GREA
WESTERN
SE
SERI
ERIES
0
Ved
Oliver Optic



EINER
VO
THIS BOOK
BELONGS TO
ANO
ALICE JESSIE
BOURQUIN











..
--





THE GREAT WESTERN SERIES.
GOING WEST; OR, THE Perils OF A Poor Boy.
OUT WEST; or, RoughING IT ON THE Great LAKES.
LAKE BREEZES; OR, THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
* GOING SOUTH; OR, YACHTING ON THE ATLANTIC
Coast.
DOWN SOUTH; OR, YACHT ADVENTURES IN FLORIDA.
UP THE RIVER; OR, YACHTING ON THE MississiPPI.
LEE AND SHEPARD, Publishers, Boston.






MITADA
SYLLMAN
"LEAPING OUT OF THE OPEN WINDOW I CAME DOWN FAIRLY ON
HIS Back.” Page 266,



WESTERN
R NES
LAKE BREEZES
JOHN ANDREW-SON





THE GREAT WESTERN SERIES.
LAKE BREEZES;
OR,
THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
BY
OLIVER OPTIC,
22
66
AUTHOR OF YOUNG AMERICA ABROAD, " " THE ARMY AND NAVY SEARS."
THB WOODVILLE STORIES," " THE STARRY FLAG SERIES,
“ THE BOAT-CLUB STORIES, THE LAKE SHORE
SERIES, ," "THE UPWARD AND ONWARD
SERIES,
THE YACHT CLUB
SERIES,
" " RIVERDALB
STORIES," ETC.
6
WITH EIGHT ILLUSTRATIONS.
BOSTON
LEE AND SHEPARD PUBLISHERS
Іо
MILK
STREET


COPYRIGHT, 1878,
BY WILLIAM T. ADAMS


۱۲۰ ,۱۹۱ او کے *
081521, Paul
Aves of PASS Books
4.30-2003
10
My Young Friend,
EDWARD J. ASTON, J Boog
OF ASHEVILLE, N.C.,
This Book is affectionately Wedicated.





PREFACE.
« LAKE BREEZES " is the third volume of the “Great
Western Series.” The hero who has done duty for the
two preceding stories again appears as the leading spirit
of the present enterprise on the Great Lakes. But his
narrative has no immediate connection with those previ.
ously related; and it begins and ends with only a sugges-
tion of the past and of the future, which the reader may
follow out or not, as he pleases. Several of the characters
before presented to our circle of friends take part in the
incidents of the story. They are not “little boys,” of
whom vigorous actions could hardly be expected, but
of an age which justifies them in doing just what such
young men have done in real life.
The story is mostly a record of a yachting cruise on
the Great Lakes; but simply sailing about, even upon a
sheet of water so grand as Lake Superior, may become
monotonous, at least in the recital; and in the present
instance the young yachtmen had another motive than
mere sport and diversion during most of their exciting
voyage : it consisted largely in chasing another steam-
yacht, which was the twin-sister of the one commanded
vii


viii
PREFACE.
by “Captain Alick,” and being chased by her when the
“boot was on the other leg.”
In his rambles in the “Great West,” and in his cruis
ings on the Great Lakes, the writer obtained abundant
material for his story, more than he has been able to use;
and in the vicinity of the locality of the present story he
saw and admired a beautiful steam-yacht, which suggested
some of the incidents of this volume.
The moral of the story is not to be found in any set
phrase, which may be conveniently skipped by the young
reader, intent upon knowing what the hero does, and “how
he comes out,” but in the general good character of those
who challenge his interest and admiration. He will not
imitate the example of those whose evil deeds lead him
to despise them; and he rejoices when they are justly
punished at the end. This is old-fashioned, orthodox
story-telling; but, after all, it is the only safe method.
DORCHESTER, MA88., Aug. 1, 1878


CONTENTS.
PAGE
CHAPTER I.
A BITTER COLD NIGHT .
13
CHAPTER II.
MISCHIEF DONE IN THE NIGHT
23
.
CHAPTER III.
HEARING THE EVIDENCE
33
CHAPTER IV.
THE DOCTOR's Dog .
43
.
CHAPTER V.
THE BURNING OF THE SHEDS
53
CHAPTER VI.
A SEVERE SENTENCE
63
CHAPTER VII.
A NEEDY PROFESSOR
73
CHAPTER VIII.
AN HONEST CONFESSION
83
CHAPTER IX.
THE TROUBLE AT THE BANK
93
ex


