CHAPTER VII
BOB IS DELIGHTED
The excitement caused by Bob's prank had somewhat quieted down, and the preparations went on for giving the young people their supper. Several of Bob's chums, however, fearful that they might be suspected of having taken part in the trick, left the church.
As a matter of fact, though, Bob alone was concerned. He had thought of the trick, procured a bottle of liquid glue from the drug store, and, watching his chance, had poured it on the chair. Then he had told his chums of it, and they had withdrawn with him to the gallery to watch events, which came quickly enough.
At the supper-table of the young people, little was talked of but Bob's prank, and opinion was pretty evenly divided as to what would happen.
"Maybe the minister will have him arrested," suggested one girl.
"Oh, I don't think so," was the opinion of another. "Mr. Blackton is a kind-hearted man, and he likes Bob."
"But I don't believe he'll like him after tonight."
"Maybe not. It was a mean thing to do, but I couldn't help laughing when the minister stood up and the chair went with him, swinging around every time he moved, the legs hitting everybody."
"Yes, it was odd. I had to laugh, too."
The girls and several of their companions indulged in merriment at the recollection. The minister soon returned to the church parlors, wearing a different pair of trousers, and he seemed to have regained his good humor.
"Who was the boy who wanted me to remain seated all the evening, and perhaps longer?" he asked.
"It was Bob Henderson," volunteered several.
"Yes, Mr. Blackton," said Mrs. Henderson. "I am sorry to have to admit that it was my son who played that prank. But he is going to be punished for it. His father has sent him home and has followed after him."
"I hope he will not punish Bob too severely. It was a boyish prank, due more to thoughtlessness than to malice."
"I suppose it was, but Bob plays altogether too many such pranks. I think this will be the last."
"Well, tell Bob I forgive him, though my trousers are ruined."
"Mr. Henderson will arrange with you about that."
"What—er—what chastisement does he contemplate administering to
Bob?" asked the minister. He and Mrs. Henderson were conversing off
to one side, in a corner of the room. "I hope he will not whip him.
Bob is too big a boy to be whipped."
"Still, parson, you know what the Good Book says: 'Spare the rod and spoil the child.'"
"Yes, Mrs. Henderson, I know. Chastisement is all right in many cases, but there are other means."
"And it is my plan to take them," went on Bob's mother. "I have just made arrangements with Captain Spark to take Bob with him on a long sea voyage."
"A sea voyage? That ought to be fine. Yes, I think that will be better than whipping Bob. Tell your husband I said so."
"I shall. Now, if you will excuse me, I must see that these young people have plenty to eat. They are a hungry lot."
"Indeed they are. Don't forget to tell Bob I forgive him. I don't want him to worry. Tell him, also, that he must be a little more thoughtful."
"I will."
When Captain Spark and Mrs. Henderson went home from the donation supper that night they discussed on the way the further plans of sending Bob to sea.
"We must consult Mr. Henderson about it," said the captain.
"I shall, this very night. I will put up with Bob's nonsense no longer."
Mr. Henderson was found sitting in the dining-room, reading a paper. He had sent Bob to bed on arriving at the house, for Mr. Henderson was a man who did not believe in inflicting punishment in the heat of passion. He wanted to calm down before he decided how his son ought to be made to realize the wrong he had done. To tell the truth, he was quite at a loss just what punishment to inflict.
He had thought of a sound whipping, but he realized, as had the minister, that Bob was too old for this. Nothing so breaks the proud spirit of a boy as personal chastisement, after he has reached a certain age.
And, as yet, Mr. Henderson was not aware of the proposition Captain Spark had made to Bob's mother, and her practical acceptance of it. Of course, Mr. Henderson had heard the first talk of sending Bob to sea, but after his wife's refusal to consider it he had thought no more about it.
"Well, Enos," asked Mrs. Henderson, as she and the captain entered, "have you considered what to do with Bob?"
"I have, Lucy, but I have reached no conclusion."
"I have."
"You have? What is it?"
"I am going to send him on a voyage with Captain Spark. That is, if you consent."
"I will agree to anything you think best. But I think you will find it hard work to get Bob to go. I fear he will dislike the idea very much."
"Why so?" inquired the captain.
"Well, Bob has many friends in the village—many boy-chums—and I think he would object very strongly to leaving them, and going off among a lot of strange men in a ship."
"I wouldn't be a stranger to him."
"No, you would not, but the others would be. And I think he would be somewhat afraid."
"Afraid? What's there to be afraid of on the ocean, with a stout deck beneath your feet? The ocean is the safest place in the world. I'm frightened half out of my wits every time I come on land. There are so many chances of accidents. The train may run off the track, steam-boilers may blow up, there may be an earthquake, a wild bull may chase you, you may fall down a coal-hole and break your neck, or a building may topple over on you while you're walking peacefully along the street. No such things as those can happen to you on the ocean."
"No, perhaps not, but there are others as bad, or worse, captain."
"Nonsense! It may blow a bit, now and then, but all you've got to do is mind your helm and you'll come out all right."
"I am glad you think so. I should be very glad to have Bob make a trip with you. I think it would do him good, but I fear he will object to it."
"I don't think so. We'll propose it to him in the morning."
Bob came down to breakfast feeling rather sheepish. He had been wondering, during the time he was not sleeping, what form of punishment his father would inflict.
The lad had an uneasy feeling that he might have to make a public apology before the whole church congregation. This he felt would be very embarrassing. He also had an idea that his father might take him from school and put him to work in the mill. Mr. Henderson had once threatened this when Bob had played some particularly annoying prank. And Bob liked his school very much, in spite of the tricks he played.
