I was standing on the bank of the river, looking at his boat, which had been thoroughly repaired, painted, and rigged, and lay off the lumber-yard. She was a beautiful craft, and after we had shut up the counting-room, I paused to look at her.
"I don"t know anything about a sail-boat," I replied; "but I used to handle a row-boat on the upper Missouri."
"You are used to boats, then?"
"Yes, to row-boats."
"If you are not in a hurry, you may go down the river with me; and I intend to take a little turn out in the lake," he continued, as he hauled the sail-boat up to the sh.o.r.e.
"Thank you, sir; I should like to go very much," I replied.
[Ill.u.s.tration: THE SAILING EXCURSION. Page 90.]
The craft was called the Florina, though why she had what seemed to me such an odd name, I did not know at that time. I afterwards ascertained that he was engaged to a young lady who bore that interesting name, though, for reasons which will appear in the sequel, he never married her. I was delighted with the boat when I went on board of her, and glanced into her comfortable cabin, which was furnished like a parlor.
He had evidently spent a good deal of money upon her, and I soon found that Miss Florina was an occasional guest on board.
She was sloop-rigged, and carried a large jib and mainsail. Everything about her was fitted up in good style; indeed, the carpenters, riggers, and painters had been at work upon her for a month. I was rather sorry, as I looked at her, that I was not a rich man, able to own just such a craft, for I could conceive of nothing more pleasant than coasting up and down the lake, exploring the rivers, bays, and islands. I thought I could live six months in the year on board of the Florina very comfortably. But, then, I was not a rich man; and I had a great work before me, with no time to waste in mere amus.e.m.e.nts.
"Now take off those stops, Phil."
"Stops?"
"Those canvas straps with which the mainsail is tied up," he explained.
I concluded that the mainsail was the big sail nearest to me, and I untied the "stops," making a note of the name for future use.
"That"s it; now stand by the jib halyards," added Mr. Whippleton.
"I"ll stand by "em till doomsday, if you will only tell me what they are."
"I call things by their names in order that you may learn them,"
laughed the junior partner, as he went forward and cast off the ropes indicated, which were fastened to a couple of cleats on the mast. "One is the throat, and the other is the peak-halyard."
We hoisted the sail, and I observed the use of the halyards, and how to manage and make them fast. I was confident that I should not have to be shown a second time how to do anything. Fortunately there are so few ropes on an ordinary sloop that my weak head could carry the names and uses of all without confusion. There was not much wind up there in the lagoon, or the river, as it is more politely called; but what there was came from the westward, and the skipper said it was fair to take us down to the lake.
"Cast off the painter," continued Mr. Whippleton.
"Who?"
"The painter."
"He"s not here; and if he was, I shouldn"t like to cast him off here, where the water is so dirty; I would rather wait till we come to a cleaner place," I replied.
"That rope by which the boat is fastened to the wharf is called a painter," added the skipper.
"O, is it?" I replied, unfastening the rope at the sh.o.r.e end, and pulling it on board.
"That"s it. You will be as salt as a boiled lobster one of these days, Phil."
I thanked him for the compliment, as I supposed it to be, though I had not the least idea what a lobster was. The skipper took the helm, and the boat began to move.
"Haul in that sheet, Phil," said he, quietly.
I rushed for the cabin, where I had seen two beds very neatly made up in the berths.
"Where are you going?"
"After the sheet. There"s some on the beds in the cabin."
"The rope fastened to the boom," he continued, laughing at my blunder, and handing me the end of the line upon which I was to haul.
I pulled in, and the effect was to bring the boom over the deck.
Putting the helm hard down, he brought the Florina up into the wind, so as to clear a lumber schooner which lay just below. I wish to say that I describe the movements of the boat from the knowledge I have since obtained, for I am an "old salt" now. I watched the operations of the skipper with keen attention, for I was taking my first lesson in handling a boat, and I was deeply interested. Skilfully he navigated the crowded river, and I hauled in and let out the sheet twenty times before we reached the broad lake. The drawbridges were whisked open in the twinkling of an eye, and in about half an hour we pa.s.sed out of the river.
I saw why Mr. Whippleton was anxious to have an a.s.sistant in the Florina with him, for I found it was no joke to haul the sheet, and my hands, grown tender in my clerkly occupation, exhibited two or three blisters when we reached the mouth of the river. It was a nice thing for a gentleman like him to sit at the helm, and handle the tiller; but I fancied he did not enjoy hoisting the mainsail, and hauling the sheet, alone.
"There, Phil, the worst of it is over now," said Mr. Whippleton, as he headed the boat down the lake. "We are out of the river, and we have plenty of sea room here. You may clear away the jib."
I had already learned what the jib was, and I went out on the bowsprit, as I had seen the men do on other vessels. I loosed the sail, and hoisted it. The jib-sheets led aft to the standing-room; and, as soon as I had made fast the halyard, the skipper luffed up and fastened down the jib. The boat heeled over, and began to cut through the water at a very exciting rate. It was a very pleasing and delightful sensation to me, and from that moment I became a sailor in my aspirations. I had never seen the salt water, and had a very indefinite idea of the expanse of ocean.
"How do you like it, Phil?" asked Mr. Whippleton.
"Very much, sir."
"I"m glad you do, for I want some one to sail with me. This boat is rather large to be handled comfortably by one man, and two make it a pleasant thing for both of them. Sit down here, and make yourself happy," he added, pointing to the cushioned seat at his side.
I accepted his polite invitation, and thought he was very considerate to me, his humble clerk. He then explained my duty in tacking or coming about, which was to let go the jib-sheet on the lee side, when the sail shook, and haul in on the weather side. To ill.u.s.trate the point, he made a tack and ran in towards the sh.o.r.e. I readily understood the whole matter, and by this time I felt that I could sail the Florina myself.
"Phil, you break in as a book-keeper a great deal better than I expected you would," said Mr. Whippleton, when he had tacked again, and was standing along the sh.o.r.e with the wind on the beam.
"I have taken an interest in the subject, and studied it very attentively. My father, who served his time at the desk, gave me a great deal of instruction."
"Who is your father?"
"He was formerly a merchant, but now he is the agent of a wealthy real-estate owner."
"He instructed you very well. Has Mr. Collingsby said anything to you lately about your duties?"
"No, sir; he has hardly spoken to me since I have been in the counting-room; never, except to ask me a question," I replied.
"He does not say much to any one; but he is well pleased with your work, and spoke of the neat appearance of your books to-day."
"I am certainly very much obliged to him," I added, delighted with this testimony; for I felt that it was the first point I had gained towards the discharge of my great mission.
"He says you write very handsomely and very plainly; that your footings and extensions are uniformly correct."
"I try to have everything right and neat," I answered, delighted beyond measure at this kind opinion of me.