X
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER X.
PAR
THE HIDDEN TREASURE .
103
CHAPTER XI.
FITTING FOR COLLEGE
113
.
CHAPTER XII.
A STARTLING DISCOVERY
123
CHAPTER XIII.
THE SPOTS UPON THE MATE .
134
CHAPTER XIV.
PREPARING FOR THE CHASE
145
.
.
CHAPTER XV.
BEYOND POINT HURON
155
.
CHAPTER XVI.
THE ACCIDENT TO THE WHEEL
164
CHAPTER XVII.
THE SYLVANIA IN THE SHADE
176
CHAPTER XVIII.
A RACE TO THE SOUTHWARD.
186
CHAPTER XIX.
COALING AT PORT HURON
196
CHAPTER XX.
THE BOOT ON THE OTHER LEG
207
.
CHAPTER XXI.
THE MATE ON WATCH
217
CHAPTER XXII.
BOUND FOR SAGINAW BAY
2277


CONTENTS.
xi
PAGE
CHAPTER XXIII.
A NIGHT TRIP TO MONTOMERCY
237
CHAPTER XXIV.
AN INTERVIEW WITH THE ENEMY
247
CHAPTER XXV.
A CLOSE SHAVE
257
CHAPTER XXVI.
AN EXCITING RUN TO THE NORTHWARD
267
CHAPTER XXVII.
LYNCH HEARS THE WHOLE STORY
277
CHAPTER XXVIII.
INTO LAKE SUPERIOR
289
CHAPTER XXIX.
AROUND LAKE SUPERIOR
297
CHAPTER XXX.
BAD NEWS FROM DETROIT
307





LAKE BREEZES ;
OR,
THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
CHAPTER I.
A BITTER COLD NIGHT.
66
>>
AKE up, Alick!"
It was Ellis Dykeman, my room-mate
at Somerset College, who spoke ; and, as he did
so, he shook me vigorously by the arm.
“What's the matter?” I demanded, waking out
of the deep sleep into which I had fallen.
“You sleep sounder than a wet brickbat!” ex-
claimed my bedfellow, as if disgusted with the
task of rousing me. “Some one is knocking at
the door. Can't you hear it ?”
I did hear it now; but I could not very well
have heard it when I was sleeping at the rate of
twelve knots an hour, with my head buried under
13


14
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
two comforters and four blankets; for it was a
bitter cold night.
“ Are you awake now?” asked Ellie fretfully.
“ Wide awake,” I replied.
“Don't you hear that knocking at the door?”
he repeated.
“I hear it; but, as you heard it before I did,
why didn't you get up and see what was wanted ?”
I inquired quietly, though I was a little vexed,
for my room-mate had a habit of expecting and
requiring me to do every thing that had to be done
about the premises. “ This college don't belong
to me any more than it does to you.”
“It's none of my affair,” he added rather test-
ily.
66
• Perhaps it is just as much your affair as mine,”
I suggested. “At any rate, as you heard the
knock first, you ought to have got up, and ascer-
tained what was wanted."
Ellis Dykeman knew me very well; and, without
saying another word, he got out of bed, and went
to the door.
“Here is a note for Captain Alick,” said Butts,
the janitor and porter, who had to sit up all night,
and look after the fires.


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
15
“I knew it wasn't any thing to do with me,
growled Ellie, as he threw the note on the table,
and leaped into bed again, shivering with cold.
“ If I had heard the knock I should have got up
without waking you; and I think it is about time
for you to learn to pull your own oar," I replied,
as I got out of bed, and lighted the lamp.
Ellis Dykeman was the son of a very rich man ;
and he had always had too many servants to wait
upon him. I wished to make him do his share of
the odd jobs about the room; though I do not think
I should have taken it upon myself to reform his
ways, if his father had not requested me to do so
when he sent his son to Somerset College. But
I did not give the question of discipline much
thought on the present occasion, for I was won-
dering who could have sent a note to me at this
unseasonable hour of the night.
- What's the matter, Alick ?” asked Ellie from
beneath the load of bedclothes under which he
had buried himself.
“Eva Brickland says her father is very sick, and
wishes to see me at once,” I replied, as I proceeded
to dress myself.
“ Can I do any thing for you?”


