The Yacht Club; or, The Young Boat-Builder, Oliver Optic [good book club books .txt] 📗

tell Nellie she would not enjoy the sail with me."

"She could do as she pleased."

"But you told her the Juno was wet," added Laud, angrily.

"She is wet when it blows."

"No matter if she is. It was mean of you to say anything about it, after all I have done for you."[148]

"It wasn't mean to tell the truth, and save her from a ducking, and I don't know what you have done for me."

"You don't? Didn't I buy this boat of you, and pay you fifty dollars more than she is worth?"

"No, you didn't. But if you are dissatisfied with your bargain, I will take her off your hands."

"You! I want the money I paid."

"You shall have it. Come to the shop after the race, and you may throw up the trade."

"Will Captain Shivernock pay you back the money?" sneered Laud.

"I'll take care of that, if you want to give her up," added Donald, warmly.

"Never mind that now. Can't you persuade Nellie to sail with me?" continued Laud, more gently. "If you will, I will give you a five-dollar bill."

Donald would have given double that sum rather than have had her go with him, and she would have given ten times the amount to avoid doing so.

"I can't persuade her, for I don't think it is best for her to go," replied Donald.[149]

"No matter what you think. You are a good fellow, Don John: do this for me—won't you? It would be a great favor, and I shall never forget it."

"Why do you want her to go with you?" demanded Donald, rather petulantly. "A yacht in a race is no place for ladies. I can find some fellows on board here who will be glad to go with you."

"But I want her to go with me. The fact of it is, Don John, I rather like Nellie, and I want to be better acquainted with her."

"If you do, you must paddle your own canoe," replied Donald, indignantly, as he ascended the steps, and joined the other two judges on deck.

"We are waiting for you, Don John," said Sam Rodman, who was one of them.

"It isn't ten yet, and I have the papers all ready. Who is to be time-keeper?" asked the chairman.

"I have a watch with a second hand, and I will take that office," said Frank Norwood, who was the third.

Most of the yachts were already in line, and the captain of the fleet, in the tender of his yacht,[150] was arranging them, the largest to windward. The first gun had been fired at half past nine which was the signal to get into line, and at the next, the yachts were to get under way. All sail except the jib was set, and at the signal each craft was to slip her cable, hoist her jib, if she had one, and get under way, as quickly as possible. The "rode" was simply to be cast off, for the end of it was made fast to the tender, which was used as a buoy for the anchor.

"Are they all ready?" asked Donald, as the time drew near.

"All but the Juno. Laud has picked up two live weights, and wants another man," replied Sam Rodman.

"We won't wait for him."

But Laud got into line in season. One of the seamen of the Penobscot stood at the lock-string of the gun forward, ready to fire when the chairman of the judges gave the word.

"Have your watch ready, Frank," said Donald.

"All ready," answered Norwood.

"Fire!" shouted Donald.

Some of the ladies "squealed" when the gun went off, but all eyes were immediately directed[151] to the yachts. The Christabel, with a reef in her fore and main sails, was next to the Penobscot; then came the Skylark, the Sea Foam, and the Phantom. Before the gun was fired, the captain had stationed a hand in each yacht at the cable, and others at the jib-halyards and down-hauls. The instant the gun was discharged, the jibs were run up, and the "rodes" thrown overboard. Some of the yachts, however, were unfortunate, and did not obtain a good start. In one the jib down-haul fouled, and another ran over her cable, and swamped her tender. The conflict was believed to be between the Skylark and the Sea Foam, for there was too much wind for the Christabel, which was the fastest light-weather craft in the line.

It was a beautiful sight when the yachts went off, with the wind only a little abaft the beam. The young gentlemen sailing them were rather excited, and made some mistakes. The Skylark at once took the lead, for Commodore Montague was the most experienced boatman in the fleet. He made no mistakes, and his superior skill was soon evident in the distance between him and the Sea Foam.[152]

The crowd of people on the shore and the judges' yacht watched the contestants till they disappeared beyond Turtle Head. The boats had a free wind both ways, with the exception of a short distance beyond the head, where they had to beat up to Stubb's Point Ledge. There was nothing for the judges to do until the yachts came in, and Donald spent a couple of delightful hours with Nellie Patterdale. Presently the Skylark appeared again beyond the Head, leading the fleet as before. On she drove, like a bolt from an arrow, carrying a big bone in her mouth; and the judges prepared to take her time.[153]

CHAPTER IX. THE SKYLARK AND THE SEA FOAM.

Frank Norwood was the time-keeper, and he stood with his watch in his hand. Each yacht was to pass to windward of the Penobscot, and come round her stern, reporting as she did so. Sam Rodman was to call "time" when the foremast of each yacht was in range with a certain chimney of a house on the main shore. At the word Frank was to give the time, and Donald was to write it down on his schedule. Everything was to be done with the utmost accuracy. The Skylark was rapidly approaching, with the Sea Foam nearly half a mile astern of her. The Phantom and Christabel were not far behind the Sea Foam, while the rest were scattered along all the way over to Turtle Head.

"Ready there!" shouted Donald, as the Skylark came nearly in range of the Penobscot and the chimney.[154]

"All ready," replied Sam Rodman.

The gun forward had been loaded, and a seaman stood at the lock-string, to salute the first boat in.

