"There is no ferryman here now," said Mrs. Wilford gloomily.
"I will go, mother," replied Lawry.
"It may be many a day before your father comes back," added Mrs.
Wilford, as she wiped away her tears. "It is a great deal worse than a funeral."
"We can"t help it, mother, and I suppose we must make the best of it."
"I suppose we must; but I don"t know what we are going to do."
"We shall do well enough, mother. I will attend to the ferry; but poor father--"
Lawry, finding he could not speak without a fresh flow of tears, hastened out of the house. There were two wagons waiting for him; and when they were embarked in the boat, he pushed off, and trimmed the sail for the gentle breeze that was blowing up the lake. The pa.s.sengers asked for his father; but Lawry could only tell them that he had gone away: the truth was too painful for him to reveal. He returned to his desolate home when he had ferried the wagons over the lake. There was nothing but misery in that humble abode, and but little sleep for those who were old enough to comprehend the sadness and shame of their situation.
Before morning the news of John Wilford"s crime had been circulated through the village of Port Rock and its vicinity. Some knew that the ferryman was lazy and thriftless, and wondered he had not robbed somebody before. Others had always regarded him as a person of no sagacity or forethought, but did not think he would steal. Many pitied his family, and some said that Lawry was "as smart as two of his father," and that his mother and the children would be well provided for.
The intelligence went to the mansion of Mr. Sherwood, and there it touched the hearts of true friends. Though none of them knew much about the ferryman and his family, yet for Lawry"s sake they were deeply interested in them.
After breakfast Mr. Sherwood went down to the ferry-house; and the young pilot, with many tears and sobs, told him the whole of the sad story of his father"s crime. The rich man was full of sympathy, but nothing could be done. He volunteered to be the culprit"s bail, and to provide him with the best counsel in the State. But John Wilford was guilty, and nothing could wipe out this terrible truth.
Mr. Sherwood did all he had promised to do; but the ferryman, after he had been examined and fully committed for trial, declined to furnish bail, declaring that he did not wish to be seen at Port Rock again. At the next session of the court, two months after his committal, he pleaded guilty of the robbery and was sentenced to three years" imprisonment in the penitentiary at Sing Sing.
After the sentence the prisoner was permitted to see his family for the last time for many months. It was a sad and touching interview; but from it Lawry and his mother derived much consolation. John Wilford was penitent; he was truly sorry for what he had done, and declared that, when he had served out his time, he would be a better man than he had ever been before. It was comforting to the mother and son to know that the wanderer was not hardened and debased by his crime and the exposure; and they returned to their home submissive to their lot, sad and dreary as it was.
From the day his father had been arrested, Lawry felt that the care of the family devolved upon him. His older brother was away from home, and was indolent and dissipated. The ferry and the little farm must be cared for, as from them came the entire support of his mother and his brothers and sisters. Though he was oppressed by the burden of sorrow which his father"s crime cast upon him, he did not yield to despair.
Half a mile below the ferry-landing he could see the smokestack of the _Woodville_ projecting above the water. She was his property; and if she had seemed to be a prize to him before the calamity had fallen upon his father"s household, she was doubly so now. As he crossed the ferry, he gazed up at the Goblins, with less of exultation, but more of hope, than before. In his opinion, as he expressed it to his mother, there was "money in her." Mrs. Wilford was in great tribulation lest the man who now held the mortgage upon the little farm should insist upon being paid, as there was now no hope that, the debtor, in prison, would be able to do anything. Lawry told her that the steamboat would enable them to pay all claims upon his father.
Mrs. Wilford had but little confidence in her son"s schemes, but she did not discourage them; and Lawry racked his brain for expedients to accomplish the task he had imposed upon himself. He had no money, and he was too proud to ask Mr. Sherwood for the a.s.sistance which that gentleman would so gladly have rendered. Ethan French came down to see him every day, and the prairie boy was so kind and considerate that they soon became fast friends.
"When are you going to work on the steamer, Lawry?" asked Ethan. "I suppose you don"t feel much like meddling with her yet."
"I don"t; but she ought to be raised as soon as possible," replied Lawry. "I am going to work upon her right off. I went down to see how she lies this morning, and I have got my plans all laid."
"Have you?"
"I have."
"Do you think you can get her up?"
"I know I can."
"Well, how are you going to do it?" inquired Ethan.
"Do you know Mr. Nelson, over at Pointville? I suppose you don"t.
Well, he is a great oil man; he has got some oil-wells down on the St. Johns River. He is getting together all the barrels and hogsheads he can find, to send down to his works. He has as many as a hundred at his place in Pointville. I"m going to borrow a lot of these casks, if I can, and raise the _Woodville_ with them."
"How are you going to manage with them?" asked Ethan, deeply interested in the plan.
"Sink them round the boat, and fasten them to her hull, till there is enough to float her."
"But how are you going to sink them?"
"There"s some one to go over the ferry," replied Lawry, as a blast of the tin horn was heard. "If you will go over with me, I will tell you all about it, and we will call and see Mr. Nelson while we are at Pointville."
Ethan embarked with his friend, and when the boat started the subject was resumed.
CHAPTER VIII
RAISING THE "WOODVILLE"
Ethan French, during the two years he had been a resident of the State of New York, had been an earnest and diligent student. His mind was even more improved than his manners. His taste for mechanics had prompted him to study the various subjects included in this science, and as he stood by his companion, the pilot, he talked quite learnedly about the specific gravity of wood and iron, about displacement, buoyancy, and similar topics.
"The hull of the steamer--that is, the woodwork--will not float itself, but it will sustain considerable additional weight," said he.
"Yes, I understand all that," replied Lawry. "If there had been no iron in the _Woodville_ she would not have gone down."
"The iron in her engines is seven or eight times as heavy as the same bulk of water. Its weight carried the hull down with it."
"Then we must put down empty casks enough to float the engine,"
added Lawry.
"No; the woodwork of the hull will hold up a portion of the weight of the engine, and we must furnish buoyancy enough to sustain the rest of it."
"It will not take a great many casks, then--will it?"
"Not a great many; but the difficulty is to get them down to the bottom, and fasten them to the hull."
"I can do that," replied Lawry confidently.
Ethan approved the method, and promised to ascertain what weight each of the casks would sustain in the water, when he had obtained their dimensions. The ferry-boat reached the other side of the lake, and the young men went to see Mr. Nelson, the owner of the casks. He did not wish to use the hogsheads till October, and was willing they should be employed for the purpose indicated, if Lawry would give him security for their safe return.
"Mr. Sherwood will do that for you, Lawry," said Ethan.
"That"s a good name," added the oil speculator. "If he will guarantee the safe return of the casks, that is all I ask. I wonder if Mr. Sherwood don"t want some shares in the Meteor Oil Company."
"I don"t know; I"ll ask him," replied Ethan.
"If you will, I won"t charge you anything for the use of the casks,"
added Mr. Nelson.
Mr. Sherwood was consulted in the evening. He was very willing to furnish the required security for the use of the oil-casks, but he did not seem to have the same confidence in the "Meteor" which Mr.
Nelson exhibited, though he promised to consider the matter.
It required three days to complete the preparations for raising the _Woodville_. All the ropes and rigging in the neighborhood, including many hay-ropes and clothes-lines, had been collected; the oil-casks had been conveyed over the lake in the ferry-boat, and secured within a "boom" composed of four long timbers, lashed together at the ends, forming a square, which was moored close to the Goblins; and a raft had been built, upon which the operations were to be conducted.