16
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
Nothing at all, Ellie. I think Mr. Brickland
must have been taken very suddenly, for I have
not heard that he was sick at all.”
“I will get up and go with you,” added Ellie,
suiting the action to the word.
“ You needn't do that, Ellie: you can't help the
matter by going with me, and you had better keep
warm in bed,” I protested.
I took my heavy overcoat from the closet, and
put it on. Turning up the collar, I bound a large
woollen muffler around it; and then I felt as
though I could stand a two-mile walk in zero
weather.
"I am sorry I didn't get up when I heard the
knock at the door,” said Ellie, when I was all
ready to leave the room.
I saw that he was touched by the circumstances
under which I had been sent for; and I was sorry
I had said any thing.
66 Never mind that now. It proves to be my
affair, as you suggested,” I continued.
“But I have a mind to get up and go with you,
to punish myself for being so surly.”
“A fellow don't always know what to do when
he is waked up out of a deep sleep on such a
night as this. Stay in bed, Ellie.”


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
17
“But, if I can do any thing for you, tell me;
won't you, Alick?” pleaded Ellie.
“I will; and, if I am not back by the time the
bell rings for prayers, I wish you would tell Dr.
Rawley why I am absent.”
"I will,” answered Ellie, as I left the room.
I was very much concerned about Mr. Brick-
land ; and I thought of nothing but the fact that
he was sick, - very sick, the note informed me, and
I feared that he might be in danger. Next to my
father, I regarded him as the best friend I had on
earth; and certainly there was nothing I was not
willing to do for him. He had assisted me when I
needed a friend; and I could not forget the ser-
vice he had rendered. He was an honest, true,
and good man, and I liked him very much, inde-
pendently of the kindness he had done me.
When I was going West,” accident had brought
me to Montomercy, near Lake St. Clair, in Michi-
gan: the town was on Glinten River, which flows
into the lake about six miles distant. While liv-
ing “out West,” I had found my father; or, rather,
my father had found me, for he had been engaged
in a diligent search for me. My earliest years
were spent in the poorhouse; and I had fled from


18
LAKE BREEZES ; OR,
the life of hardship and cruelty to which I had
been subjected by the brutal man who had taken
me from that institution to work for him.
My father was a wealthy and titled Englishman;
and I visited his home in England with him. Be-
fore we could return, my grandfather died, and
my father became Sir Bent Garningham. He had
been an officer of the army before this; and, when
we returned to America, he preferred to retain
his military title, and he was known simply as
Major Garningham.
When he came to Montomercy, I was living
with Mr. Brickland, whose ill health and misfor-
tunes had reduced him to poverty and almost to
want. I had been able to be of some service to
him in the care of his farm ; indeed, I had picked
up money enough by gardening and fishing in the
upper lakes to save him from absolute financial
ruin. When my father had established the fact of
my relation to him, he was as grateful to Mr.
Brickland as I had been. He had built him a fine
house, and presented him a considerable sum of
money, besides aiding him in other ways.
When I was going West," I went part of the
way in a sail-boat, with Ellie Dykeman, whose


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
19
father had presented me the boat, now called
the Lakebird, for the service I had rendered
his son. I had taken the craft through the entire
length of Lake Erie in a violent storm; for I had
been to sea, and was skilled in the management
of a sail-boat. When the beautiful steam-yacht
Sylvania, owned and used by a rich citizen of
Detroit, went ashore in a severe hurricane, while
the owner and his family were on board, I had
gone off to her in the Lakebird, and saved all
hands, for which the grateful millionnaire gave
me a bill of sale of the steamer; and she was now
lying in Glinten River.
During the summer after the return of
my
father and myself from England, we had made
many excursions in this steam-yacht. But my
father was anxious that I should pursue my
studies; and I had but little time to roam about
the lakes, much as I enjoyed the sport. I took
charge of the steamer myself, and for this reason
I was generally called “Captain Alick ;” and I
had become so accustomed to the title, that I did
not mind it any more than if it had been my
baptismal name.
There was an academy, as it was called, in


