by Oliver Optic
CHAPTER XIX.
THE CRUISE OF THE FLEET.
The school year was ended; and it was remarked that the school had neverbeen in a more flourishing condition. The boys, stimulated by the boatorganizations, had made remarkable progress, and parents and committeesympathized with them in the pleasant anticipations of the comingvacation.
Since his defection in June, the conduct of Charles Hardy had been inthe highest degree satisfactory. His character seemed to be radicallychanged. He did not "put on airs," nor aspire to high places. His pridehad been lowered, and he was modest and gentle; therefore my youngfriends will not be surprised to learn that his associates had rewardedhis endeavors to do well by electing him coxswain of the Zephyr.
On the morning of the day appointed for the grand excursion, thesquadron, as it formed in line opposite Captain Sedley's house,consisted of the following boats, manned and commanded as below:--
Zephyr, 12 oars, (bearing the broad pennant of Commodore Sedley,) Charles Hardy.Butterfly, 12 oars, Paul Munroe.Bluebird, 12 " Fred Harper.Rainbow, 12 " William Bright.Lily, 8 " Henry Brown.Dart, 8 " Dick Chester.Dip, 4 " (tender,) Tony Weston.
My young readers need not be indignant at finding so brave and skilfulan officer as Tony Weston in command of the little Dip, deeming it aninsignificant position for him to occupy; for the tender was to bedetailed on special duty, and the appointment was a marked compliment tohis skill and judgment.
The system of signals established for the use of the fleet was verysimple, and consisted of plain flags of red, white, blue, yellow, green,orange, and purple, each color being a distinct order. The discipline ofthe fleet was of a mongrel character, composed of naval and militarytactics. When the squadron sailed in compact order verbal commands weregiven; and when the boats were too far apart for the word to be heard,signals were used. But these details will be better understood as thesquadron proceeds on its voyage.
The boats were ranged in line, side by side, with the Zephyr on theright, the Butterfly on the left, and the Dip in the middle, each withits gay flags floating to the breeze. All the oars were in-board, andthe clubs were waiting for the commodore's orders.
On board the Zephyr, a longer staff than she had formerly used waserected, on which, half way up, was placed her fly, and at the top thebroad pennant--of blue, covered with silver stars. On this pole thesignals were hoisted, when the pennant had to be lowered for the time.
All eyes were directed to the commodore, who was standing up in thestern sheets of the flag boat.
"Ready!" said he, in a voice loud enough to be heard the whole length ofthe line; and every boy grasped his oar.
"Up!"
It was a beautiful sight to observe the precision with which the oarswere erected. A company of soldiers could not have handled their musketswith more unanimity.
"Down!" and in like manner the oars dropped into the water.
Those who have observed the manner in which a military officer gives hisorders have discovered the secret of this pleasing concord of action.Commands consist, except in a series, of two words; and dwelling for aninstant on the first keeps all in a state of readiness to act theinstant the second is given. Frank had studied the matter whilewitnessing the evolutions of the Rippleton Guards, and he had adoptedthe plan in the club. When the captain said "shoulder," the men knewwhat was coming; and at the word "arms," the evolution was performed. Sowith "present--arms!" "file--right!" "left--wheel!" etc.; and to theseobservations he was indebted for the proficiency of his club, and of thefleet.
"Ready--pull!" he continued.
The stroke was very slow, and each coxswain was obliged to keep his boatin line with the others, the flag boat regulating their speed.
When the squadron had reached the upper part of the lake, the pennantwas dropped, and up went a red flag.
"Cease--rowing!" said all the coxswains, except the Zephyr's.
Then the red flag was lowered, and a blue one was hoisted.
"In single line," the coxswain of the Bluebird, which was next to theZephyr, interpreted the signal, and his boat followed the flag.
The others came into the line in proper order, and the squadron passedentirely round the lake.
"Cease--rowing!" exclaimed the coxswains, in concert, as the red flagagain appeared.
