The Yacht Club; or, The Young Boat-Builder by Oliver Optic (important books to read txt) 📗

sir. I have known a boat to get a full mile ahead of another before the wind, and then be beaten by losing it all, and more too, going to windward. I expect better things than that of the Maud; but she may disappoint me. She is only making her reputation now."

Donald watched his "sight" ahead all the time, and had not seen the Skylark for half an hour. The party was silent again for a while, but the Maud dashed furiously on her course, now and then burying her rail, while the water shot up through the lee scupper-holes into the standing-room. But Dick Adams, who was a natural mechanic, was making a pair of plugs to abate this nuisance.

"Turtle Head!" exclaimed Rodman, who, though he had said but little, watched the movements of the yacht with the most intense delight and excitement.[315]

"We are a square quarter of a mile ahead of the Skylark," said Kennedy. "Business will be good with us, Don John, after this."

"Give her a little more main-sheet, Kennedy," was the skipper's reply, as the yacht passed the Head, and he kept her away a little.

"Eleven thirty," mused Mr. Norwood, who had taken out his gold watch, and noted the moment when the Maud passed the headland.

"Now, mind your eye, all hands!" shouted Donald, as the Maud approached the north-east point of Long Island, where he had to change her course from south-east to south, which involved the necessity, with the wind north-west, of gybing, or coming about head to the wind.

It would take a small fraction of a minute to execute the latter manœuvre; and as the sails were now partially sheltered under the lee of the land, the bold skipper determined to gybe. Kennedy had early notice of his intention, and had laid the spare sheet where it would not foul anybody's legs. He hauled in all he could with the help of the mate and others.

"Now, over with it," said Donald, as he put the helm down.[316]

The huge mainsail fluttered and thrashed for an instant, and then flew over. Kennedy, who had been careful to catch a turn in the rope, held fast when the sail "fetched up" on the other tack, and then the yacht rolled her rail under on the port side.

"Let off the sheet, lively!" cried Donald.

"That's what I'm doing," replied the stout ship carpenter, paying off the sheet very rapidly, so as to break the shock.

"Steady! belay! Now draw jib there."

As Dick Adams cast off the weather sheet in the new position, Mr. Norwood hauled in the lee. For a short distance the Maud had the wind on her starboard quarter; then the sheets were hauled in, and she took it on the beam, till she was up with the buoy on Stubbs Point Ledge, which she was to round, leaving it on the port. The ledge was not far from the land, on which was a considerable bluff, so that the wind had not more than half its force. In rounding the buoy, it was necessary to gybe again; and it was done without shaking up the yacht half so much as at the north-east point.

"Now comes the pull," said Donald, as the Maud rounded the buoy. "Stand by your sheets![317] Now brace her up! Give her the whole of the board, Dick."

Donald put the helm down; the jib and mainsail were trimmed as flat as it was judicious to have them; and the Maud was close-hauled, standing up to the northward. The skipper was careful not to cramp her by laying too close to the wind. He was an experienced boatman, and he governed himself more by the feeling of the craft under him than by his sight. He could shut his eyes, and tell by the pressure of the tiller in his hand whether she was cramped, or was going along through the water.

"Did you get the time when the Skylark passed the Head, Mr. Norwood?" asked Donald.

"No; you made things so lively, I hadn't time to look," replied the gentleman. "I should like to know just how many minutes we are ahead of her."

"I think I can tell you, sir," added the skipper, with a smile.

"How many?"

"How many do you think, sir?"

"Five or six."

"Not more than one and a half, Mr. Norwood.[318] Neither yacht has to give the other time, and what we gain belongs to us."

"I should have thought we were at least five minutes ahead of her."

"No, sir. Now we have a chance to manœuvre a little," added Donald. "I know just what the commodore will do; he will stand on this tack, when he gets round the buoy, till he is almost up with Brigadier Island; then he will make a long stretch. I shall not do so."

"Why not?"

"Because, if the wind lessens, he will get under the lee of the land. I shall go just one mile on this tack," replied Donald. "Have you any rubber coats on board, Sam?"

"I have only two."

"You will want them, for we are beginning to toss the spray about, as though it didn't cost anything."

It was decidedly damp on the deck of the Maud, for the water thrown up by the waves, dashing against the weather bow, was carried by the gusty wind to the standing-room, drenching those who sat there. Donald and his companions had no fear of salt water, and were just as happy wet to the[319] skin, as they were when entirely dry, for the excitement was quite enough to keep them warm, even in a chill, north-west wind. Half way across to Brigadier Island, Donald gave the order, "Ready about," and tacked. As he had predicted, Commodore Montague continued on his course, almost over to the island, and then came about. The Maud rushed furiously on her long stretch, dashing the spray recklessly over her deck, till she was almost up with the Northport shore, when she tacked again, and laid her course to windward of the judges' yacht, as the regulations required. As she rounded the Penobscot, a gun announced the arrival of the first yacht. The Maud let off her sheets, and passed under the stern of the judges' craft.

"The Maud!" shouted Donald, enraptured with his victory.

Four minutes and thirty-four seconds later, the gun announced the arrival of the Skylark. It was all of twenty minutes later when the Sea Foam arrived, and half an hour before the Phantom put in an appearance. There was not a shadow of a doubt that the Maud had won the great race.[320]

CHAPTER XVIII. THE HASBROOK OUTRAGE AND OTHER MATTERS.