"Well, my son," said Mr. Henderson, more solemnly than he usually spoke, "I trust you have a proper feeling of regret for what you did last night."
"Yes. I wish I hadn't done it," said Bob. "I didn't think it would make so much trouble. I didn't mean to use so much glue."
"Well, there is no use in discussing that now. The thing is done.
You remember I told you I would have to punish you?"
"Yes, sir."
"I have talked it over with your mother and Captain Spark, and we have made up our minds what to do. You are going to be sent on a long sea voyage with Captain Spark, in the Eagle. You will be away from home a long time, and, when you return, I trust you will have mended your ways."
For a few seconds Bob did not speak. The proposition was so sudden to him that he did not exactly comprehend it.
"I'm to go to sea with Captain Spark?" he asked slowly.
"That is the punishment we have decided on, my son."
"Where are you going, captain?" asked Bob.
"I'm bound for 'round Cape Horn this trip. Oh, you'll get all the ocean you want, but it will make a man of you."
"When are you going to sail?" asked Bob in a quiet voice.
"Next week."
"Good!" exclaimed the youth suddenly. "I'll be ready. Oh, I always wanted to make a sea voyage, and now I have the chance. This is the best ever! Hurrah! That's the stuff! 'A life on, the ocean wave, a home on the bounding deep!' Avast and belay, my hearties! Shiver my timbers! All hands on deck to take in sail! There she blows!"
Bob had not read sea stories for nothing.
"That's the way to talk!" exclaimed the captain. "I knew he'd like the idea!"
Mr. Henderson seemed somewhat amazed. He had expected Bob to make strong objections. Instead the boy was delighted.
"I am sorry to see you leave home, Bob," said his mother, with just the hint of tears in her eyes, "but I think it will be the best thing for you."
"So do I, mom. Hurrah! This is the best ever!"
Then Bob began to dance a sailor's hornpipe.
"It seems to me," said Mr. Henderson to himself, as he started for the mill, "that Bob's punishment is more of a pleasure than anything else. Still, if it does him good, I'll not regret it."
CHAPTER VIII
GETTING READY
Captain Spark's ship, the Eagle, was a large craft, and in her he had made many voyages. At present the vessel was docked at a seaport town not many miles from Moreville.
The day it was announced to Bob that he was to make a sea voyage, the captain left the village to visit the Eagle at the dock and see how the loading of the cargo was progressing.
"I want to sail as soon as possible," he said, "and though I left a good mate in charge, still I like to look after certain matters myself. I'll be back in a few days and let you know, Bob, the exact date for sailing. In the meanwhile you can be getting ready."
"Aye, aye, sir," answered the boy, trying, as he had read of sailors doing, to pull a lock of his reddish hair, but finding it too short. He had decided to adopt all the sea practices he had ever read about.
"Get your bag ready," went on the captain, "have your mother put some needles and thread in, for you'll have to mend your own clothes at sea, and I'll look it over when I get back."
"Aye, aye, sir."
The captain laughed at Bob's sudden enthusiasm for the sea and ship terms, but he was not displeased.
As for Bob, he thought the time would never pass until he would find himself aboard the Eagle. That very day he began to sort over his clothes, trying to decide which he should take, and he had such a miscellaneous collection of garments that, when his mother saw them, she laughed.
"Bob!" she exclaimed. "It would take three trunks to hold them, and I don't believe sailors are ever allowed more than one. At least, in all the pictures I ever saw of sailors going on board a ship they only had a small box or bag on their shoulder, and, of course, that must have contained all their clothes."
"I guess you're right, mother. I'll have to sort out some of these."
"Never mind. I'll do that. But what in the world are you doing with those rubber boots?"
"I was going to take them along."
"Sailors seldom wear rubber boots. They go barefoot when it's wet on deck." For Mrs. Henderson knew something about seafaring men, from her long acquaintance with Captain Spark.
"Another mistake," admitted Bob, good-naturedly. "Guess I've got lots to learn about the ocean and ships."
"Yes indeed, Bob. And I hope you will profit by it. It is no place to play pranks, either, on board a ship."
"But I've read that when the ship crosses the equator the sailors cut up all kinds of high jinks."
"Yes, I suppose they do, but that is not very often. I have no doubt Captain Spark will permit fun on that occasion."
"If we go down around Cape Horn and up the west coast of North and South America we'll cross the equator twice," went on Bob. "We can have fun both times."
"I'm afraid you're thinking more of the fun you are going to have than the real reason for this voyage, Bob. It is a punishment for your prank on the minister."
"I know it, but, mom, I can't seem to feel that way about it."
"And I don't know as I blame you, Bob, though of course it was very wrong to put glue on the reverend gentleman's chair."
Bob felt he must tell the news of his prospective voyage to his chums. Leaving his mother to sort out his clothes, he went out in the street. It was Saturday and there was no school. In fact, the term would close in another week, so Bob would miss little instruction by taking the cruise.
The first lad Bob met was Ted Neefus. His chum hurried up to him and Inquired:
"Did he hurt you very much?"
"Who?"
"Your father."
"My father? What do you mean?"
"Didn't he give you a good walloping for that joke?"
"No. Not a bit of it. I'm going on a sea voyage with Captain
Spark."
"Honest?"
"Cross my heart," and Bob went through a rapid motion with his hands somewhere over the region of his stomach.
"Where to?"
"Around Cape Horn."
"No jokin'?"
"Of course not. But that's nothing. Captain Spark has been all over the world."
Bob spoke as though doubling the Horn was the easiest thing a mariner meets with.
"I wonder if he doesn't want another boy," mused Ted wistfully.
"Don't believe so."
"Wish he did. We could have jolly times together."