Up went a green flag, and the line was formed; then a yellow, to form insections of two. In this order the squadron pulled down the lake again,to the widest part, where various fanciful evolutions wereperformed--which it would be impossible to describe on paper. One ofthem was rowing in a circle round the Dip; another was two circles ofthree boats each, pulling in opposite directions. Then the boats weresent off in six different ways, forming a hexagon, with the tender inthe center; after which they all came together so that their stemstouched each other, in the shape of a star.
"Now, boys, we are ready for the voyage up Rippleton River," saidCommodore Sedley. "I need not tell you that the utmost caution must beused. Watch the flags closely, and every coxswain be very prudent."
"Ay, ay!"
"Tony will lead in the Dip, and each boat will place a man in the bow tolook out for buoys, which he will place over rocks and shoals."
"Ay, ay," answered the coxswains.
"Now, Tony, you may go up and mark off the rocks at the mouth of theriver."
The little Dip, which had a picked crew for the occasion, darted away upthe lake, leaving the rest of the fleet to follow.
"Form a line!" shouted Frank, and the boats backed out from theirpositions, and in a moment had obeyed the order.
"Ready--pull;" and the fleet moved slowly and grandly up the lake.
The boys were in high spirits. There was something inspiring in theoperations of the squadron that would have moved a more steady mind thanthat of a boy of twelve. Every moment was a revelation of the power thatdwelt in them, of the beauty of order, of the grace of harmoniousaction. As in the great world, a single intractable spirit might haveproduced a heap of confusion, and it was the purpose of the organizationto bring each into harmony with the whole.
The fleet reached the mouth of the river. Tony had placed buoys on thedangerous rocks each side of the channel, so that the boats, byapproaching it in the right direction, could easily pass through insafety.
The Dip had been provided with a large number of these buoys. They werepieces of board, part of them painted red, and part blue, with a lineand weight attached to each. Near the dangerous rock or shoal one ofthese buoys was to be located, which would be kept in place by theweight. The coxswains had written instructions from the commodore tokeep red ones on the starboard side, and blue on the port side, goingup the river, and _vice versa_ coming down.
The Zephyr took position near the rocks to see that every boatapproached the channel in the right direction, as, if they did not, theywould be sure to strike. By these extraordinary precautions, the fleetpassed through in safety, and three stunning cheers announced that thepassage had been effected.
"Here we are, Charley," said Frank, as the Zephyr pulled ahead of theother boats.
"All safe, thanks to the skill and prudence of our commodore," repliedCharles; and the reader will be struck with the modesty of his language.
"Where is Tony? I don't see him."
"Round the bend, I guess; but here are his buoys all along."
"Signal man, hoist the blue," continued the commodore; and the fleetfollowed in single line.
"Here's the bridge; I fancy Tony knows the soundings here," saidCharles.
"Ay, there is the rock on which Mr. Walker's chaise hung. It is almostout of water, now."
"Did you hear what Mr. Walker said when some one asked him why he didnot sue the town?"
"No; what was it?"
"He said it was the luckiest day of his life when he pitched off thebridge."
"Indeed!"
"He has thought so much better of humanity since,
and it introduced himto Tony Weston, whom he calls a hero in embryo."
"Mr. Walker is a nice man--a whole-souled man."
"That he is! How many men would have done for us what he did? And I, inparticular, have reason to be grateful to him," said Charles, with asigh. "I shall never forget him and your father, wherever my lot iscast."
"That is manly of you, Charley. But I am sure they have been abundantlyrewarded by your devotion to duty since."
"I have tried to do right."
"You have done well; everybody says so."
"I cannot soon forget what a fool I was to believe Tim's wicked lies. Isuppose I wanted to believe them, or I should not."
"It is a great pity we ever let Tim into the club; but we meant right;we meant to reform him. Where do you suppose he is now?"
"Somewhere near the Cape of Good Hope."
"My father thinks he has got enough of the sea by this time."
"I dare say. Didn't you ever feel a desire to go to sea, Frank?"
"No; not lately."
"Nor I; Tim Bunker lent me the Red Corsair of the Caribbean Sea, justbefore that scrape, and I thought then that I should like to take avoyage."
