Dory
was altogether in the right, and he was altogether in the wrong.
Oscar admitted that he was pleased with the school, but he could not
endure the humiliation of playing “second fiddle” to Dory after what
had happened. They parted, and Orwell went on board with the other
pupils; and he was utterly astonished when he saw his crony come on
board at the wharf.
“If you wish to steer, I will give you the wheel, Oscar Chester,” said
Dory, when the second pilot had been in the room a few minutes. “It is
not a new thing to me; and I am not anxious to steer, though I like to
do it well enough.”
“Thank you, Dory Dornwood: you are very kind. You can whip me every
time; and, of course, you can bully me if you have a mind to do so,”
replied Oscar, beginning very stiffly.
“I have no wish to bully you or any other fellow. I don’t want to
quarrel with any person; and, as we are to be in the pilot-house
together, I hope we shall be able to agree,” added Dory in the most
conciliatory tones.
“We shall agree after this,” said Oscar, letting himself down a few
pegs. “You can whip me, and that is enough. I can’t quarrel with you
without getting the worst of it. I must submit, and I may as well make
the best of it.”
“I don’t believe in fighting, and I don’t care a straw who is the best
man. I don’t mean to bully even the weakest fellow in the school. I
know I speak quick sometimes, but I don’t mean any thing by it. I am
told that I spoke rather sharply to you in the boat last night. I am
sorry for it, and I beg your pardon,” said Dory.
“You don’t owe me any apology after you have whipped me; and you are
generous to let me down as easily as you can,” added Oscar.
“It was since we came on board, after the affair, that I was told I
spoke sharply to you. If you had told me so before hitting me, I
should have begged your pardon. I mean to do the right thing.”
“Your hand, Dory!” exclaimed Oscar, extending his own. “You are a good
fellow, even if you are so frightfully proper.”
Dory gave the rebel his right hand, and his companion shook it
heartily. There was some good left in Oscar Chester.
“I always thrashed every fellow in the school that didn’t fag to me,
and I suppose I have been spoiled. But I will try to do better. If I
don’t do well, you must thrash me again, Dory,” added the second
pilot, smiling blandly. “I hope we shall be friends; and I will take
the wheel now, if you will show me how to handle it.”
“You handle it very well already, though there are a great many things
you will have to learn, as every wheelman must,” replied Dory
cordially, and without putting on any airs.
There was peace in the pilot-house now, as there was in every part of
the steamer. Captain Gildrock looked into the room after a while, and
found that the two pilots were apparently excellent friends. He did
not say any thing, or even enter the apartment; for he thought the
boys would get along better without any help.
The Sylph went up the lake as far as Ticonderoga. The instruction was
continued in all the departments; and as the students were required to
do the work themselves, as well as listen to the theory, they made
rapid progress, and enjoyed themselves to the end of the trip. They
were sorry when it was finished.
The steamer was secured at the temporary wharf in Beech Lake. Supper
had been served on board as arranged in the morning; and the cooks and
stewards had to put things in order before they went on shore. The
engineers and firemen were taught in what shape to leave the engine
and boilers. The first and second officers put the decks in order. But
the pilots had nothing to do when the boat touched the wharf.
“Is Captain Gildrock on board?” asked Mr. Millweed, who was on the
wharf when Dory landed.
“He is in the after cabin,” replied the first pilot; and he would have
been very glad to hear what passed between the principal and the
farmer.
But he had been taught to mind his own business; and he walked up to
the dormitory with Oscar, who had not yet visited the room
appropriated to his use. Mr. Millweed went on board of the Sylph, and
found the captain at the desk in his room.
“I will wait till you are ready to see me, Captain Gildrock,” said he.
“I am ready to see you now, and anxious to hear what you have to say,”
replied the principal, as he led the way out of the state-room into
the main cabin. “Both of the boys came on board before nine, and have
done well. Pemberton is first cook, and Bolingbroke is third fireman.”
“I suppose they don’t like these places,” added Farmer Millweed.
“Both of them seem to be very well satisfied. Pemberton is an
excellent cook,” answered the captain. “He thinks his position is not
particularly genteel, but he will get over that in a short time. Did
Mrs. Millweed consent to their joining the school?”
“She did not: she objected with all her might. But I saw that the boys
were inclined to go to the school. We had a regular row, but I stuck to
my text; and finally I told the boys I could not support them another
day in idleness.
“My wife cried; but I told her it was no use, for we should all be
turned out of the house, and all that I had would be sold to pay my
debts. I told the boys to hurry down here before the boat started; and
they minded me, in spite of the screams of my wife. It made me feel
bad, but I couldn’t help it.”
“I am sorry you had any trouble, but I think you have done right,”
added Captain Gildrock.
“When the boys had gone, I had a talk with the girls. I told them the
plain truth, and insisted that they should go to work. Both of them
said they were willing; but their mother declared they should not go
into a store or factory, or any thing of that sort, to work. They had
been finely educated, and were fit to adorn the drawing-room of a rich
man.”
“Very likely they are; but the next thing is to find the
drawing-room,” suggested the captain.
“That is the very thing I said to Matilda--that’s my wife. I told the
girls I would try to find places, and they both said they would take
any places I could get for them. Matilda said they should not. I told
them I had not money enough to buy a meal of victuals, and the
storekeepers and the butchers won’t trust me. I found a place in a
store for Elinora myself; and she went to it, after dinner, to-day.”
“Excellent! You are doing bravely!” exclaimed the captain. “I will see
what can be done for the other girl as soon as I go ashore. By the
way, I was thinking of getting a young man to keep the records of the
school, and do some of my writing for me. A woman will do just as
well. I will give your other daughter five dollars a week, and raise
her wages as fast as she learns to do the work.”
“God bless you, Captain Gildrock!” ejaculated the discouraged father.
“If the children can support themselves, I can take care of my wife
after we have lost the farm and every thing else. I can get work at
day wages.”
“I hope you won’t lose your farm,” added the captain.
“There is no help for it. The mortgage note will be due in a short
time; and I can’t pay the interest, let alone any part of the
principal.”
Farmer Millweed groaned in spirit, when he thought of the final blow
that was about to fall upon him. He had been an honest, temperate,
hard-working man all his life, though he was a person of but little
force of character. His wife’s aspirations after gentility had
actually ruined him. As things were going on the day before, the
family were only a few steps from the poorhouse.
“I think you are an honest man, and I am very sorry to see you brought
to the verge of ruin in this way,” said Captain Gildrock after a few
minutes’ reflection. “I will let you have the money to pay your
interest when it is due, and I will take the mortgage on your place
myself.”
“I did not expect any thing of this sort from you, captain; and I am
sure”--
“Never mind that, Mr. Millweed. If any of your creditors trouble you,
come to me. You have got rid of the principal trouble; and there is no
reason why you should not do well,--pay all your debts, and clear off
the mortgage on your farm.”
The farmer was profuse in his expressions of gratitude; but the
captain cut them short by inquiring still further into his affairs,
and giving him much good advice. Mr. Millweed went home with hope in
his soul. There was a new head to the Millweed family.