"I'm going out to learn how to sail a ship, not to have fun," replied Bob, with an air of lofty virtue. He had said nothing about this voyage being a sort of discipline as punishment for his prank. He did not think that necessary.
"When are you goin'?"
"Next week." And then the two boys fell to discussing the trip in all its aspects. Soon other boys joined Bob and Ted, but the perpetrator of the glue-joke was the center of attraction.
In fact, Bob was regarded as a sort of village hero. There was more interest manifested in geography at school the following week than ever before. Everybody knew, without telling, where Cape Horn was, and as for the Straits of Magellan, they could have pointed them out in the dark.
The prospect of the trip, too, had a certain effect on Bob. His mind was so filled with the thought of it, that he actually forgot about planning any jokes. Nor would he take part in any with the other village boys.
"Let's go down past old Mary Bounder's house and throw stones at the door. Then she'll come out and chase us and one of us can go in and get her pet cat and tie a can to its tail," proposed Ted the following Monday. Mary Bounder was a curious old woman, who lived all alone in a cabin near the woods, and was the mark for many a joke on the part of the boys.
"Nope," said Bob firmly.
"What's the matter? Sick?" asked Ted in surprise.
"No, but I've got to do some studying."
"Studying? Why, there's only a little more school."
"I don't mean that kind of studying. I'm learning the different parts of a ship, so I'll know 'em when I get to sea."
Ted had momentarily forgotten about Bob's voyage.
"That's so," he said. "You'll be going away soon. Say, we ought to have some fun before you go."
"Guess I've played enough jokes for a while."
"But we ought to have one more. Come down to Mary Bounder's. Sam
Shoop will go. He'll catch the cat."
"Nope. I'm going home. I got a new book on sea terms, and I want to look at it."
"All right. Then Sam and I'll go. You'll wish you'd come. We'll have some fun."
But Bob could not be persuaded. His mother and father noticed the change in him, and they were delighted.
"I believe we made no mistake when we consented to the captain's plan," said Mr. Henderson.
"If it will only last," added his wife.
That day a letter came from Captain Spark saying he would be detained a few days longer and would not reach Moreville until Wednesday.
"The ship will sail the following Saturday," he stated in his note. "I could sail Friday, but I don't want to take any chances. Some of my sailors are superstitious, and I want them all to be in good humor. I trust Bob has not changed his mind about going."
"No indeed," said the boy, when the letter was shown to him.
That afternoon as Bob was coming back from the store, he met, on the main street of the village, an old man who lived on the outskirts of the town. His name was Captain Obediah Hickson and he had once been a sailor, though he told so many different versions of his life at sea, that it was hard to say where truth began and fiction left off. Still he might not have meant to deceive any one, for he was rather simple-minded.
"What's this I hear about you going to take a long sea voyage?" he asked of Bob.
"It's true, Captain Obed," which was what every one called the aged man. "I'm going around Cape Horn with Captain Spark. We start soon."
"Around Cape Horn, eh? Then you'll strike the Southern Pacific."
"I expect so."
A curious change seemed to come over the old man. He looked carefully up and down the street to see that no one was in sight, and then, approaching quite closely to Bob, he whispered:
"Bob, come to my house to-night."
"What for?"
"Hush! Not so loud. I've a great secret to disclose."
"What about?" asked Bob with a smile, thinking to humor the old captain.
"About buried treasure. It's on a lonely island in the Southern Pacific Ocean. I'm the only living man who knows where it is. If I wasn't so old I'd go along and help find it. But I'm too old. It needs some one young and strong. You'll dig it up for me, won't you?"
"If I could find it," replied Bob, believing the aged man was speaking of some delusion.
"Oh, you can find it. I have the secret map. I'll give it to you. Come to my house to-night, but after dark—after dark, mind." And, once more looking around to see that no one had observed him, Captain Obed shuffled on down the street. Bob did not know what to think.
CHAPTER IX
BOB'S LAST LAND JOKE
Returning home, Bob said nothing to his mother about what Captain Obed had said. The boy wanted to think more about it. If he could combine a treasure hunt with his sea voyage it would be a fine thing. Besides, why should not the old man know something of hidden treasure? He had sailed in many waters and been on many ships. Bob decided he would visit him that night.
Accordingly, when it grew dusk, he set off for the lonely house where the old sailor lived. It was quite a walk, but in his eagerness Bob covered the ground in short time. As he was passing a clump of bushes, not far from his destination, he was surprised to hear a voice calling sharply from the darkness:
"Avast there!"
"Who is it?" asked Bob.
"It's me," replied Captain Obed in his husky voice. "I hid out here to signal you so's you wouldn't be followed."
"Followed? Who by?"
"By persons anxious to get hold of the secret map that tells of the treasure buried on the island. Are you all alone, Bob?"
"Of course."
"Then go ahead into my house. I'll follow as soon as I've taken an observation."
The boy thought the old man must be rather queer to imagine any one would try to steal his secret, if secret he had. Bob was half inclined to give the whole thing up. But he walked on, and was soon inside the rather humble home of the retired mariner. Presently Captain Obed entered and quickly closed the door.
"Have to be very careful—very careful," he said in a whisper. "If any one knowed I had this map they'd rob me of it."
He pulled down the shades of the windows, and then carefully locking the door he went to another room. Bob heard him fumbling about, and soon the old man came out with a yellowish piece of paper in his hand.
"Feel of it," he said to Bob.
Bob did so. It was stiff and crackly.
"Parchment—parchment," whispered Captain Obed. "The map is drawed on parchment—that's sheepskin instead of paper. He wanted it to last for years and years."
"Who did?"
Once more Captain Obed looked around to see if by chance any one had stolen into the room. He made Bob rather nervous.