20
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
Montomercy; but it was hardly higher in grade
than a common school in the large cities. I did
not like to leave my home, for such it had be-
come to me in the truest sense of the word ; and
my father had contributed a considerable sum of
money to the funds of the institution, - enough,
in fact, to provide it with the best facilities for
obtaining a finished education, as the people of
the vicinity understood the matter, though all my
father expected was that it would fit me for the
university. Dr. Rawley, an eminent scholar and
disciplinarian, had been engaged, with a corps of
competent assistants. The buildings had been
remodelled and refurnished; and the trustees
wished to call it 66 Garningham College.” My
father was a modest man, and he positively re-
fused to accept the complimentary use of his
name ; and he suggested “Somerset,” which was
the name of my mother, instead; and the sugges-
tion was adopted.
Though Mr. Brickland lived within two miles
of the college, my father required that I should
board at the institution ; for, as a military man, he
insisted upon discipline. The college was free to
all residents of the township of Montomercy, so


22
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
was a hundred thousand dollars in bonds, besides
the stocks; and all these securities had been de-
posited in the vault of the Montomercy Bank for
safe-keeping. I had money enough, whatever
*happened to my father; but I was not allowed to
have much of it, for my father believed that
"pocket-money" did boys more harm than any
thing else. Still, I had all I needed.
It was bitter cold as I walked along the bank
of Glinten River towards the house of Mr. Brick-
land. The next morning the thermometer was
ten degrees below zero. With trembling anxiety,
I turned into the grounds of the house.


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
23
CHAPTER II.
MISCHIEF DONE IN THE NIGHT.
DREADED the duty before me, for I feared
that I might find my good friend in the ago-
nies of death. He had been an invalid for many
years; but his health appeared to have been fully
restored from the time the sunlight of prosperity
dawned upon him. It occurred to me that his old
malady had attacked him again, and that he must
be in a very bad way; for Mrs. Brickland would
not have sent for me on such a bitter cold night
unless there had been some terrible emergency.
But I was very much surprised to find that no
light appeared at any window in the front of the
house. Possibly the sufferer was in the agonies
of some nervous disease, and the light could not
be borne. I went to the rear; for all the people
in the house must be up, and there would be a
light in the kitchen, at least. But it was as dark
on that side of the house as on the front. I re-


THE CRUISÉ OF THE SYLVANIA.
25
as I followed him into the sitting-room, which felt
as warm as an oven to me, coming in out of the
cold atmosphere outside.
“I thought you said you were sick; and I sup-
posed you had come home to be attended to,"
replied Mr. Brickland, in blank amazement.
“No, sir: I came home because I thought you
were sick.”
" I'm not sick: I was never better in
my
life.”
“Didn't Mrs. Brickland send a note to me?” I
asked, taking the billet from my pocket, where I
had put it when I left the room at the Commons.
“Send a note to you! I didn't know that she
did."
“The note says you are very sick, and asks me
to come home at once."
" I'm sure I didn't know I was very sick; and
I think there must be some mistake about it.”
" What under the sun is the matter?” de-
manded Mrs. Brickland, entering the room,
clothed in shawls and blankets. “ Is anybody
dead?”
“ Not that I know of,” replied her husband.
“ Did you send a note to Alick, saying I was sick,
mother?”


26
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
66
“I'm sure I didn't! Why should I, when you
are perfectly well ?”
I handed her the note. She put on her glasses,
and examined it very carefully.
“Eva Brickland never wrote that note in this
world !” exclaimed the good lady earnestly. “It
isn't her writing any more than it is mine; and, if
she had sent you such a note as that, I should
have known it."
It is some trick of those boys in the college,”
exclaimed Mr. Brickland; " and I should like to
horsewhip the fellow that did it!”
By this time I began to see that I was the vic-
tim of a practical joke played off upon me by
some of my fellow-students. I tried to think who
it was; but I could not satisfy myself in regard
to the matter. I was about to start on my return
to the college, when both Mr. and Mrs. Brickland
interposed, and declared that I should not return
that night. The good lady went off to make a
fire in my room, while I toasted my feet at the
stove. In half an hour I was abed and asleep in
a much more comfortable room than I had in the
Commons.
I was not present at prayers at seven o'clock