"My father will not let me read such books; and since he has told mewhat they are, and what their influence is, I don't want to read them."
"There's Tony, with the red flag hoisted."
The red flag had been agreed upon as the signal to stop the fleet, whenthe navigation was very hazardous, or impracticable.
"Cease--rowing!" said Charles.
Frank ordered his signal man to hoist the red in the flag boat.
"Can't we go any farther than this?" asked Charles.
"I don't know; we are not more than a mile above the bridge."
"Here comes the Dip."
"Well, Tony, what's the matter?" said the commodore, as the tenderapproached.
"I haven't found a clear channel yet. The bed of the river is coveredwith rocks," replied Tony, as the Dip came alongside the Zephyr.
"Then we must call this the head of navigation," added Frank, with alaugh, though he was not a little disappointed to find the cruise up sosoon.
"Perhaps not; there is water enough, but the twelve-oar boats are solong they can hardly dodge the rocks. The Lily and the Dart can getthrough very well."
"Have you sounded clear across?"
"I haven't had time to examine very thoroughly yet. If you let the boatslay off I will look farther."
"Very well; I will go with you in the Dart," replied the commodore, ashe ordered up a white and a blue flag, which was the signal for the Dartto close up.
The signal was obeyed, and Frank followed the Dip. After half an hour'ssearch, a clear channel was found close to the land; so close that theoars could not be used, and a party was sent on shore to drag themthrough with ropes.
The line was formed again, and the squadron slowly followed the Dip asshe examined the river. For the next mile there were no obstructions.
"Twelve o'clock!" shouted Fred Harper from the Bluebird.
"Dinner time, then," replied Frank. "Here is a beautiful grove, and wewill land and dine. Hoist the orange"--the signal to land.
CHAPTER XX.
THE HOSPITALITIES OF OAKLAWN.
The boys all had remarkably good appetites, and therefore dinner was nounimportant event in the experience of the day. Somehow, boys contriveto be hungry at almost all times of the day, even without the stimulusof pulling three hours at an oar. There was something, too, in thecircumstance of dining in a beautiful grove, on the bank of the river,with their boats floating near them, which rendered the occasionpeculiarly pleasant--which made their cold meat, doughnuts, and applepie taste much better than usual.
But the adventure was not yet completed. The head waters of navigationhad not been reached, and their love of exploring did not permit them tospend any unnecessary time over the meal. Tony and his oarsmen hadreported themselves at the grove, and after "bolting" their dinner, hadresumed their occupation; and the boys perceived the Dip half a mile upthe river before they were ready to start.
"All aboard!" said Frank; and the crews, hastily gathering up their tinpails, and their baskets, tumbled into the boats.
The Zephyr led off, followed by the other boats of the squadron.
"I see no buoys ahead," said Frank, after they had advanced somedistance. "The navigation must be unobstructed."
"It looks like deep water," answered Charles.
"And Tony's crew are pulling very hard; they are going faster than wedo."
"He is trying to gain time against he reaches a bad place. There he goesround the bend. Were you ever up here before, Frank?"
"I have been to Oaklawn, which is about four miles from Rippleton. Ofcourse I never came up the river."
"Wouldn't it be fine if we could get up to Oaklawn?"
"Perhaps we can."
"This is smooth work," continued Frank. "Can't we give a little varietyto the excursion?"
"What?"
"Hoist the yellow, signalman," replied the commodore. "We will pull awhile in sections of two, and sing some songs."
Obedient to the signal, the boats of the fleet came into the orderprescribed, and the boys waked up the hills and the woods with theearnestness of their song. It was a beautiful and cheering sight to seethem gliding over the clear waters, while their voices mingled withthose of the songsters which nature had given to the hillside and theforest. Their hearts were glad, and in beautiful unison with the scenearound them.
"Rapids!" exclaimed Frank, when the boat reached the bend. "Up with theblue!"
"Steady!" added Charles. "Pull slowly."
