Dory Dornwood had been to the point before, and had met Paul Bristol there. Of course, the son of toil had never associated with the Chesterfields on anything like an equality, and he had no especial interest in them or their affairs. In the quarrels between the two schools he had been entirely neutral, for the reason that he had not been called upon to take part in any of the battles, and his opinion of the merits of either side was of no consequence.
Dory gave the resident of the point his hand, as he came on board of the "Goldwing," and was glad to see him. Possibly the skipper was willing to have a friend in this particular locality, though he knew that Paul had no influence with the gentlemanly students of the institute.
"I picked up your boat over by Scotch Bonnet," said Dory. "It was just going on the rocks, and I thought it would have a hard time there. I knew from the direction of the wind that it must have come from this region, and I was afraid some one had been upset in her, for there was only one oar in the boat."
"No one was upset in her, though the 'Dragon' is not inclined to stay right side up when the sea is heavy," replied Paul. "I am more thankful to you than I can tell for bringing her back at just this time. If you are willing to hear me, I should like to tell you how she happened to get adrift, and why I am so glad to get her back."
"I am in no hurry, and I am ready to hear anything you wish to say to me," replied Dory, as he invited Paul to take a seat in the standing-room.
There were five other Beech Hill students in the boat, and they seemed to be as willing to hear the story as the skipper was. All of them judged by the manner of the Sandy-Pointer that he had something of interest and importance to tell. Paul gave his account of the trouble between Lily and Walk Billcord without exaggeration or embellishment, though he did not do justice, in his modesty, to his own prowess in the battles with the magnate and his son.
The narrative was exciting enough to secure the closest attention of his auditors; and, when it was finished, all of them had some questions to ask, and most of them some comments to make. As they were not prejudiced in favor of the major or his son, they agreed that the son of toil had served them right. Dory said he should have been very sorry to strike a man of the age of Major Billcord, but he did not see how he could have helped doing so under the circumstances.
"And he has ordered you to remove the cottage at less than a day's notice?" continued the skipper.
"He has, and at a time when my boat had gone adrift, and I had no way to move a single thing which we could not carry two miles in our hands. That is the reason why I was so glad to see the 'Dragon' coming back to the point," replied Paul, looking at the skipper of the "Goldwing" with the deepest interest. "But the water is rather rough this afternoon out on the lake, and I am afraid I can't do much towards moving my mother and sister and all the furniture in that flatboat."
"Then you mean to leave the cottage to be pitched into the lake?" added Dory.
"I don't see that we can do anything else," replied Paul blankly. "It is about a quarter of a mile through the woods to the road, and Major Billcord will not allow a tree to be cut down. I could not move it if I had a hundred men to help me. I might take it to pieces, if I had time enough to do the job; but we have little time, and not much money."
"Suppose we go on shore and take a look at the cottage," suggested Dory, who seemed to be doing some heavy thinking, though he did not hint that he knew of any remedy for the misfortunes of the Bristols. The tender was brought up to the gangway, and Dory went ashore in it, accompanied by Tuck Prince, while Paul took the "Dragon" back.
The skipper walked up to the cottage, and Paul introduced him to his mother and sister. Dory had never seen Lily Bristol before, but he was perfectly willing to agree with the "speech of people," that she was the prettiest girl in the State of New York, and possibly in the State of Vermont. But she looked very sad, and so did her mother, and Dory said nothing to them about the mandate of the magnate.
The visitor looked at the house, and got its approximate dimensions in his mind. He examined the foundations of the structure, and the land upon which it lay. He was thinking, but he said nothing.
"Of course, Major Billcord knows very well that we cannot move the cottage without making a pathway for it through the grove," said Paul, who had observed the expression on Dory's face with the utmost interest.
But he had not expected that the skipper of the "Goldwing" could do anything about moving the dwelling: the most he had hoped was that the visitor would volunteer to assist in the transportation of the furniture, or a portion of it, to some safe place, if such could be found. But Dory was provokingly silent, and did not hint at anything. When he had completed his examination of the premises, he walked towards the end of the point again.
"I suppose you will agree with me that not a thing can be done," said Paul as he followed the skipper; and he began to be very much discouraged at the prospect.
"I don't know whether anything can be done or not," replied Dory, musing. "I can't do anything myself, for I don't feel at liberty to act without the knowledge of my uncle, Captain Gildrock," replied Dory. "If you could move the cottage, have you any other place to put it?"
"Not a place. My mother owns a house, but not a foot of land in the wide universe," answered Paul gloomily.
"It is not very easy to think of any plan for moving the building when we haven't any idea of what is to be done with it," added Dory, surveying with his eye the ground between the cottage and the water of the lake.
"I didn't suppose you could do anything for us in that way," continued Paul. "I thought we might save some of our furniture in the 'Dragon.'"
"You couldn't even get a bureau on board of her," replied Dory, glancing at the flatboat. "If you laid it across the gunwales, it would upset her. But I have an idea, though it may not amount to much. What are your mother and sister going to do? I take it they will not stay here to see the Chesterfields destroy your cottage and its contents?"
"No; they will leave in the morning; but there is no place under the sun for them to go. We have no relations, and hardly any friends," answered Paul very sadly.
"As I said before, I can't do anything without orders in a case like this. I am very sorry for you. If the situation were what my uncle defines as an emergency, I should be permitted to do what is required to save life or property. But there is nearly a whole day's leeway in this case," continued the skipper.
"I didn't know but you might carry some of our things over to the other side in the 'Goldwing,' Paul hinted very timidly.
"I might be able to take some of them; but the schooner would not hold one-half of the goods. I hope to do something better than that, though I can't promise anything. So far as the furniture is concerned, I don't think you need to worry about that, for there will be time enough to remove it to-morrow morning," said Dory.
"Plenty of time, if I have any help," added Paul.
Dory hoped he should be able to do something better than this; and the words had given Paul a strong hope, though he wished the skipper would speak out plainly, and say what he thought of doing.
"It is now about five o'clock," continued Dory, looking at his watch. "We have plenty of time, and I have something to propose. I can't do anything without my uncle's knowledge, but I should like to have your mother and sister go over to Beech Hill in the 'Goldwing;' and you too, Paul, if you don't think it necessary to remain here and look out for the cottage."