"Captain Kidd," he answered in a lower whisper than he had yet used. "Captain Kidd drawed that map. It gives the real secret of his buried treasure. I'm the only one that knows where it is. There's lots of maps of Captain Kidd's treasure, but I've got the only real one. All them others was jest drawed so as to fool folks. An' they did fool 'em. 'Cause why? 'Cause nobody ain't never yet found the captain's treasure. But you'll find it, an' you'll bring it home to Captain Obed, won't you, Bob? Of course you will. You're a good boy, and if you bring it home safe, why, I'll give you"—he paused and seemed to make a great effort—"yes, I'll give you a hundred dollars, or maybe a hundred and fifty. There! What do you say to that?"
"How much treasure is there?" asked Bob, hardly knowing whether to laugh at the old man or take him seriously.
"How much? It must be near a million dollars. O h, there's lots of treasure!"
It struck Bob that if there was that amount he would not be getting much for his share.
"Now you take that map," went on Captain Obed. "It gives the exact location or the island, and shows where the treasure is buried on it, right in the center of a place where four trees grow. The island is about eighty-two degrees west longitude and twenty-one degrees south latitude. It'll be easy to locate. Just cruise about in that locality for a few days and you'll find it. Then dig up the treasure."
"But suppose Captain Spark doesn't want to cruise around there?
It's his ship."
"Oh, you give him twenty-five dollars or so—out of your share, mind you—and he'll be glad enough to do it. Now, Bob, I rely on you. You're the only one I ever told my secret to, and I want you to keep it close. Don't let 'em get that map away from you. They'll try—oh, they'll try dreadful hard. I got it from my grandfather, who had it direct from Captain Kidd himself, so I know it's correct. Now, Bob, you'd better go. Take good care of the map and bring me the treasure."
He thrust the yellow, crackling piece of parchment into Bob's hands and opened the door.
"Put it in your pocket," he cautioned as Bob went out. "Some one might see you."
Now Bob was quite a level-headed youth, and though he knew that sometimes treasure might be found on islands in the ocean, where it had been hidden by modern pirates or illegal pearl fishers, he did not take much stock in what Captain Obed had told him.
Still he thought it would be no harm to take the parchment and show it to Captain Spark. That seasoned mariner would soon be able to tell if it was worth anything. At any rate, Bob was not going to lie awake at night over the possibility—the very small possibility—of securing the treasure.
"Guess I'll have to make a better bargain for my share of it before
I do much searching," he decided.
The boy said nothing to his parents about the parchment map. He preferred letting Captain Spark know of it first, as that seemed fairer to the old sailor who had given it to him. Then, as the time was drawing nearer to the date of sailing, Bob's thoughts dwelt more and more on his prospective trip.
"Don't you notice quite a change in Bob?" asked Mrs. Henderson of her husband the next day. "He seems to have settled down, and he hasn't played a joke in a long time."
"No, he hasn't. But you know the proverb about a new broom sweeping clean. Just now Bob's mind is so full of the sea that he thinks of nothing else. Wait a while. If he gets away with Captain Spark without playing some sort of a trick before he goes I'll be agreeably disappointed."
"I think he will. I'm so glad the captain came to pay us a visit when he did. It was a lucky thing for Bob."
"I think it was. He was getting quite reckless in his pranks."
The subject of this conversation was, of course, not aware of it. The truth was that Bob was fairly holding himself in. He saw many opportunities to play jokes—more, in fact, than he had ever seen before. It was a great temptation to indulge in pranks, but he reflected that if he got into any more trouble he might not be allowed to take the sea voyage.
"And I wouldn't want that to happen for the world," he said to himself. "Still I know a couple of dandy jokes I could play before I go. Maybe I might get Ted Neefus to do 'em, but I don't believe he could do 'em as good as I can."
Bob was pondering over the rather queer fact to him that old folks don't care half as much for jokes as boys do, when his mother asked him to go on an errand for her. This was to take a message to Mrs. Dodson, who lived in a large house on a hill just outside the village. She was quite wealthy, and Mrs. Henderson used to do some fine embroidering for her.
Bob, who was always ready to oblige his mother, took the package of sewing and the note which went with it and started off. On the way he passed the wagon of a certain old crusty farmer he knew. The vehicle was in front of a house where the farmer had gone to sell some butter and eggs. Dangling from the back of the wagon was a long rope, and it was a great temptation to Bob to take the rope and tie one of the rear wheels so that it would not revolve. The farmer, coming out in a hurry, would not notice it, and would wonder what was the matter when he started to drive off.
"But I guess I'd better not," thought Bob with a sigh. "He'd be sure to tell dad, and then I'd be in more trouble. I've got a pretty good reputation since the donation supper, and I don't want to spoil it."
Bob delivered the embroidery and note to Mrs. Dodson, and was on his way back home when he saw Susan Skipper, Mrs. Dodson's hired girl, and Dent Freeman, the hired man of the place, washing the big front windows of the house—that is, Dent was washing them, perched upon a step-ladder, for Susan was quite heavy and was afraid to trust herself very high in the air. However, she was doing her share by handing up pails of warm water to Dent.
Now Dent and Susan, as Bob well knew, were what the country people call "sweet" on one another. Susan was very fond of the hired man, and as for Dent, he thought there never had been a better cook than Susan. They lost no chance of talking to each other, and as the window-cleaning operations afforded them a good opportunity, they were taking advantage of it.
All at once a daring plan came into Bob's mind. It seemed as if he could not resist it, for he thought of what he considered a fine "joke."
As he was well acquainted with the hired man and cook he walked toward them. Perhaps he would not have been flattered if he had heard what they said as he approached.
"Here comes that Henderson lad," remarked Dent. "He's allers up to some trick. Look out for him, Susan."