"Tony has been very busy," continued Frank, pointing to the buoys, thatspeckled the waters. I am afraid the cruise is about up."
"Tony has passed the rapids. You know steamboats go down the rapids onthe St. Lawrence River."
"Ah, there is Oaklawn," said Frank, pointing to the spire of a church inthe distance. "We cannot go much farther, I know."
"We have made nearly four miles."
What the commodore had styled "rapids" were not a very formidabledifficulty. Near one bank was a ledge of rocks, over which the watersdashed with considerable energy; but though there was the same descenton the other side, no obstruction appeared to check them from attemptingthe passage. Tony had accomplished it, and had left no warning to deterthem.
"Shall we go through, Frank?"
"Ay; bend on sharp, and she will leap up like a fawn. Now for it!"
The Zephyrs applied all their strength to the oars, and the boat dartedup the rapids with no other detriment than taking in two or threepailfuls of water.
The rest of the fleet followed, with the exception of the Lily, withoutaccident; and she, not having sufficient headway, was carried downagain. By the skill of her coxswain, however, she was saved from damage,and her second attempt was successful.
The navigation was again tolerably safe, and for half a mile theyproceeded on their way without interruption.
"There's a bridge," said Charles, pointing ahead.
"And there is the Dip, with the red hoisted. Tony seems to have givenit up. He has made fast to the bridge."
On the shore was a crowd of men and boys, who were holding a parley withthe pilot of the expedition; but when they saw the squadron approachingthey seemed petrified with astonishment. The boys thrust their handsdeep in their trousers' pockets, and with mouths wide open stared inspeechless wonder. The arrival of Columbus on the shores of the newworld could not have been more astounding to the natives than was thecoming of the Wood Lake squadron to the boys of Oaklawn.
"Sheer off, Charley, to the port side of the river, and we will comeinto line. The river is wide enough here, I believe. Up with the green!"
On dashed the boats in the rear till they came into the line. The riverwidened into a kind of pond; but the line stretched clear acrossit--making a very imposing appearance.
"Slowly; cease--rowing!" continued Frank. "Rea
dy--up!" and thesixty-eight oars of the fleet glittered in the sunshine before theastonished Oaklawners, who were gathered in great numbers on the shoreand bridge.
"Well, Tony, the cruise is up," said Frank, when the Dip came into line.
"Yes," replied the pilot, pointing under the bridge, where the riverdashed its foaming waters down a long reach of half-exposed rocks. "Wecan't get over those."
"No; and we may as well land and take a look at Oaklawn. Hoist theorange. Ready--down!"
Each boat landed its crew at a convenient place, and they were thenmarshaled into a procession. They were formed in sections of four, eachcrew preceded by its coxswain, with one of the flags on each side ofhim. The commodore marched at the head of the company, and in this orderthey proceeded through the principal street of the village. Of coursetheir appearance excited a great deal of wonder, and not a littleadmiration. Several of the principal citizens, unwilling that theirguests should depart unwelcomed, got up an _impromptu_ reception, andthe clubs were invited to the Town Hall, where some very pretty speecheswere made by the chairman of the Selectmen, of the School Committee, therepresentative to the General Court, and other distinguishedindividuals; to whom the commodore replied with a great deal of dignityand self-possession.
While the speeches were proceeding, the ladies were not idle; and theboys were next invited to a collation on the green; after which theymarched back to the river and re-embarked. Three times three cheers weregiven for the people of Oaklawn, and the word was given to pull forhome.
The boys of the village were not so ready to part with them, and sometwenty of them followed the boats, on the bank of the river.
"I say, Frank, these folks were very kind to us," Charles remarked.
"They were, indeed."
"And the boys seem to enjoy it."
"I suppose not many of them ever saw our boats before."
"Suppose we take them in; they will be very willing to walk home, sayfrom the grove where we dined, for the sake of the sail."
"Good! I didn't think of that before. Up with the orange!"
The boats landed, and the astonished Oaklawn boys were distributed amongthem. They seemed to regard the favor as an unexpected condescension,and their delight knew no bounds. As Little Paul expressed it, "theywere tickled half to death"; and when they reached the grove it was asad and bitter disappointment for them to get out and go home.