"What should they go over there for?" asked the son of toil.
"To tell my uncle your story. If Captain Gildrock decides that nothing can be done for you, I will bring your mother and sister back before dark. Then I will take a cargo of your goods to any place you say in this part of the lake. That is all I feel at liberty to do under the present circumstances," added Dory. "But I am pretty sure that something more will be done for you."
"I will speak to my mother about it," replied Paul. "Will you come with me, Dory?"
The skipper followed him to the cottage, and Paul stated the case to his mother. She was willing to do anything her son thought best. She did not think it was necessary for Lily to go if Paul was to remain in charge of the house; but Dory thought she was a part of the story, and anticipated some hard questions from his uncle which she could answer better than any other person. Mrs. Bristol yielded the point, and in a few minutes they were ready for the trip.
The ladies were seated in the standing-room, and the Beech-Hillers were as polite as so many dancing-masters, "tinkers" though they were. A short distance from the shore the wind was still fresh; and in half an hour the "Goldwing" was in Beechwater, as the principal of the school generally called the lake.
Without waiting to moor the schooner, which he left in charge of Tuck Prince, Dory pulled the ladies to the new boat-house in the tender. They landed at the steps, and the skipper conducted them to Captain Gildrock's library. They were pleasantly welcomed by the principal, though they were entire strangers to him.
Dory stated that he had brought Mrs. Bristol and Miss Lily from Sandy Point, and he wished his uncle to hear the story they had to tell. He hinted that the visitors had better confine themselves to the facts in the case, without any comments; and, as Lily had been the principal and first actor in the drama, he thought she had better open the narrative.
Possibly Dory thought an account of the opening proceedings from the lips of so pretty a girl as Lily might have more influence with his bachelor uncle. The captain smiled graciously, and bowed encouragingly to the fair maiden. She began in a very straightforward way with the narrative, and Dory was glad the occasion permitted him to gaze at her without staring.
When she had completed her narrative, there was but little more for her mother to say. The principal asked a few questions, and then he was in possession of all the facts. He knew all about Major Billcord, and he had no difficulty in believing the simple and unadorned statement to which he had listened. Very likely he was as indignant as any Christian man would have been at the outrage of the magnate and his son, but he did not express himself in this direction.
When Mrs. Bristol and Lily had said all they had to say, the captain looked at Dory to see if he had anything to offer. Dory was not slow to take a hint, and he made quite an energetic speech of considerable length, setting forth his views of the situation.
"I am very sorry, Mrs. Bristol, that you should have been placed in such an unpleasant situation," said Captain Gildrock when Dory had brought his speech to a square conclusion, which some orators find it very difficult to do. "Your son did no more than I would have done in the same circumstances. It was highly proper for him to defend his sister with his fists; and after that he acted only on the defensive."
"I was very well satisfied with Paul, sir," added Mrs. Bristol.
"I think you have reason to be. You have heard what my nephew has said, and I fully indorse the plan he has outlined. I shall leave it to him to carry it out in his own way."
"You are very kind, Captain Gildrock, and I shall be grateful to you as long as I live," replied Mrs. Bristol, with enthusiasm. "Paul says your students were always much better behaved than those of the institute."
"Unfortunately our relations with the school on the other side of the lake are not as pleasant as I could wish; but I do not intend that our young men shall be offensive to their neighbors."
"The Goldwing is all ready to take you back to Sandy Point, Mrs. Bristol," Dory interposed.
"But why should you return, madam?" said the principal. "I think you had better remain here. We have plenty of spare rooms, and we will do all we can to make you comfortable."
"Thank you, sir; but I am afraid Paul will be uneasy in my longer absence."
"Dory shall run over to Sandy Point, and inform your son what is to be done, and can bring you anything you may want," suggested Captain Gildrock.
The principal gave some strong reasons why she and Lily had better remain at the mansion over night, and she finally consented to do so. Mrs. Dornwood and Marian, Dory's mother and sister, were called, and they soon made the visitors feel quite at home. Dory returned to the Goldwing, and was soon standing out of Beechwater.
In less than half an hour the schooner was at the point. Paul was greatly astonished, and not a little troubled, when he saw that his mother and sister were not on board of her. But the skipper soon explained their absence, and stated what was to be done with the permission of his uncle. Paul went to the cottage for a few articles which his mother had desired, in a note, while the skipper looked over the situation of the cottage again, and arranged his plans for action.
"We shall disappoint the Chesterfields once more, Paul," said Dory, when the son of toil joined him. "We have spoiled some of their little arrangements before."
"They will miss the fun the major has promised them, but I think he will feel the loss of it more than they will. Of course, all he wants is to punish us," replied Paul, with a cheerful smile.
"You can go over to Beech Hill with me if you like," continued Dory, when they reached the tender.
"I must stay here and watch the cottage. Some of the students might think it was fun to set it on fire to-night, though it would not make a very brilliant light in the moonshine," replied Paul.
"Do you expect any of the Chesterfields at the point to-night, Paul?" asked Dory with some anxiety, for their presence might interfere with his plan.
"No; I hardly expect any of them. I don't know that Major Billcord has told them about the fun in store for them yet, though he was so mad when he left the point that he could hardly keep it in," answered Paul.
"Well, if they come to-night, we can't help it," added Dory, as he stepped into the tender. "We shall be here all the same, and we shall do the work we have laid out."
The Goldwing got up her anchor, and filled away. Paul watched her till she disappeared in Beaver River. The situation had changed entirely, and Paul was as happy as though there had been no tempest at the point that day. His mother and sister were in good quarters, and he did not much care if the Chesterfields came down upon him in full force. As soon as the schooner was out of sight he went into the house to get his supper.
As soon as the Goldwing was moored, and her crew had eaten their supper, there was a call for all hands to assemble at the new boat-house. The famous structure had been finished nearly a year before, for it was in the month of May that the trouble at Sandy Point took place. The school year began in the September preceding.
After considering the subject during the summer, Captain Gildrock had decided to increase the number of pupils in the Beech Hill Industrial School. But he was a prudent and practical man, and he had taken only a dozen additional scholars. Two had left to take good-paying situations, and the whole number now was thirty-six. There was room in the enlarged dormitory for a dozen more, and space enough for them at the benches in the shops.