"Oh, I can look out for myself. It's you that wants to be cautious.
He'd just like to spill your pail of water."
So they did not look with much favor on Bob's appearance. However, Bob, once he had set his mind on a bit of mischief, knew how to carry it through.
"Hello, Dent," he said good-naturedly. "Dad wants to know if you have any more of that rheumatic medicine you made. It fixed him up in great shape."
This was true enough, though Mr. Henderson had not given the message to Bob that day, having some time previously requested him to deliver it the first chance he got.
"Sure I have some more," replied the hired man. If he was open to flattery on any point, it was on his skill as a maker of rheumatism cures. He had tried several, and had at last decided that he had hit on one that was infallible. He had a notion of setting up in the drug business. "I'll get you a bottle if you wait a while, Bob," he said.
"I'll wait."
This was not very welcome news to Susan. She wanted to have a private conversation with Dent, and she could not while Bob was present. But the boy's plan was not completed.
As he stood idly by the step-ladder, on the top of which was Dent washing away at the windows, with the pail of warm water beside him, Bob appeared to be toying with a bit of string.
"I don't s'pose you have any doughnuts left, Susan?" he ventured rather wistfully.
Now Susan had not forgiven Bob for a little joke he had played on her some time before, so at his hint, to show her displeasure, she turned her back and did not answer. This was just what Bob wanted.
Looking up to see that Dent was not observing him, he passed one end of the string about the step-ladder. Tying it securely, he fastened the other end to Susan's apron strings in such a manner that it would not pull off.
"I'll wait for you out in the barn," he said to Dent when it became evident that Susan was not going to take the hint and get the doughnuts. In fact, Bob, much as he liked them, would have been disappointed if she had gone in for some. He wanted to get out of the way before a certain thing happened.
He strolled off, but instead of going to the barn he hid around the corner of the house. Susan and Dent conversed for several minutes longer, the man meanwhile busy at the windows. Then the cook, hearing her mistress calling her, started for the house in a hurry.
The result was disastrous. As she started off the string tied to the ladder and her apron tightened. As Susan was a woman of heavy weight, it did not take much effort on her part to pull over the ladder, together with Dent and the pail of water.
Dent came down to the ground, fortunately landing on his feet like a cat. The pail of water described a graceful curve and splashed on both Susan and the man. The cook, whose feet became tangled up in the falling ladder, slipped and fell, knocking Dent down, and there they were in a heap, both soaking wet.
And that was Bob's "joke." Hidden around the corner of the house, he laughed so he almost betrayed his position.
"Oh, that's too funny!" he whispered. "It was like clowns in a circus!"
CHAPTER X
OFF ON THE TRIP
For a few seconds both the cook and the hired man, whose feet Susan had knocked from under him, did not move. The suddenness of it all was too much for them. Then Dent arose after a struggle.
"Did you do that on purpose?" he asked Susan, an angry look coming over his face.
"Do what on purpose? What do you mean?"
"Did you upset my ladder?"
"Upset your ladder? Well, I guess not! But I'd like to know why you tried to throw that pail of water over me. If it was meant for a joke, I think it was a pretty poor one."
The woman started to arise, but found herself somewhat tangled up in the cord and ladder.
"Throw water on you?" repeated Dent with a puzzled look. "I didn't throw any water. It got on me as much as it did on you."
This was as near to a quarrel as these two had ever approached. Bob, listening around the corner of the house, was holding his sides to keep from bursting into laughter, though my own opinion is that he should have felt sorry for his "joke." It might have resulted disastrously, for either Susan or the hired man might have broken a leg or an arm. But Bob never thought of that. His sole idea was to create a laugh for himself.
Dent and Susan, dripping wet, looked at each other. Then the cook, wiping some of the water from her face, got up. As she did so the cord tied to her apron strings became tightened, and as Dent was partly standing on the step-ladder, Susan's progress was suddenly stopped.
"There!" she exclaimed, "That's what did it. My apron string got tangled in the ladder."
Dent examined the cord.
"No, it didn't get tangled," he announced. "It was tied there by some one, and I know who did it."
"Who?"
"Bob Henderson. Wait till I catch him! He did this for a joke. The young rascal! pretending he wanted some rheumatism medicine for his father! I'll fix him!"
Bob thought it was time to be moving on. He did not like the tone of Dent's voice.
But if the boy hoped to get off unseen he was disappointed. As he started to run he slipped and fell. Dent heard the noise the lad made, and while Susan was loosening the cord from her apron the man ran forward.
Bob, however, was up like a flash and ran off, but not before Dent had nearly caught him. Then the hired man knew it would be of no use to chase the mischievous lad, as Bob was very fleet of foot.
"You wait!" cried Dent, shaking his fist at Bob. "I'll fix you!"
"You can't!" was the answer. "I'm going on a voyage!"
"I hope you never come back here!" said Dent angrily. "I hope you get lost on a desert island where there's nothing to eat but seaweed!"
"That would serve him right," added the cook "The idea of hinting for some of my doughnuts! I'll tell his mother on him."
"And I'll tell his father," added Dent.
Bob was a little afraid lest Mrs. Dodson might come out, and seeing the state her employees were in, would know the lad had had a hand in it. The effects might be more unpleasant than they now promised to be. So Bob hastened his pace, and was soon out of sight of the big house on the hill. He left behind him two very angry persons, yet when they glanced at each other neither Susan nor Dent could help laughing. They looked as if they had been through a cyclone and cloud-burst, both at the same time, as the hired man expressed it.
Bob's father did hear of the trick, but not in the way the lad expected he would. On cooling down neither the hired man nor the cook felt like going and making a complaint about what Bob had done. The trick, however, had been witnessed by the coachman, and he told some friends in the village. In this way it became known to several persons, and Mr. Henderson heard of it.