"Time!" shouted Sam, as the mainsail of the Skylark shut in the chimney on the shore; and the six-pounder awoke the echoes among the hills.

"Twelve, forty, and thirty-two seconds," added Frank, as he took the time from the watch.

"Twelve, forty, thirty-two," repeated Donald, as he wrote it on the schedule.

The crowd on the judges' yacht cheered the commodore as the Skylark rounded the Penobscot, and the ladies waved their handkerchiefs at him with desperate enthusiasm.

"I thought you said the Sea Foam was to beat the Skylark," said Nellie Patterdale.

"I think she may do it yet," replied Donald.

"And Sam's new boat must beat them both, Don John," laughed Maud Rodman.

"Time!" called Sam.

"Twelve, forty-five, two," added Frank.

"Twelve, forty-five, two," repeated Donald, writing down the time.

By this time the Skylark had come about, not[155] by gybing,—for the wind was too heavy to make this evolution in safety,—but had come round head to the wind, and now passed under the stern of the Penobscot.

"Skylark!" reported the commodore.

A few minutes later the Sea Foam did the same. The Phantom came in a minute after the Sea Foam, and for a few moments the judges were very busy taking the time of the next four boats. The Juno did not arrive till half past one, and she was the last one. As fast as the yachts rounded the Penobscot, they went off to the line and picked up their cables and anchors. The captains of the several craft which had sailed in the race then boarded the Penobscot to ascertain the decision of the judges.

"You waxed me badly, Robert," said Ned Patterdale, who was mortified at the defeat of the Sea Foam, though he kept good-natured about it.

"I still think the Skylark can't be beaten by anything of her inches," replied Commodore Montague.

"I am rather disappointed in the Sea Foam," added Ned.

Donald heard this remark, and he was much[156] disturbed by it; for it seemed like a reproach upon the skill of his father, and an imputation upon the reputation of Ramsay and Son. If the yachts built by the "firm" were beaten as badly as the Sea Foam had been, though she had outsailed the Phantom, it would seriously injure the business of the concern. The defeat of the Sea Foam touched the boat-builder in a tender place, and he found it necessary to do something to maintain the standing of the firm. He knew just what the matter was; but under ordinary circumstances he would not have said a word to damage the pride of the present owner of the Sea Foam.

"I am sorry you are not satisfied with her, Ned," said Donald.

"But I expected too much of her; for I thought she was going to beat the Skylark," replied Ned Patterdale. "I think you encouraged me somewhat in that direction, Don John."

"I did; and I still think she can beat the Skylark."

"It's no use to think so; for she has just beaten me four minutes and a half; and that's half a mile in this breeze. Nothing could have been more fairly done."[157]

"It was all perfectly fair, Ned; but you know that winning a race does not depend entirely upon the boat," suggested Donald, hinting mildly at his own theory of the defeat.

"Then you think I didn't sail her well?" said Ned.

"I think you sailed her very well; but it could not be expected that you would do as well with her as Bob Montague with the Skylark, for he has sailed his yacht for months, while you have only had yours a few weeks. This is a matter of business with me, Ned. If our boats are beaten, we lose our work. It is bread and butter to me."

"If it was my fault, I am sorry she was beaten, for your sake, Don John; but I did my best with her," replied Ned, with real sympathy for his friend.

"Of course I am not going to cry over spilt milk."

"Do you really think the Sea Foam can beat the Skylark?"

"I think so; but I may be mistaken. At any rate, I should like the chance to sail the Sea Foam with the Skylark. I don't consider it exactly an even thing between you and the commodore,[158] because he has had so much more experience than you have," replied Donald.

"You believe you can sail the Sea Foam better than I can—do you, Don John?"

"It wouldn't be pleasant for me to say that, Ned."

"But that's what you mean?"

"I have explained the reason why I spoke of this matter at all, Ned. It is bread and butter to me, and I hope you don't think I am vain."

Ned was a little vexed at the remarks of his friend, and rather indignant at his assumed superiority as a boatman. Donald was usually very modest and unpretentious. He was not in the habit of claiming that he could do anything better than another. Generally, in boating matters, when he saw that a thing was done wrong, he refrained from criticising unless his opinion was asked, and was far from being forward in fault-finding. Though he was an authority among the young men in sailing boats, he had not attained this distinction by being a critic and caviller. Ned was therefore surprised, as well as indignant, at the comments and the assumption of Donald; but a little reflection enabled him to see the boat-[159]builder's motive, which was anything but vanity. He had some of this weakness himself, and felt that he had sailed the Sea Foam as well as any one could have done it, and was satisfied that the Skylark was really a faster yacht than his own. The race was plain sailing, with a free wind nearly all the way, and there was not much room for the exercise of superior skill in handling the craft. At least, this was Ned's opinion. If the course had been a dead beat to windward for ten miles, the case would have been different; and Ned had failed to notice that he had lost half the distance between the Skylark and the Sea Foam when he rounded the stake buoy.

It was a fact that among the large party on board the Penobscot, the boats of the firm of Ramsay and Son were just then at a discount, and those of the Newport builders at a corresponding premium. Donald was grieved and vexed, and trembled for the future of the firm of which he was the active representative. But he figured up the results of the race, and when the captains of all the yachts had come on board of the judges' boat, he announced the