A third class had been formed of the beginners; and, as they had been under instruction for eight months, some of them had acquired considerable skill in the use of tools. Another barge had been procured, and the "green hands" had all learned to row, to swim, and a few of them to handle a sailboat. The school was now larger than the one on the other side of the lake. But the Chesterfields, after having been defeated several times in their assaults upon the Beech Hillers, had confined their attention more to their own affairs than formerly. They were satisfied to give the barges of the "tinkers" a wide berth on the lake; and the boating season closed without any more serious quarrels on the water.
The Topovers had never accomplished anything by meddling with the students on their side of the lake. A little discipline in one of the courts had kept them at a distance for a time. When the fruit was ripe, Mr. Brookbine's big dog became a terror to them; for the master carpenter had built a house for him near the rear fence of the orchard, and the animal understood his duty perfectly.
The call for the students after supper was unusual, and no one but the members of the acting crew of the yacht knew what it meant; and even they knew nothing of the plan they were to assist in carrying out. Since the former season there had been some changes in the organization of the students. Captain Gildrock was no longer the actual captain of the Sylph, the beautiful steam yacht connected with the institution.
The position had been given to Dory Dornwood, and the students generally sailed her without the interference of the principal or any of the instructors. Mr. Jepson, the master-machinist, was no longer the chief engineer, and was therefore at no time under the orders of any of the juvenile officers. Corny Minkfield, who had served one season as first assistant-engineer, had been promoted to the highest place, and the second to the place thus made vacant.
Oscar Chester was the first pilot. He had been a diligent student in the pilot-house, and knew the lake almost as well as the captain. All the places had been filled after the first appointments in accordance with the merits of the students, though of necessity "civil service" rules prevailed, for the reason that the members of the ship's company had become more skilful in the departments in which they had been employed than in any other.
The only violent changes made were those which gave the cooks and stewards a chance to learn seamanship or the management of the engine and furnaces. As waiters they learned out in a few months, and even the rather limited routine of cookery required on board was exhausted in the same time. Old deck hands and firemen became stewards, while those who had served in the fireroom and cabins were transferred to the deck.
The increase in the number of students allowed a very large force of seamen, and the vessel was now heavily manned. Crews for the quarter boats were appointed for permanent service, and four quartermasters were added to the organization, who had regular tricks at the wheel in the pilot-house under the direction of the first or second pilot.
Dory Dornwood had been in command of the steamer for the three months at the close of the last season of navigation, and every Saturday he exercised his ship's company in as long cruises us the length of Lake Champlain would permit. Sometimes the principal was on board, and sometimes he was not. If he had anything to say, he said it to Captain Dory Dornwood; and the discipline was as perfect as though the steamer had been in the navy.
In the beginning of Captain Dornwood's administration there had been considerable difficulty. Boys from the country, or even from the city, were not very prompt to see the necessity of obeying orders without asking any questions. But as this was one of the principal lessons the steam yacht was to impart to the pupils, there was no relaxation of the discipline to accommodate those who were dilatory or rebellious.
If an officer was in the slightest degree disobedient to those above him in rank, he was "broken" as soon as the case was proved to the satisfaction of the principal. If the delinquent was a seaman, under-steward, or fireman, he was relieved from further duty on board, and required to stay on shore under the eye of the instructors, or of Bates, the old salt, who obeyed orders as though they were all written down in the constitution of the State.
As this was the severest punishment that could be inflicted upon any of the students, it soon had its effect. Before the season closed, the ship's company were as obedient to the new officers as they had ever been when Captain Gildrock was in command. More than this, Dory was very popular in the school; he was not unreasonable, snobbish, or tyrannical, and never did violence to the self-respect of any of his shipmates. After they had learned the trick of doing it, it was a pleasure to obey orders.
The students assembled in the boat-house, and all eyes were fixed upon Captain Dornwood, who was to have command of the expedition to Sandy Point, for the operations on shore as well as those on board of the Sylph.
"Perhaps I ought to call for volunteers for the work of to-night, for some of you may not want to sit up so late as the business in hand may require," the captain began, with a cheerful smile on his handsome face, for his good looks had certainly improved in the last two years.
"All night if you like!" shouted Bob Swanton.
"The principal instructed me to say that the early bell will not be rung to-morrow morning," continued Dory. "There will be a good deal of hard work to be done, including some lifting, though there are enough of us to make the task easy. These are the hardships of the trip; and if any student prefers to stay at the school, he will be permitted to do so. If there are any such they will please step forward."
Of course, there was not a single one who wished to be excused from duty. The captain of the Sylph explained that they were to make a trip up the lake by moonlight in the steamer, and do a smart job on the other side. This was all he would tell them at that time, and he directed them to put on their uniform.
The Sylph lay at the new wharf, and as soon as the students had put on their uniforms they went on board of her. Chief-engineer Minkfield was directed to get up steam at once. Captain Dornwood ordered one of the quarter boats to be lowered into the water and manned. Taking Thad Glovering, the first officer, with him, he embarked.
At the order of the coxswain the bowman shoved off, and the oars were dropped into the water. The boat was pulled up the little lake to the stone quarries. Mr. Miker, the lessee of the quarries, had made good use of some of the ideas of Bolly Millweed, the architect of the boat-house. The caisson, on which the stone posts for the foundations of the structure had been transported, had suggested to him the building of a huge raft, or scow.
He called the craft a "gundalow," which appears to be a corruption of gondola, though the affair bore but little resemblance to the airy boat of the Venetians. It was fifty feet long and sixteen feet wide. It was decked over and caulked, so that it was as tight as a ship on the ocean. It had a stow-hole at each end; but these compartments were perfectly tight, so that if any water flowed into them it could not get into the large middle chamber upon which the craft depended for its power of flotation.
When heavily loaded with stone, the deck was only a few inches above the level of the water outside. Mr. Miker's principal market for the production of the quarries was at Genverres, though he had sold a large quantity of stone to be delivered in Burlington. In the centre of the deck was a derrick, which was used as a mast when the gundalow went out upon Lake Champlain. She was provided with a large, square sail, but it could be used only when the wind was fair.