"Bob," he said to his son very sternly that night, "I thought you had given up such foolishness as playing those tricks."
"I thought I had, too, dad, but I couldn't help doing this. Her apron strings came just in the right place."
"Do you think it was a nice thing to do?"
"No, sir. I s'pose not."
Mr. Henderson sighed. Bob was so frank to acknowledge a fault that it was hard to punish him.
"I don't know what's going to become of you," he said.
"Well, that was my last land joke, dad."
"Your last land joke? What do you mean?"
"I'm going to sail with Captain Spark soon, and I'll not have time for any more."
"That's so, and I'm glad of it. If you try any jokes on the sailors you may find they know a trick or two themselves."
"Oh, I'm going to turn over a new leaf."
"It's about time."
Bob really intended to mend his ways. This, perhaps, was due as much to a fear of what the sailors on the ship might do to him if he played any pranks on them as it was to a desire to reform.
That same night Captain Spark arrived at the Henderson home a little ahead of time. He announced that his ship was ready to sail, and that he and Bob would depart the next morning for the seaport town.
"All ready, Bob?" he asked.
"Aye, aye, sir."
"That's the way to talk. We may have to lay at the dock for a couple of days longer than I calculated on, but that will give you a chance to get acquainted with the ship before we strike blue water."
"That will be good."
With the return of the captain, Bob's visions of a life on the ocean wave were redoubled.
Mrs. Henderson cried a little when it came time to part the next morning, and there was a suspicious dampness in the eyes of Mr. Henderson. Bob also, in spite of the happy life he thought lay before him, was not altogether devoid of emotion. He felt the separation more than he thought he would.
"Now be a good boy, Bob," counseled his mother.
"I will." "It's your first long trip, and it certainly is a big one," spoke his father. "Prove yourself a man, Bob."
"I'll try, sir."
Bob felt new responsibilities now, and made any number of good resolutions.
"Ahoy, my hearties!" called the bluff, cheerful voice of Captain Spark. "Heave up the anchor, brace around the yards, for we've got a good wind, a free course and a fair sky!"
And with a chorus of good-bys the two started off toward the depot.
The trip was begun.
CHAPTER XI
THE "EAGLE" SAILS
Bob had often been on railroad journeys, so there was nothing especially interesting about the first part of his trip. But his mind was so taken up with what was to follow that even the familiar scenes as the train sped on out of the village seemed full of delight to him.
"Well, I s'pose you've been pretty steady since I've been gone, haven't you, Bob?" asked the captain, following a rather long pause.
"Well, pretty good, I guess. I only played one joke."
"What was It?"
Bob related the circumstances of the step-ladder, the cook and the hired man.
"Hum," remarked the commander of the Eagle reflectively. "So they came down in a heap, eh, and the water splashed all over 'em?"
"Yes," replied Bob, trying not to chuckle at the recollection.
"Hum," remarked the captain again, and he seemed to be having some difficulty with his breathing. Bob wondered if his friend was choking, he was so very red in the face, but he did not know that the mariner was trying hard not to laugh. The thought of the sight of the pair tangled up in the step-ladder was too much for him, though he did not want to encourage Bob in his reckless ways by showing enough interest to laugh.
"By the way," went on the captain suddenly, becoming rather solemn,
"I s'pose you've learned the principal parts of the ship by now?"
"By names, yes, sir. But I'm afraid I've got lots yet to learn."
"I should say you had. You know about as much how to sail a ship as
I would how to run a steam-engine from seeing a tea-kettle boil."
Captain Spark believed in making boys know their place, and he made up his mind he had a hard subject in Bob. Still, he was determined to reform him if it was possible.
"When do you expect to get into the Southern Pacific?" asked Bob, as he thought of the secret map Captain Obed had given him.
"It all depends on what weather we have. Why?"
"Here's something a friend of mine gave me," said Bob, pulling out the wrinkled piece of parchment. "He says there is treasure buried on an island in the Southern Pacific."
"Treasure? Let me see."
Captain Spark looked critically at the rather faint tracing of lines on the yellow sheet.
"I'm afraid somebody has been playing a joke on you, or on Captain Obed," he remarked, handing the parchment back, after Bob had told him how he became possessed of it.
"A joke?"
"Yes. That's a map, sure enough, but no sailor could ever find the island by those directions."
"Why not?"
"I said he never could. Perhaps I should have said he might by accident. Why, look, Bob. Whoever made this map only marked the location of the Island by degrees; that is the degree of longitude and that of latitude. Every circle is divided into three hundred and sixty degrees, and as the earth is round. It follows that a circle drawn around it would be the same. Each degree therefore means a distance at the equator of about seventy miles. So unless whoever drew this map is positive that the island is exactly at the intersection of the degrees of latitude and longitude which you have given me, it might be seventy miles one way or the other off from the location given here. And seventy miles is a good distance on the water. Besides, the map only states that the location is 'about' right. I guess we'll never find that treasure, Bob. I don't believe it's there."
"Would you think it worth trying for?"
"I don't believe I would. I might have to sail around for a week merely to locate the island, and the chances would be I'd miss it. Then if I did find it, it would be very unlikely that anything would be buried there. I don't take any stock in those Captain Kidd yarns. There's too many of 'em being spun by retired sailors. If Captain Kidd had any money, he took good care of it, you can wager. Besides, I haven't any time to fool around looking for an island. I have to get my cargo to port on time."
Bob was a little disappointed that he could not take part in a search for Captain Obed's treasure, but he reflected that what Captain Spark said was probably right, resides, no one ever believed the stories Captain Obed told. The aged man's mind was not to be depended on.
