"I see you are all of one mind," continued Vallington. "I deem it right to tell you now that, in my opinion, Mr. Parasyte is no contemptible foe to deal with. He will make a good deal of trouble, if he does not cause much anxiety, perhaps suffering, in our ranks."
"What can he do?" asked one of the boys.
"I don"t know. He hasn"t told me what he intends to do, and probably he will not," replied our chief, facetiously.
"Can"t you guess?" asked another boy; and there seemed to be a general desire to antic.i.p.ate the terrible things the princ.i.p.al would attempt in order to reduce the rebellious pupils to subjection.
"I am no Yankee, and I can"t guess. I can mention several things he might do."
"Tell us, if you please!" called out one of the more timid of the boys.
"Very likely he will attempt to starve us out by surrounding the island with boats, and preventing us from obtaining provisions. He must know that we have a very small stock of eatables on hand."
"We will trust to our commodore to break his lines, if he blockades our camp," laughed Tom Rush.
"He may come with a force of men in the night, and take away the boats."
"You said we should keep a watch at night," suggested Fred Mason.
"We hope the commodore will be able to protect his squadron," said Bob Hale.
"I shall do my best to insure the safety of the boats, or to run the blockade, if one is established," I replied, with becoming modesty; and in fact I was getting so excited over the prospect, that I rather hoped there would be an attempt to blockade us, or to carry off the boats, that I might have an opportunity to exercise my talent for navigation and strategy.
"And Mr. Parasyte may collect a force, and come over to capture the whole of us. He can charge us with stealing his boats, or something of that sort. He has already obtained a warrant for the arrest of Thornton, and to have him taken away from us would be about the worst thing that could happen," said Vallington.
"We will not let them take him," interposed a belligerent student.
"What will you do?"
"Pitch the sheriff overboard," replied the s.p.u.n.ky speaker.
"That will not do," I added. "I hope no fellow will think of such a thing as resisting an officer of the law."
"No, that wouldn"t do," continued Vallington. "If Mr. Greene could not arrest Thornton because he was out of his county, Mr. Parasyte will get a sheriff from the proper county to do the job."
"That"s so," said Bob Hale. "He will do his worst, you may depend upon that."
"I have an idea!" I shouted, under the inspiration of my new thought; and it really seemed to me like a brilliant suggestion.
"What is it?" demanded our leader.
"Suppose we change our quarters?"
"Where shall we go?"
"To Pine Island. It is about seven miles from here, or nine miles and a half from Parkville," I answered.
"What shall we gain by moving?" asked Vallington, deeply interested in my proposition.
"Several things. We are now six miles from Cannondale, where we must procure our provisions, while Pine Island is less than three."
"That"s a decided advantage, if we are to be starved out," added the commissary.
"It is so far from Parkville that our movements could not be observed from the sh.o.r.e," I continued. "And Pine Island is at least four times as large as Cleaver Island, which would make it four times as difficult to blockade."
"Pine Island! Pine Island!" shouted the rebels, in concert, as they began to perceive the advantages of the proposed location.
"If the fellows don"t object to working a part or the whole of the night, we might be in our new quarters before morning; and if we keep a good lookout, we may stay there two or three days before Mr.
Parasyte finds out where we are."
"Pine Island! Pine Island!" was the chorus which came from the throng of boys, all of whom had gathered near the bluff.
"Those in favor of moving to-night, say ay," continued Vallington.
"Ay!" shouted the students, with one voice.
"Those opposed, say no."
There was not a dissenting voice.
"It is a unanimous vote," added the leader. "Commodore Thornton, you are charged with the execution of this order, and you will make your preparations accordingly."
"But what shall we do for provisions?" asked the commissary, troubled about the proper administration of the affairs of his department. "We must have something to eat before dinner-time to-morrow; and if we are to keep out of sight, I don"t see how we are to get anything."
"Perhaps Commodore Thornton can afford us some information on that subject," said Vallington. "Our safety and success depend mainly upon the vulgar things which the stomach requires."
"There is a good breeze now, General Vallington, and--"
The students interrupted me with a hearty laugh at the new t.i.tle I had given to the parson.
"A truce to t.i.tles," laughed our leader.
"You call me commodore, and I think it is no more than fair that I should give you your proper t.i.tle."
"But you were duly elected commodore of our squadron."
"Mr. Chairman, I move that Henry Vallington be created general-in-chief of all our forces, by sea and by land," I continued.
"Second the motion," added Bob Hale. "I call upon the secretary to put the question."
The question was put by Fred Mason, and carried, unanimously.
"I am very much obliged to you for the honor you have conferred upon me; but we can hardly afford the time now to talk about t.i.tles. You were going to say something about the breeze, Commodore Thornton."
"I say that there is a good breeze now, General Vallington; and I think, if the commissary is ready, we can reach Cannondale in the Splash by nine o"clock. It is half past seven now," I replied, looking at my watch.
"The commissary is all ready," said Tom Rush.
"What time shall you return?" asked the general.