On her trips to Genverres she was poled by four or six men, and made very slow progress. But Captain Gildrock had offered Mr. Miker the use of the Sylph to tow her when he wished, for this was nothing but fun to the ship's company, and, as it looked like business to them, they enjoyed it more than mere sailing without a purpose.
The principal made no charge for the use of the steamer, and Mr. Miker was grateful for the service rendered by the yacht and the students. The gundalow was just the thing Captain Dornwood wanted for the operations of the night. When the boat reached the quarry, the captain went on board and measured it. But the derrick was in the way, and unless it could be removed, the craft would be useless to him.
Returning to the boat, he proceeded farther up the creek, to a point near Mr. Miker's house. Landing again, he found the quarryman in his garden. He stated his business. Of course he could have the use of the gundalow, and the derrick could be taken out of her. The man of stone was enthusiastic to serve the students, and he did not even ask to what use the craft was to be applied, though Dory volunteered the information that the plan he was to carry out was approved by the principal.
Mr. Miker hastened to summon all his men, who lived near the quarries, and by eight o'clock they were on the deck of the gundalow. But it was no small undertaking to remove the derrick, for the mast was a very heavy spar, and was stepped in the bottom of the scow.
The rigging and the long arm were taken from it, and then one of the movable derricks used in the quarries was brought on deck, and guyed up for work. With the aid of this machinery the mast was taken out, and deposited on the shore. The mast-hole was covered with a tight scuttle made for the purpose, and the gundalow was adapted to the business for which she was to be used in the expedition to Sandy Point.
By this time it was nine o'clock, and the moon was just beginning to cast its silvery light upon the still waters of the little lake. Captain Dornwood promised to return the scow to the quarries before morning; but Mr. Miker said he should not use her for a week, and the captain could keep her as long as he wished.
"We shall want a lot of blocks, planks, and timbers, but we have plenty of them on the school grounds, though we shall have to lug them a considerable distance to put them on board of the gundalow," said Captain Dornwood, as he was about to step into the boat.
"Hold on then, Dory! I have everything you can possibly want in that line," interposed Mr. Miker. "The students have saved my men a vast deal of hard work in towing the gundalow, and they will be glad to put all the lumber you need on board of the scow."
"That we will!" exclaimed several of the men in the same breath.
"I don't want to give you and your men, who have been at work all day, any unnecessary trouble," added Dory.
"No trouble at all!" protested the men, as they began to put the timbers on board.
Dory was very grateful to them, and pointed out the kind of stuff he wanted, including a large pile of rollers used in moving heavy blocks of stone. In half an hour the gundalow was loaded with the materials Dory had indicated. In the little time at his disposal, the energetic leader of the enterprise had made a list of the material he was likely to require. He had been at work, while the men were loading the blocks and planks, with his pencil and paper, and had thought of several things that were of prime importance.
"I am very much obliged to you, Mr. Miker, and I shall be still more so, if you will lend us eight jack-screws, for we have not enough of them at the shops," continued Dory.
"Are you going to move a meeting-house, Dory?" asked the quarryman, laughing.
"We are going to do something of that sort," replied the leader of the enterprise. "But I don't let on just yet."
"All right; you know what you are about every time, and it is best to keep your mouth shut, in ease you should not succeed as well as you expect. I have a dozen rather small jack-screws, and I will have all of them put on the deck of the gundalow," added Mr. Miker, as he ordered his men to bring them from a shanty where they were kept under lock and key.
"I will see that everything is brought back again before morning," said Dory, as he stepped into his boat, and gave the order to return to the Sylph.
It was now nearly ten o'clock on as beautiful an evening as ever gladdened the heart of any night wanderers. The full moon gave an abundance of light, and the operations of the students could be as readily conducted as in the day-time. Everything that would be needed, with the exception of a few coils of rope, was on board of the gundalow. A party was sent to the shops for them; and when these necessary articles were obtained, the fasts were cast off, and the steamer stood up to the quarries.
The gundalow had been so often towed by the Sylph, that the business was perfectly understood. In a few moments more she was made fast to the steamer by the double tow-lines, so that the awkward craft could be steered even around a corner without any difficulty. Will Orwell, the second officer, was detailed to take charge of a party of six on board of the tow. But before the steamer got under way again, Captain Dornwood called all hands together on the forward deck.
"Now we shall know what sort of a racket this is going to be," said Dick Halifax, as they hastened to the place of meeting.
"No, you won't," replied Dick Short, to whom the remark was addressed. "You won't know anything at all about it until we come to the work to be done."
"Why don't he tell us what we are to do?" asked Dick. "I should like to know something about it."
"It was a trick of Captain Gildrock to keep his business to himself, and Dory takes after him. The principal thinks the fellows can obey orders better when they don't know what is coming than they can when they understand all about it. Every fellow thinks he knows best how to do almost anything."
"I don't know but he is right. I never saw a horse tumble down in the street, but every one of the crowd around him wanted to boss the job of getting him on his feet again," added Dick.
"I have called you together, fellows, to say that it will be necessary to keep as still as possible on the expedition of to-night;" said Captain Dornwood, when the ship's company had all gathered on the forward deck. "I don't know that a noise would defeat our plans, but I am very much afraid it would cause us some trouble. I don't believe in any yelling when we are on duty, but I fear it would make mischief to-night. Please to observe this request in the strictest possible manner."
"Where are we going, Captain Dornwood?" asked Bark Duxbury, one of the new students.
"Going to work now," replied the captain with a smile. "All hands to their stations."
The ship's company separated, and all the officers and seamen went to the places where they belonged. Though no meals were to be served during the night, so far as was known, the cooks went to the galley, and the stewards to the forward cabin. The second officer, with his gang, went on board of the gundalow, and at the order from the captain the pilot on duty rang the bell to back her. By this movement the scow was hauled out from the wharf, and the bell to go ahead was given.
Mr. Miker and some of his men stood on the shore watching the departure of the expedition, and wondering what sort of a mission the students were going upon at that time in the evening. But the Sylph and her tow soon disappeared beyond the trees at the lower end of Beechwater. Dory was on the hurricane deck, keeping a sharp lookout upon everything that was done.