During the remainder of the journey by rail Captain Spark gave Bob some good advice as to how to conduct himself while aboard the ship. He imparted some useful information concerning navigation, and promised to show Bob more about it after they had sailed.
"I'm anxious to get out on deep water," said the mariner. "I don't like this city life. There are too many risks in it."
In due time they arrived at the seaport town, and, having seen that Bob's baggage would be transported to the dock, Captain Spark led the way to where the Eagle was waiting the hoisting of her white sails to catch the ocean breezes.
The ship was a large one, square-rigged, and had three masts, it being of good tonnage. As the voyage was a long one great care had to be taken in loading the cargo, and this had caused a little delay. Not all the freight was aboard yet.
"Well, Mr. Carr, how are things moving?" asked the captain of a tall, thin man who stood near the gangway as he and Bob went up the plank.
"Very well, sir. I think we shall be loaded by to-morrow."
"I hope so. This lying at dock doesn't suit me. By the way, let me introduce a friend of mine. This is Bob Henderson. His mother is a relative of mine, and Bob is taking a voyage for his health. Bob, this is my first mate, Mr. Carr."
"He looks healthy enough," remarked the first mate as he cordially shook hands with Bob.
"Things are not always what they look like," replied the captain with a smile. "Bob found matters rather too lively for him ashore, and his folks think it will quiet him down to go with me."
"I see," replied Mr. Carr in answer to his commander's sly wink. He now understood something of the situation.
"I'll leave you here a while," went on the commander to the boy.
"You can look about a bit while I go below and work on my manifest.
Mr. Carr will tell you anything you want to know."
But Bob was so interested in watching the sailors at work stowing away the cargo, while others were cleaning various parts of the ship, that he did not ask many questions.
All the rest of that day the loading went on. Bob and the captain went ashore for their meals, as the commander had some business to attend to in the port, but Bob spent that night in his bunk. It was the first time he had ever slept in a ship's berth, and he rather liked the novelty.
The next day the loading was rapidly proceeded with, and by noon all the cargo was stowed away.
Captain Spark was below in his cabin, making out the final papers and waiting for his clearance documents from the harbor master. Mr. Carr and his assistants were busy getting the Eagle ready to sail, while Bob stood near the rail, watching with curious eyes everything that was going on.
While he stood there he saw a short, stout, pale-faced man coming up the gangplank. The man carried a valise in each hand, while behind him walked a 'longshoreman with a trunk on his shoulder.
"Now, my man, be very careful of that trunk," urged the short, stout, pale man. "Don't drop it for the world."
"I'm not going to, sir," and the 'longshoreman attempted to touch his hat as a mark of respect.
"Don't do that!" exclaimed the nervous man. "You might drop it, and something would break."
"All right, sir. Very well, sir," and once more the 'longshoreman made as if to touch his hat. It was a habit of his to do this whenever spoken to by those who employed him.
"There you go again!" cried the man in rather whining tones. "Don't do it, I say! There! Keep your hands on the trunk!"
Seeing that this last order was obeyed, the nervous man advanced up the gangplank. He came on deck, set his two valises very carefully down, watched the 'longshoreman place the trunk on end, as if it contained eggs, and then he asked of Bob:
"Is this ship the Eagle?"
"Yes, sir."
"Are you sure now? I don't want any mistake made. I don't see the name on it anywhere."
"It is on the bows and under the stern."
Bob rather prided himself on this nautical knowledge.
"Hum! Well, perhaps it may be. You are positive it is the Eagle?"
"Yes, sir. Positive. A distant relative of my mother is the captain."
"Is it Captain Spark?"
"Yes, sir."
"Are you sure? I don't want to be on the wrong ship."
"Yes, sir, I am very sure, I came on board with him. Are you going to sail on the ship?" asked Bob politely.
"I expect to, if this is the right vessel. I wish I was sure.
Perhaps you might be mistaken," and he glanced nervously around.
"No, I am positive. There is Captain Spark now," he added as the commander came up a companionway.
"Oh, yes. I shall speak to him."
The nervous man started off. Just then Captain Spark, having received his clearance papers by messenger, gave orders to cast off. The Eagle was about to sail.
"All ashore that's going ashore!" called the first mate.
The 'longshoreman started down the gangplank which was about to be hauled in.
"Wait, I must pay you!" called the nervous passenger, turning back toward the man who had brought his trunk aboard.
The 'longshoreman waited.
"Cast off that stern line!" shouted the captain.
"Oh, dear! I wish I was sure this was the Eagle!" spoke the nervous passenger.
"It is," Bob assured him, smiling at the man's manner. First he would advance a little way toward the captain, intending to ask him the momentous question; then he would turn toward the 'longshoreman, who was waiting for his money.
"Lively with that gangplank now!" ordered the commander.
"Oh, if I have made a mistake and gotten on the wrong ship it will be terrible," murmured the man.
"Why don't you throw off that stern line?" again shouted the captain.
"What shall I do?" exclaimed the nervous man.
"If you're goin' t' pay me, your honor, you'll have t' hustle," advised the 'longshoreman.
"I will, my man. Never mind touching your hat. Oh, you are not carrying my trunk now; I forgot. Here's a dollar. Never mind the change."
"All ashore that's going ashore!" yelled Mr. Carr again.
Up came the gangplank. The 'longshoreman leaped over the side of the ship and landed on the dock. There was a puffing from the tug that had been engaged to pull the Eagle out into the channel.
"Are you sure this is the right ship?" appealed the man to Bob once more.
"Positively yes, sir. Anyhow, it's too late now."
"Too late? How? What do you mean?"
"I mean that we're under way now."