"I was thinking of something," said Charles, a little while after theyhad landed their passengers.
"What was it, Charley?" replied the commodore.
"That we might invite the boys of Oaklawn to spend a day with us on thelake."
"Capital!"
"We could give them a picnic on Center Island."
"We will do it; and now that we know the river we can easily come up asfar as the grove after them."
"Or up to the rapids; there is no danger this side of them."
This plan was discussed in all its details, and everything was agreedupon by the time they reached the lake. The passage down the river hadbeen much quicker than the upward trip, and before sunset the boats wereall housed, and the clubs had separated.
On the following week the courtesies of the club were extended to theboys of Oaklawn, as arranged by the commodore, and a very fine time theyhad of it. Their guests, numbering over forty, were entertained in everyconceivable manner--the day's sports concluding with a grand race, inwhich all the boats were entered, and in which the Butterfly won thehonors.
A new program was made up every week during the vacation. Lighthouseswere built, channels surveyed, shores charted; indeed, everything whichthe ingenuity of the boys could devise was brought forward to add freshinterest to the sports of the lake.
And thus the season passed away, and winter came again. The fleet waslaid up, and the useful and pleasant recreations of the club rooms weresubstituted for the active excitement of boating. Lectures were given,essays were read, debates held, every week; and the progress of the boysout of school, as well as within, was highly satisfactory to allconcerned.
CHAPTER XXI.
CONCLUSION.
I suppose, as the present volume completes the history of the Boat Club,that my young readers will wish to know something of the subsequentfortunes of the prominent characters of the association. It gives mepleasure to say that not one of them has been recreant to hisopportunities, or abandoned his high standard of character; that themoral, mental, and physical discipline of the organization has provedsalutary in the highest degree. The members of the boat clubs are nowactive members of society. Each is pulling an oar, or steering his bark,on the great ocean of life. Some are in humble spheres, as in the littleDip; others are in more extended fields, as in the majestic twelve-oarboats.
Frank Sedley is a lawyer. His father has gone to enjoy his reward in theworld beyond the grave; and Frank, who was married a year ago to MaryWeston, resides in the mansion by the lake. His brilliant talents andunspotted integrity have elevated him to a respectable position, for oneso young, in the legal profession; and there is no doubt but that hewill arrive at eminence in due time.
Uncle Ben is still alive, and continues to dwell at the mansion of theSedleys. The boats are still in being, and are manned by the boysbelonging to the school--under the direction of the veteran.
Tony Weston is a merchant. At the age of seventeen he was taken into thecounting-room of Mr. Walker, and at twenty-one admitted as an equalpartner. The man is what the boy was--noble, generous, kind.
Strange as it may seem, only one boy of the whole number has become asailor. Fred Harper went to sea when he left school, and was recentlyappointed master of a fine clipper ship, bound for India. Little Paul isa journeyman carpenter. He is in a humble sphere, but none the lessrespected on that account. His father, who recovered his health, paidthe notes he had made to the clubs. The money was applied to thepurchase of books and a philosophical apparatus, which rendered thewinter evenings of the clubs still more attractive.
'Squire Chase "worked out his destiny" in Rippleton, and finally was sothoroughly despised that he found it convenient to leave the place.Perhaps my readers will be a little surprised when I tell them thatCharles Hardy is a minister of the gospel. He was recently settled in asmall town in Connecticut. The boat club changed his character,--purgedit of the evil and confirmed the good,--and he is now a humble anddevoted laborer in the vineyard of the Master.
Wood Lake is still beautiful, and the remembrances of former days arestill lovingly cherished by Frank and Tony, who reside on its banks. TheZephyr and Butterfly, though somewhat battered and worm-eaten, areoccasionally seen, near the close of the day, with a lady and gentlemanin the stern sheets of each. The youthful crews are happier than usual,for one bears the ex-commodore and lady, and the other the hero ofRippleton Bridge and his lady.
THE END.