At the V-point the pilot slowed down without any order from the captain, and the scow was switched around it without touching the mud. There was now nothing to do outside of the engine-room and pilot-house; and the crew gathered into companies in various parts of the deck to speculate upon the nature of the expedition in which they were engaged. They guessed a hundred things. The crew of the Goldwing were pretty sure they were going to Sandy Point.
The Sylph was approaching the mouth of the river, and it would soon be necessary for Captain Dornwood to say something. For, if the expedition was bound to the northward, she would take that course as soon as she came up with the point on that side of the river; if she was going to the southward, she would have to keep her present course half a mile farther out into the lake to avoid the shoals off Field's Bay.
Oscar Chester and Dick Short, the latter of whom had been promoted from a deck-hand to the position of second pilot, were in the pilot-house. No order came to alter the course at the north point, but a few minutes later the captain entered the pilot-house.
"We are bound to Sandy Point," said he; and the head of the steamer was turned to the southwest.
In less than half an hour, the Sylph was close in to the end of the point, and Dory discovered Paul on the shore. The steamer was headed into the bay, and the gundalow brought up to a point directly in front of the cottage.
Both of the quarter boats of the Sylph were lowered into the water, and a shore party landed with Captain Dornwood. The steamer was then left in charge of the first pilot. The hands on board of the gundalow had poled her up to the beach where she had grounded.
"I am glad to see you, Dory," said Paul Bristol, when the captain went on shore. "It was so late that I was afraid you were not coming."
"We have plenty of time to do the job, for I don't think it will take us a great while. Have you seen anything of the Chesterfields this evening?"
"Not one of them has been near the point, so far as I know, and I don't expect to see any of them. I suppose they are dreaming of the fun they will have in pitching the cottage into the lake to-morrow afternoon," added Paul, with a cheerful smile. "But I don't see how you are going to move the building, Dory."
"If you keep your eye on us sharp for an hour or so you will see," replied the leader of the enterprise, as he turned his attention to the business before him.
After half an hour's hard work, the lumber, blocks, and rigging on the deck of the scow were landed on the beach. With thirty pairs of hands the work was not very hard, and they tossed the large sticks about as though they had been nothing but chips. By this time they understood what was to be done, and the students were full of enthusiasm. They were required to work in silence; for though the Chesterfield school was all of half a mile from Sandy Point, Dory was very anxious lest their operations should be disturbed by the institute people.
Two heavy timbers were placed under the cottage; the jack-screws were put in position under them, and the building raised from the posts which supported it. A plankway was laid on the smooth sand, the posts were removed, and the cottage set on rollers. The plankway was continued to the water.
There was a considerable descent from the site of the cottage to the water. Two heavy ropes were attached to the building, and passed around a couple of large trees in the rear of it. The plankway was an inclined plane, and it required but little force to start the cottage on its journey. With a couple of turns around the trees, the hands stationed at the check-lines easily controlled its movements, and slacked off only as the captain gave the word.
In a few minutes the building was rolled down almost to the water. The gundalow was aground on the shore end. Two heavy timbers were extended from the deck to the beach and supported by blocks so that they would bear the weight of the structure. These beams lay nearly level when they were in position, and just reached the end of the plankway on shore. The check-lines were eased off again when smooth bearings for the rollers had been prepared.
When the cottage was about half on the timber-ways the force of gravity was no longer available, and the building refused to budge another inch. While Captain Dornwood was on the front of the structure, some twenty of the students in the rear tried to push it toward the gundalow; but they could not start it.
"Enough of that!" called Dory, as soon as he saw what they were doing. "You are acting without orders, and wasting your strength for nothing."
"But the building sticks fast where it is," said Ben Ludlow.
"If you think you can push it ahead you are mistaken," added the captain. "It has gone as far as I expected it to go of itself."
The two check-lines were then carried on board of the scow, and the Sylph was backed up to her. The lines were made fast at the quarters of the steamer. Dory stood on the after end of the gundalow, and, with a boatswain's whistle, made a signal agreed upon with the pilot to go ahead.
The lines stiffened and strained, and then the cottage began to move again. The timber ways had been continued on the deck of the scow, and the building moved very slowly until the captain gave a second signal with the whistle.
The rollers were instantly blocked by hands under the direction of the first officer. But the rear of the cottage just reached the stern of the gundalow. At least half of the weight of the building rested upon the sand at the bottom. The water deepened very rapidly near the shore on the outside of the point, and it became necessary to handle the heavy burden with the greatest care, for the forward end of the craft would settle down as soon as the structure was moved any further, forming an inclined plane, on which the cottage might roll overboard.
There were four iron rings at the stern of the scow, and check-lines were extended from them to the structure. A double turn was taken in each over a cleat, and hands placed at these ropes. The signal was again given for the steamer to go ahead. The building moved a few feet further, and the rollers were promptly chocked when the captain gave the whistle to "stop her."
The cottage was not yet exactly in the middle of the deck, and another movement was necessary. The bow of the scow settled down, but the check-lines held the house firmly in position. The second move was so well timed that it placed the building in exactly the right place.
The check-lines were belayed under the direction of the first officer, while the second officer proceeded to fasten the cottage to the rings in the bow of the scow. It was to remain on the rollers during the trip to its destination, and Captain Dornwood made sure that it was secured beyond the possibility of any accident.
All the spare hands were then ordered to the shore, Dory leading the way. The lumber, jack-screws, blocks, and other material were put on the scow, for there was still abundance of space forward and abaft the house. Everything connected with the cottage was put on board.
"By the big wooden spoon!" exclaimed Paul, when the burden of the work was done. "I didn't believe you could do it with a hundred men."
"We haven't finished the job yet," replied Dory, laughing.
"But I believe you can do all the rest of it," added Paul, filled with admiration. "These students are good for something besides keeping bread and meat from spoiling."
"They are good fellows," answered Dory, "but we have not quite finished over here yet."
"You fellows might come over here some night and carry off the building of the Chesterfield Collegiate Institute if you felt like it. I don't see what more there is to do."