The nervous passenger ran to the side and looked over. True enough, the Eagle was some distance from the wharf. The tug was straining on the big hawser. The ship had begun her long voyage around Cape Horn.
CHAPTER XII
SOME JOKES ON BOB
Seeing that he was now indeed afloat, and that the ship was some distance from land, the man became more nervous than ever. He paced up and down the deck, looking anxiously at the fast-receding shore.
Suddenly he ran toward the bow of the ship and leaned far over the rail.
"Hey there!" yelled Bob, thinking the man was going to Jump overboard and swim ashore. "What are you doing?"
"I was trying to see the name of the vessel," answered the man, whose face was now red instead of pale, caused by his exertion in bending over the rail.
"You can't see it by leaning over," replied Bob. "It's painted away up by the figurehead."
"I know I can't see it," answered the nervous passenger. "Oh, I wish I was sure."
"I tell you you're on the Eagle," declared Bob. "Can't you take my word?"
"When you get as old as I am, and have been through as much trouble, you'll never take anybody's word for anything," was the answer. "I must be sure. I'm off for a long voyage, and I don't want to make a mistake."
"You're not making any mistake if you want to be aboard the Eagle. Here comes Captain Spark now. You can ask him."
At that moment the commander, having seen his vessel well under way, came to where Bob and the nervous passenger were standing.
"Is this Mr. Hiram Tarbill?" asked the mariner, holding out his hand.
"Yes, sir. Are you Captain Jeremiah Spark?"
"That's who I am."
"Is this the schooner Eagle, bound around Cape Horn?"
"Yes, sir, with a mixed cargo consigned to various firms in Lima,
Peru. Would you like to look at my papers?"
"No, I guess it's all right," and Mr. Tarbill seemed much relieved. "You see, my train was late," he went on, "and I came aboard in such a hurry that I was not sure I was on the right ship. I dislike to make mistakes, especially as my health is not very good."
"Yes, you're on the right ship," Captain Spark assured Mr. Tarbill.
"Now if you'll come with me I'll show you to your stateroom. But
first let me introduce to you a relative of mine," and he presented
Bob.
"Yes, I have been talking with him," said Mr. Tarbill. "He assured me I was on the right vessel, but I did not know whether he knew or not."
"Oh, yes, Bob knows that much about the ship. But he's going to learn more soon."
The captain conducted the nervous passenger to the stateroom set apart for him and then came back on deck.
"What do you think of him?" he asked Bob.
"He seems all right, but very nervous."
"That's the trouble. He's too nervous. His doctor recommended him to take a long sea voyage to see if it would cure him. I think it will. I never knew a sailor who was nervous, and it's all because of the salt water. Now, Bob, amuse yourself as best you can until the tug drops us. I have several matters to attend to. After a bit I'll give you some regular duties to perform every day. They will not be hard, but I shall expect you to perform them as well as you are able. While in the main this is a pleasure trip for you, undertaken for a purpose with which you are familiar, I want you to derive some benefit from it. Don't you think that wise?"
"Yes, sir," answered Bob, who had formed several good resolutions regarding his future conduct.
"Very well, then. You can roam about the ship at your pleasure until I am ready for you."
Now a ship is one of the best places in the world for the circulation of news. It is a little village in itself, and what happens in the captain's cabin, though there may be a desire to keep it secret, is soon known in the forecastle, or "fo'kesel," as the sailors pronounce it. Consequently it was not long before it was known that Bob was being sent on the voyage to reform him for certain roguish tricks to which he was addicted. This was known to the majority of the crew before the ship sailed.
Consequently they were not only on their guard against any pranks which the boy might try to perpetrate, but several of the younger men resolved to give Bob a taste of his own medicine.
There was some whispering among members of the crew as they observed Bob strolling about the deck, and one of the men said something to Mr. Carr. The first mate nodded and smiled. A little later, as Bob was watching the men coil up the big hawser which the tug had cast off, the Eagle now proceeding along under her own sails, one of the sailors stepped up to him.
"Would you mind doing us a favor?" he asked respectfully.
"Of course not. I'll do anything I can for you," answered Bob, glad to make the closer acquaintance of the men.
"Then would you kindly go to Captain Spark and ask him for a left-handed marlinspike? We need it to splice this hawser with. He keeps it in his cabin because there's only one on board and it's quite a valuable instrument."
The man spoke as gravely as a judge.
"A left-handed marlinspike?" repeated Bob. "I suppose one of the sailors must be left-handed," he thought.
He knew what a marlinspike was from having seen the men use the sharp-pointed irons to pick apart the strands of rope preparatory to splicing, so, anxious to be of service, he hurried to Captain Spark's cabin.
"The men sent me for a left-handed marlinspike," he said, interrupting the commander, who was busy over his accounts.
"A left-handed marlinspike," repeated the commander, at once understanding the joke.
"Yes, sir."
"I'm sorry," was the answer, gravely given, "but I lost it overboard a while ago. You'd better go to Mr. Carr and ask him for the scuttle-butt. That will do as well."
"Yes, sir," replied Bob, who, not suspecting anything, hunted up the first mate and made his request.
"You'll find it right over there," said Mr. Carr, pointing to a big water barrel on deck. It was one from which the sailors drank. "If it's too heavy for you, you'd better get help," said Mr. Carr, trying not to smile. But Bob was aware now that he had been made the butt of a joke, and though he felt a little embarrassed, he had to laugh in spite of himself.
"That's pretty good," he said. "A left-handed marlinspike turns into a scuttle-butt, and that turns into a water barrel. I've got lots to learn yet."
He could hear the sailors laughing at the trick they had played, with the consent of the first mate, and with a grim smile Bob resolved to get even.