The Maud went round to the line, and after picking up her tender and moorings, anchored near the Penobscot.

"There is no doubt now which boat has won the race," said Mr. Norwood.

"None whatever, sir," replied Donald. "The day is ours by as fair a race as ever was sailed. The Maud proved what she could do before we got to Turtle Head; and all the conditions were exactly equal up to that time. If I made anything by manœuvring, it was only when we tacked a mile north of the Head. We have beaten her squarely in a heavy wind; but how she would do compared with the Skylark in a light breeze, is yet to be proved."

"I am satisfied, Don John; and I give you the job to build the Alice, for that is to be the name of Frank's yacht."[321]

"Thank you, sir. I suppose you don't expect to get her out this season."

"No; if he has her by the first of June of next year, it will be soon enough.—I hope you are satisfied with the Maud, Sam," added Mr. Norwood, turning to the owner of the winning craft.

"I ought to be, and I am," replied Rodman.

"You have the fastest yacht in the fleet."

"She won't be when I sail her. The commodore will clean me out every time, if Don John is not at the helm."

"Then there is a capital opportunity for you to improve in the art of sailing a yacht."

"Plenty of room for that," laughed Rodman.

Dick Adams brought the tender alongside, and pulled Mr. Norwood, Rodman, and Donald to the Penobscot.

"I congratulate you, Don John," said Mr. Montague, extending his hand to the boat-builder. "You have won the race handsomely."

"Thank you, sir."

"It is a double triumph to you, since you both built your yacht, and sailed her," added Mr. Montague.

"It is worth a good deal to me in a business[322] point of view; for I get a job to build another yacht by it. The firm of Ramsay & Son can't afford to have their boats beaten," laughed Donald. "Here comes Robert."

"I suppose he will not be satisfied with the Skylark, now that she has been so thoroughly whipped," added the commodore's father.

"Perfectly satisfied with her, father. She is as good a boat as she ever was," answered Robert, as he gave his hand to Donald. "You have won the race fairly and handsomely, Don John; and I congratulate you upon your success."

"I thank you, Bob; but I would rather have beaten any other fellow than you," replied Donald.

"I can stand it as well as anybody."

The ladies and gentlemen on board of the Penobscot congratulated the hero of the occasion, and condoled with the commodore, till the last of the fleet arrived. The judges filled out the schedule with the corrected time.

"Captain Rodman, of the Maud," said the chairman; and the owner of the winning yacht stepped forward. "It appears from the schedule that you have made the shortest time, and I have the pleasure of presenting to you the first prize."[323]

"Thank you, sir," replied Rodman, accepting the envelope, which contained the prize of one hundred dollars; "but as it appears that Donald Ramsay sailed the Maud, as well as built her, I shall have the pleasure of presenting it to him."

A round of hearty applause followed this little speech, which ended in three cheers for the captain of the Maud, and three more for her builder.

"I can't take that," said Donald, declining to receive the envelope.

"But you must take it. I will hand you over to Mr. Deputy Sheriff Beardsley, who, I see, is coming up the bay in the Juno."

"It don't belong to me. I am not the owner of the Maud," protested Donald.

"Take it! take it!" shouted one and another of the interested spectators, until nearly all of them had expressed their opinion in this way.

Thus overborne, the boat-builder took the envelope, though his pride revolted.

"Commodore Montague, it appears that the Skylark made the next best time, and I have the pleasure of presenting to you the second prize."

"Which I devote to the club for the building fund."[324]

The members heartily applauded this disposal of the money.

"I will give the other prize to the club for the same purpose," added Donald.

"Impossible!" exclaimed Commodore Montague. "The fund is completed, and the donation cannot be accepted."

"No! No!" shouted the members.

"The fifty dollars I added to the fund just makes up the sum necessary to pay for the club-house on Turtle Head, which is to be only a shanty; so you can't play that game on us, Don John."

Donald was compelled to submit; and he transferred the hundred dollars to his pocket-book.

"I am so glad you won the race, Don John!" said Nellie Patterdale. "Everybody said you sailed the Maud splendidly."

"Thank you, Nellie; your praise is worth more to me than that of all the others," replied Donald, blushing deeply; but I must do him the justice to say that, if he had not been laboring under intense excitement, he would not have made so palpable a speech to her.

Nellie blushed too; but she was not angry,[325] though her father might have been, if he had heard the remark.

"Is Captain Patterdale on board?" shouted Mr. Beardsley, as the Juno ran under the stern of the Penobscot.

"Here," replied the captain.

"I want to see you and Don John," added the officer.

The business of the race was finished, and the Maud conveyed Captain Patterdale, his daughter, and Donald to the shore. Laud Cavendish was in the Juno, and so was Hasbrook; but none of the party knew what had transpired at Saturday Cove during the forenoon.

"I will be at your house in half an hour, Captain Patterdale," said Donald, as they landed. "I am wet to the skin, and I want to put on dry clothes."

Mr. Beardsley had proposed the place of meeting; and the boat-builder hastened home. In a few minutes he had put himself inside a dry suit of clothes. Then he went to the shop, and wrote a brief note to Captain Shivernock, in which he enclosed sixty dollars, explaining that as he had been unable to "keep still with his tongue," he[326] could not keep the money. He also added, that he should send him the amount received for the Juno when he obtained the bills from Captain Patterdale, who had a part of them. Sealing this note in an envelope, he called at the house of the strange man, on his way to the place