A lot of shovels, hoes, and iron rakes had been brought over on the steamer, and these were now carried on shore. The post-holes under the cottage were filled up, every particle of rubbish was removed, and the ground raked over until every thing was as smooth as though no human being had ever resided within a mile of the spot.
"By the big wooden spoon!" shouted Paul. "It looks just as it did when we first came here."
"We will leave everything in good order and condition so that Major Billcord shall have nothing to complain of," replied Dory. "Now make the Dragon fast to the stern of the gundalow, and we will get under way. I think you had better stay in the house to see that everything goes right there."
"All right, Dory, I will do just as you say; but I don't believe you have started a joint in the cottage. I went up to look at the chimney with a lantern while you were shifting it, and there is not a crack in it."
The chimney reached only from a beam to the ridge pole, and a couple of feet above it, so that the brickwork had required no special consideration. But the building had been subjected to no hard usage, and no damage had been done to it. All the furniture remained just as it had been for two years, and Mrs. Bristol might have kept house in it as well as when it was stationary.
As soon as the ship's company were all on board of the steamer, or the scow, the captain gave the word to go ahead. The tow-lines had been adjusted before. The end of the gundalow, which was aground, grated a little on the sand, but it came off without difficulty, and the Sylph with her tow headed down the lake.
The officers of the steamer were so well accustomed to handling the gundalow that no difficulty was experienced in getting the cottage to its destination, which was to be at Hornet Point, near the outlet of the creek into Beechwater. The location had been suggested by Dory, and agreed to by Captain Gildrock. It was quite as pleasant a spot as the former site of the cottage, and was but a short distance from the new boat-house.
The plank and timber ways were laid down as they had been on the other side of the lake, and the building was moved to the shore as readily as it had been put on board of the gundalow. By two o'clock in the morning it was in position on the posts upon which it had rested at Sandy Point. The materials were all conveyed to the quarry, and the gundalow was left at its usual moorings.
By this time most of the students were gaping fearfully, and were very tired. Paul remained at the cottage and went to bed after the departure of the Sylph. The ship's company were dismissed at the wharf, and before half past two they were all asleep in the dormitory. Mrs. Bristol and Lily were up early in the morning, and went out to walk by six o'clock.
After the departure of the students the night before in the steamer, they had not heard a word about the cottage. They walked over to the boat-house, where they found the principal, who was an early riser. The cottage could not be seen from the boat-house, though it could from the wharf. Bates was bringing up a boat in which the captain was going out to inspect the operations of the night.
"Good morning, Mrs. Bristol; good morning, Miss Lily. You are up early," said the principal.
"But I don't see anything of the cottage," replied Mrs. Bristol, after they had returned the pleasant salutations of the captain. "I did not hear a sound in the night, and I suppose Dory was not able to carry out the plans we talked about."
"They certainly did not make any noise about it; but if you and Miss Lily will take a seat in this boat, we shall soon ascertain what has been done," said the captain, as Bates brought one of the four-oar boats to the landing steps.
The ladies seated themselves in the stern-sheets of the boat, and the boatman pulled out into the lake. But he kept near the shore, and the overhanging trees obstructed the view of Hornet Point. In a few minutes, however, the boat was out far enough to afford its occupants a view of the mouth of the creek.
"Why, there's the cottage!" exclaimed Lily. "It looks as though it had stood there since it was built."
"The boys have done their work very well," added Captain Gildrock.
The party landed and walked up to the cottage. Not a particle of rubbish had been left on the premises; not a plank or a block. Where the sand on the beach had been disturbed it had been raked over, and everything looked as neat as though the family had lived there for a year. They went to the front door and the back door, but both were locked. Paul was still fast asleep in his chamber, and they did not disturb him.
Captain Gildrock was delighted with the skill and the industry which the students had displayed in the removal of the cottage. It was not the difficulty of the feat they had accomplished so much as the neat and orderly as well as quiet manner in which the work had been done. Usually boys cannot do anything without a great noise and not a little bluster. But the Beach Hillers had not disturbed any one on either side of the lake.
With the machinery at their command it was not a great achievement to move a building no larger than the home of the Bristols across the lake. The principal had as yet no report of the work, but, taking the appearance of the cottage at Hornet Point as a specimen of the labor done, nothing could be better.
"Everything seems to be in good order here, Mrs. Bristol," said Captain Gildrock, when he had examined the cottage and its surroundings.
"I can't see for the life of me how the students brought the cottage over here and put it on the posts just as it was before, and in the night, too," added Mrs. Bristol.
"And everything is just as neat as wax-work," said Lily.
"Just beyond the quarries is what we call the lake road, which is the boundary of my land on the east side. There is a driveway from it through the quarries, near the shore of the creek. I shall continue this road to Beechwater, which will carry it by the end of the cottage," continued Captain Gildrock, pointing out the locality. "By this road you can go to the town without passing through the school-grounds, though you are entirely welcome to use the latter."
"You are very kind, sir," replied Mrs. Bristol. "I am sure I have not the slightest claim upon you for anything, and you have done more for me already than all others. We shall be grateful to you as long as we live."
"I think you are a very worthy woman, and I am very glad to be able to serve you," replied the captain. "But I have come to the conclusion that my mission in the world is to help others to help themselves. You have a son and a daughter."
"And they are both able and willing to work," added the woman.
"So I have heard from my nephew; and I expect to put you in the way of earning your living. In the first place what is to be done with your son?"
"He will do any kind of work he can get to do—work in a store or on a farm."
"If he goes into a store, he has about one chance in ten of becoming something more than a counter-jumper on five dollars a week. But he ought to learn a trade."
"I should be very glad to have him do so, but we are dependent upon him just now for the means of living. When Lily had a place in Westport, she received only a dollar a week besides her board; and sometimes Paul could not make any more than that."
"I have a place for Paul. I want a janitor for the boat-house, for Bates is getting rather too old to do such work. I will give your son a salary of twenty dollars a month for the service."
"You are very kind, sir; that is more than we ever had to live on," replied Mrs. Bristol.
"But I think he had better join the school at the same time. We can make a carpenter or a machinist of him; and if he prefers some other trade, what he learns here will not come amiss. He can do his work in the boat-house and be a member of the school at the same time, though he will have to work some part of the day while the students are at play."
