"She works like a lady!" exclaimed Dory with enthusiasm.
Having satisfied himself in regard to the working of the boat, he turned his attention to the Missisquoi again. He saw that Pearl Hawlinshed was at the wheel of the steamer. He had evidently learned wisdom from the movements of the Goldwing. He had turned the helm of the steamer, so that she was now headed to the westward.
Probably Pearl had begun to do some reasoning by this time. Instead of running directly for the schooner, he had taken a course to intercept her when she attempted to go to the northward, as he doubtless believed she intended to do.
The Goldwing was now on the starboard tack; and the Missisquoi was running abreast of her, towards the west sh.o.r.e of the lake. Dory contrived to cramp her so that she did not make much headway, and the steamer gained so rapidly on her that she was soon a considerable distance ahead of her.
"Now, d.i.c.k Short, we are going about. When Corny lets go of the weather jib-sheet, I want you to haul on the lee-sheet," said the skipper when he was ready for the next move.
"Where are we going next, Dory?" asked Thad, confused by the many movements of the skipper.
"No questions now, Thad. Keep your eyes wide open, and you will see for yourself. Let go, and haul! Let go the sheet, Corny! Haul in, d.i.c.k! Be lively about it! You must get the sheet in while the sail is shaking, or you can"t do it at all," said Dory sharply, as he put the helm down.
The Goldwing whirled around like a top, when her helm went down. The hands in charge of the jib-sheets were zealous to do their duty promptly, and in an instant the sails were drawing on the port tack.
But this did not give the course the skipper wanted. He handled the boat very cautiously on account of her bad reputation.
Gradually he let off the main-sheet, while d.i.c.k was directed to do the same with the jib-sheet. At the same time Dory kept the helm up, and the boat fell off until she was headed for the southern side of Garden Island. She took the wind over her port quarter. It came in heavy gusts, the Goldwing careening until her gunwale went under at every flaw.
"I don"t know about this," said Thad.
"About what, Thad?" asked Dory quietly.
"We are about half under water. This is shaky sailing, in my opinion,"
added Thad, as a wave broke against the side of the boat, and drenched most of the members of the club to the skin.
"We may get wholly under water before we get through with this trip,"
replied Dory. "But she will come up every time she goes down. For my part, I never saw a boat work any better than the Goldwing is doing."
"But you will drown the whole of us, Dory!" protested Thad.
"She is working first-rate, Thad; and this isn"t more than half as lively as it will be before we get across the lake."
"Are you going across the lake now, Dory?" asked Corny.
"Certainly I am. We are bound for Burlington, aren"t we? Didn"t you want me to take you home?"
"But we don"t want you to drown us, and this boat has a bad habit of not keeping on the top of the water."
"She will keep on the top of the water most of the time, and the worst you have to fear is a wet jacket."
Just as the schooner was going in under the lee of Garden Island, another wave broke against her side, and about half a barrel of water dropped into the standing-room.
"There it is again!" exclaimed Thad.
"That"s all right," added Dory. "No boat can keep all the water on the outside of her in such a sea as this. But she is working beautifully. Do you see that rope, Thad?" continued the skipper, pointing to the line by which the centre-board was handled.
"I see it, but I haven"t the least idea what it is for."
"I want you and Nat to haul up the centre-board, for we don"t need quite so much of it while we are going free."
The two boys named cast off the line, and pulled with all their might; but they could not start the board, as Dory did not suppose they could while the whole force of the wind was acting against it. The two hands at the line did not know what the centre-board was, or where it was; but the skipper thought, as they seemed to be a little concerned about their safety, that it was better for them to be employed.
"It"s no use!" cried Thad. "I don"t know what we are pulling at; but, whatever it is, it won"t come."
"What is there down there?" asked Nat Long, looking into the pump, which was at the end of the centre-board casing.
"Now try it once more, fellows," said Dory, as he luffed the boat up, and thus relieved the centre-board from the pressure.
"Now it comes," added Thad. "Shall we haul the thing through that hole?"
"No: that will do. Make the line fast to the cleat, as you found it."
"But what does all that mean? I never saw a boat that had a thing like that in it," inquired Nat Long.
"You will learn all about it by and by. I have no time now to explain any thing," answered Dory, looking behind him to ascertain the position of the Missisquoi.
The steamer had come about. Pearl had found that he had been reckoning wrong in regard to the movements of the Goldwing. Judging from his present career, he was disgusted with strategy; for he was again running directly for the schooner. The Missisquoi was laboring heavily in the big waves, and her pilot did not appear to know how to favor her. At any rate, he followed the schooner without regard to the wind or the waves.
"She is after us," said Corny, as the Goldwing went into the comparatively smooth water under the lee of Garden Island. "She is going to catch us, too, in the course of the next fifteen minutes."
"When she catches us, you tell me of it: will you, Corny?" added Dory.
"I think you will know it as well as I do, Dory. What"s the use of keeping this thing up? Let us hold on, and see what the fellow wants of you," replied Corny.
"We will have the fun of the race if we don"t have any thing more," said Dory. "This is smooth sailing just here, but we shall have it rough enough in about two minutes more. If any of you fellows don"t want to go back to Burlington, I will put you on sh.o.r.e at Garden Island."
"We might have to stay there a week," suggested Corny.
"I couldn"t help that," answered Dory. "I told you not to come with me if you were afraid of the boat."
"She is as safe for us as she is for Dory," added d.i.c.k Short.
"We shall get under the lee of Providence Island in about twenty minutes. If you can stand it for that time, you will be all right,"
continued the skipper, who did not wish to waste his time, and lose the race, by putting any of his crew on sh.o.r.e.
"I don"t want to go ash.o.r.e," said Nat Long. "I can stand it as long as Dory can, and I shall not back out."
This exhibition of pluck had its effect on the others, and no one was willing to admit that he wished to go ash.o.r.e. But the appearance of the lake ahead was appalling to most of them, though they had crossed it that day in the little steamer. The bad reputation of the Goldwing was what made it look so dubious. Dory had been as doubtful about crossing as any of them; but he had tested the boat under her present sail, and all his doubts had been removed. For a boy of his age he had had a great deal of experience in sailing a boat; and he knew by the feeling, rather than by any thing he could see, that the schooner was working well. He believed that she was entirely safe.
He had ascertained the draught of the Goldwing at the wharf, and he was perfectly familiar with every part of the lake. When the boat came up with the island, he ran within a few rods of it. He looked astern at the Missisquoi as he came into the still water under the lee of the island.
She had been gaining rapidly upon him; and, if his strategy failed, Pearl Hawlinshed would soon be alongside of the Goldwing.
But he could hardly conceive of such a thing as its failing. He watched the steamer with the most intense interest as he increased his distance from the island. The schooner pa.s.sed out into the open lake. The gusts of wind increased in fury, and even the reefed mainsail seemed to be more sail than she could carry.
More than once, under the pressure of the savage gusts, the boat heeled down till the water rolled in over the lee gunwale. The heavy waves broke continually over the other side; and, before the Goldwing was half way across the open part of the lake, the water rose above her bottom boards.
"This is awful, Dory," said Thad. "I don"t believe we shall ever get to the other side of the lake. If I had thought it was half as bad as this, I wouldn"t have come."