"Paul will be very glad to work and never play, for he has always been a very good boy," added the devoted mother.
"Your daughter, you said, had worked at the millinery business, and perhaps a place can be found for her in Genverres," continued the captain, as he led the way back to the boat. "We will go to breakfast now."
The family took their morning meal at the usual hour; but not a single student had yet appeared on the grounds. The principal would not allow them to be disturbed until nine o'clock, when the bell was rung in the dormitory, though a few of the boys had turned out at this hour. At half-past nine breakfast was served to them; and they all appeared to be in as good condition as usual.
Paul was invited to join them, though he was to board at home as soon as his mother was established in the cottage. By this time he was pretty well acquainted with the students, and was very popular among them. The story of his fight with Walk Billcord and his father had been told on board of the Sylph on the passage to Sandy Point, and his prowess made him a hero among the boys.
"Paul, did you take the tin box from the hollow of the tree?" asked Mrs. Bristol, as her son was leaving the mansion with the rest of the students, for Fatima Millweed had already entered his name on the roll.
"I never thought a word about it, mother," replied Paul, not a little mortified at the neglect. "I was so busy and so anxious that it never came into my head. But I will go over in the Dragon and get it right off."
"But Captain Gildrock has a place for you as janitor of the boat-house, and perhaps he cannot spare you," added Mrs. Bristol.
"Janitor of the boat-house!" exclaimed Paul, opening his eyes very wide.
"And your salary is to be twenty dollars a month," continued Mrs. Bristol. "The captain says his mission is to help those who are willing to help themselves. Besides this, you are to be one of the students, and learn to be a carpenter or a machinist."
"One of the students!" almost screamed Paul.
"But you will have to work while the other students play, my son."
"By the big wooden spoon! I shall be willing to work all night if I can learn what the other fellows learn," replied Paul.
His mother explained to him more fully the intentions of the principal, and the son of toil was more delighted than if a fortune had suddenly dropped into his lap. He knew all about the course of study at Beech Hill, and thought it was the finest school in the world. He had long wished that he might learn a trade, and he would have sought a place with a carpenter before, but he would have to work for nothing at first, and his mother needed the dollar or two a week he could earn.
"When will Paul begin his work as janitor?" asked Mrs. Bristol, as the principal was passing them in the hall.
"At once, Mrs. Bristol. His wages shall begin to-day," replied Captain Gildrock. "But if you want him at the cottage till you get settled we can spare him, though he had better join his class to-day."
"I wanted him to go over to Sandy Point," continued Mrs. Bristol, who then explained the errand upon which she proposed to send Paul. "The tin box contains my wedding ring, my mother's gold ring, and a two-dollar bill. I was afraid to keep them in the house, for rough characters sometimes land at the point. I didn't think of the box till I wanted the money to buy some provisions."
"But Paul would have to row ten miles to get the box," added the principal. "This is a broken day, and we shall not do much in the school or the shops, and he can go over in the Goldwing after the students are dismissed. I will pay Paul's first month's wages in advance, for I am sure you will want some money."
The good woman took the money under protest, though it was true that she needed it. The gold rings were of more value to her than any sum of money, and she hoped they would not be lost.
At ten o'clock the bell rung for the forenoon studies. Paul took a desk assigned to him, and no other boy was ever more interested in a circus than he was in the exercises of the school-room. As soon as the school was assembled, Captain Gildrock took the platform and called upon the leader of the moonlight expedition to report upon the action he had taken.
Dory modestly related all the particulars of the trip to Sandy Point, and the removal of the cottage, and warmly commended the ship's company for the good order they had maintained, the promptness with which his orders had been obeyed, and the quietness with which all had done their duty.
The principal believed in giving reasonable commendation when it was deserved, and he bestowed handsome praise upon them on this occasion.
When the boys came into the school-room, they noticed upon the wall in the rear of the platform a large drawing which they had never seen before. It consisted of three plans of a vessel. On a table was a model of the hull of a craft of some sort, resting in a cradle. The students had kept their eyes fixed on the drawings and the model most of the time while they listened to the commendation of the principal and the report of their leader.
They manifested a very strong interest in these things, and they were likely soon to forget the operations of the night before. For six months there had been a great deal of talk among them about building a boat, and the project was a very attractive one to them. But up to the present time nothing had officially been said or done about it. As soon as the spring opened, they had been required to erect a sort of shop on the very bank of the little lake, near the old wharf of the steamer.
This structure was seventy-five feet long, with plenty of windows, and was entirely open on the water side. In accordance with the general policy of the principal, its use had not been explained; but all the students believed it was to contain the ways on which the boat was to be built. It looked now as though the desired information in regard to the building of the boat was to be communicated to them.
"I need not ask you if you have noticed these drawings, and this model of a vessel," said Captain Gildrock, after he had finished what he had to say about the moving of the cottage; "for you have been looking at these things most of the time since you came into the school-room."
"Are we to begin on the boat to-day?" Lon Dorset asked; and he was one of the new students, not yet thoroughly broken in with the customs of the school.
"When I set you at work you will begin; not before. It always affords me very great pleasure to answer sensible questions, boys, and I shall do everything I can to encourage you to ask them; but I don't believe in foolish questions. Such is the character of all questions relating to what we are going to do. You are never required to do anything until an order is given. Foolish questions take up as much time as sensible ones."
Lon Dorset was somewhat abashed at the manner in which his inquiry had been treated; but the principal knew that some of the boys would talk all day about nothing, if permitted to do so; and the questions he tolerated and encouraged were those which brought out real information, and revealed the condition of the inquirer's mind.
"The building of the boat has been somewhat delayed on account of the difficulty of obtaining suitable lumber," continued the principal. "A load which came from Boston yesterday will enable us to make a beginning."
Some of the new pupils were disposed to give three cheers.
"We are not ship-builders, boys; in fact, there is not a ship-builder connected with the school, and I do not intend to engage one even as an instructor," said the principal, continuing his remarks on the platform. "In the present depressed state of this important industry, perhaps it is not advisable to devote much time to the study of scientific construction in ship-building. It looks now as though the ships of the future were to be of iron; and many vessels of this material are built in this country at the present time.
"But perhaps ship-building is rather too ambitious a term to apply to our intended operations. We shall build a boat of considerable size, and while we are doing the work we shall learn what we can about ship-building. Many years ago I built a ship for myself, and superintended its construction from the keel to the trucks. In building our boat we shall not put in every stick used in a ship.
"Did any of you ever tow a log in the water?" asked the principal, pausing for a reply.
"I have," answered Leo Pownall, whose father owned a saw-mill. "I have towed lots of them on the mill-pond."
"To which end of the log did you make fast?" inquired the captain.
"To either end; just as it came handy," replied the student.
"Then you sometimes did more work than was necessary with your oars. A log tows easier when you make fast to the big end," continued the principal, waiting for the pupils to digest the idea.
"I don't see what difference it can make," added Leo. "If anything, I should say that the small end would open a passage through the water more readily than the big end."
"I suppose none of you ever saw a whale, but most of you have caught horn-pouts, or bullheads."
"I have seen a whale on exhibition in New York," interposed Luke Bennington.
"What was the shape of his head?"
"The one I saw was round; but I have seen pictures of whales in which the head was nearly square."
"How is it with the pout!"
"His mouth is about the widest part of him," laughed Alick Hartford.
"Take fishes in general, in what part of the body do you find the greatest girt?" asked the principal.
"Just astern of the head," replied Kit Burlington.
"In some fishes, about one third of the length from the mouth," added Bark Duxbury.
"Very good; you are about right, though some fishes vary from the general rule. Now don't you think Nature made a mistake, Leo Pownall, and that fishes ought to swim tail first instead of head first, as you would tow a log?"
"I suppose God made the fishes all right; but He gave some of them very sharp noses," returned the saw-mill owner's son.
"Corresponding to the shape of the butt of a log after it has been felled; but the greatest girt is still near the head. This is the general shape of the hull of a vessel."
"But the head of a sperm whale is almost square; and no other fish is like him," added Phil Gawner.
"The whale is not a fish, Gawner. I have seen a school of porpoises alongside an ocean steamer. Their greatest girt is one third of the length from the head end; but they will swim past a fast steamer, and make something like twenty knots an hour," said Captain Gildrock.
"I was trying to find the porpoise in Wood's Natural History the other day; but there is no such fish in the book," added Sol Guilford.
"Where did you look?"
"In the volume about fishes."
"The porpoise is not a fish, and you would have found it in the volume marked 'Mammalia,'" replied the principal with a smile.
"But isn't the porpoise a fish? He lives in the water."
"So do hippopotami; but they are not fishes. Whales, porpoises, dolphins, seals, and some others, are mammals; that is, they suckle their young as a cow does a calf. Properly they are not fishes, though they are very often called so."
These were the kind of questions the captain believed in encouraging, though they sometimes led the conversation out of the legitimate channel. They elicited useful information; and he was careful not to let the students wander too wide of the subject under discussion.
"I don't know now why a log or a fish goes best with the big end ahead," said Leo Pownall.
"After the passage for a moving body in the water is opened, this fluid follows its own laws, and seeks an equilibrium. As it moves back to its natural level, it crowds in upon the after part of the body, whether it be a log, a fish, or a ship, and thus pushes it ahead. Under the stern of a vessel, the hull is curved, or hollowed out, just as the size of a fish diminishes at the tail, which is the fish's rudder.
"But the shape of the hull is varied according to the use to which the vessel is to be put; but the rule will hold good in the main. In building a ship the beginning of the work is done on paper. As in erecting a house, the first thing is to obtain the plans, which are made by the naval architect. In fact, the entire shape of the vessel is laid down on the drawing-board. From these the builder gets his dimensions, all the curves, and the form of every timber and piece of wood used.
"On the drawing on the wall," continued the principal, taking the pointer and indicating the plans, "everything is put down that can be needed in the construction of the boat we intend to build. There are three plans, you will observe. I had them drawn by a naval architect in New York. This," and the principal pointed to the highest one on the paper, "is the sheer plan. It shows the side or profile of the hull on a flat surface. It looks just as the broadside of the Sylph would, if she were too far off for you to get any idea of the curves in her sides.
"This plan gives the exact curve of the bow, and the exact slant of the stern-post. The three straight lines extending the whole length of the hull are the levels to which the water would stand if the vessel were submerged to three different depths. This drawing is made on a scale of one inch to a foot. The sheer plan is a vertical plane through the keel. From it we get the length and height. The red lines which extend from certain points at the bow to the lower part of the stern post indicate the various curves of the hull at different distances from the vertical plane of the keel. In other words, they are three vertical planes, parallel with the central plane.
"The next plan, of the same length as the first, shows you one half of the deck of the boat, and is called the half-breadth plan. All the plans are on the same scale. The straight lines on the deck are the curved lines of the sheer plan, or the tops of the several vertical planes. This plan reversed would show the other side of the vessel.
"The third is the body plan, and exhibits a vertical section of the hull, looking at it end-on, at the point where it has the greatest breadth. The right-hand half of it shows the bows, and the left the stern. The curved lines are the same as those on the sheer plan, though, of course, they are shown only at the bow and stern, for you cannot see a line when you look end-on.
"With the making of these plans the task of the naval architect comes to an end, unless he is employed to superintend the construction of the vessel. From the plans the builder gets the exact size and shape of the craft he is to build. From it the moulds, or patterns, of all parts of the hull are made. In an apartment called the moulding-room, with which every ship-yard is provided, full-sized plans of the vessel are drawn on the floor. I do not mean that the entire ship is drawn at the same time.
"If the bow or stern was accurately transferred to the floor, enlarged to the actual size of the hull, the exact form of the stem or stern post could be marked off. From this, a mould or pattern could be made of board or plank. As a matter of fact, a mould is made for every part used in the construction of the ship, not every piece of wood, for what is used for one side may do just as well for the other side. For example, a timber on one side is exactly like the one on the opposite side.
"In ship-building, the word timber has two meanings. As in general use, it may be any large stick of wood. In the technical sense, it is one of the ribs of the vessel. The means of understanding which is meant will be given you as you proceed with the work. The keel is the backbone of the vessel, and the strength of the hull depends largely upon it.