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
27
the next morning; but I ate my breakfast at
about this hour, and started for the village. On
my arrival, I found the students at breakfast.
Ellie Dykeman had answered for me when my
name was called in the chapel; and Dr. Rawley
asked me how my guardian was, as soon as I
showed myself. I replied that he was quite well
now; and fortunately his attention was called
away, so that he asked no more questions.
When the students assembled in the school-
room, I saw that something was the matter. Dr.
Rawley looked very stern and troubled. He
stood for a moment looking at the students before
he said any thing. Then he intimated that every
student knew what the first business of the morn-
ing was to be. I was very sure I had no suspi-
cion that it was to be any thing but Latin, which
was due at the beginning of the session on that
morning.
“ I have nothing to say about the absence of
one-half of the Commons students from the
chapel at prayers this morning,” he began; " for
the customary signal for rising, and for attend-
ance at prayers, was not given. But the young
man or young men, as the case may be, who


28
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
turned the bell in the cupola upside down, filled
it with water, and permitted the same to freeze
there, may now come forward."
No one accepted this invitation; and most of
the students looked around among their fellows
for any indications of guilt or confession which
might appear, but no one made any sign. The
doctor had a theory of schoolboy honor which he
had labored diligently to put into operation. He
expected any one who had committed a fault to
inform against himself; which was certainly very
pretty in theory, but did not work so well in
practice.
“I hope the young man who did this piece
of
mischief will promptly acknowledge his guilt. It
will be vastly better in the end for him to do so,”
continued Dr. Rawley, after a considerable pause.
But there was no word or sign on the part
of any student. Each continued to look at the
others as if to discover some sign of guilt.
“I give the culprit, or culprits, five minutes
more to consider the matter," said the doctor,
glancing at the clock, and then seating himself
at his table.
This time passed away in silence.


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
29
“ The five minutes have passed,” said the doc-
tor, rising slowly from his chair. “I regret to see
that the perpetrator of this outrage does not in.
tend to pursue a manly course. It would be bet-
ter for him to acknowledge his fault; for I am
happily furnished with the evidence of his guilt,
and if he does not instantly rise, and expose him-
self, I shall call his name."
A momentary silence followed this announce-
ment; but no one availed himself of the instant
of grace. The affair was becoming rather excit-
ing, like the last chapter of a story, where the
"guilty one ” is exposed, and handed over to pun-
ishment. I was wondering who he could be, and,
like the others, was looking about to discover any
pale face and quivering lips. In such a company
of young men, there were
rogues,
of
course; and I had already made up my mind in
regard to the possible conspirators against the
well-being of Somerset College. But the doctor
did not allow me much longer time to consider
this question.
“ As the offender does not choose to acknowl-
edge his guilt, I shall be under the painful neces-
sity of calling him to the platform.”
a few


30
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
The good man paused again, as if he still de-
sired to hold out the offer of mitigated punish:
ment. But the guilty one did not show his hand.
“ Alexander Garningham,” said the doctor, after
he had waited a moment, "you will come upon
the platform."
I was utterly astounded at this call, for cer-
tainly no one in the room knew less about the
freezing-up of the bell than I did. Then it oc-
curred to me, that I had seen two or three of my
fellow-students looking at me several times while
the question was pending. I could not see why I
should be charged with the offence. I had not
even been in the Commons when the outrage, as
the doctor called it, was committed.
But I was confident I should not be convicted
of the offence, for the simple reason that I was
not guilty ; and I knew that Dr. Rawley intended
to be as fair and just as it was possible for a
human being to be. I went upon the platform;
and I am sure I carried with me no hang-dog ex-
pression. I held my head up; and, avoiding any
appearance of bravado, I tried to wear the smile
delineated in my photograph. When I stood be-
fore the doctor, I observed that his face was very


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
31
He was
pale, and that there was a tremor about his under
lip. I realized that he was more troubled than I
was; and I really sympathized with him. He had
always been rather reserved towards me, more so
than to any other student, I thought; but he was
invariably kind and considerate to me. I knew
there was no malice or ill-will in his heart toward
any person, and certainly not toward me.
simply doing his duty; and I was confident he
was honest and sincere in his belief that I was the
transgressor in the present instance.
“Garningham, I am sorry that you did not re-
port yourself when an opportunity was presented
for you to do so," said the doctor; and his voice
trembled with emotion as he spoke. “Why didn't
you
rise when I called for the offender?”
“ Because I am not the offender, sir,” I replied ;
and I took care that there should be no bravado
or defiance in my tones.
“I regret that you are not yet willing to
acknowledge your fault,” added the principal. “I
need not tell you that a falsehood is even more
unmanly than the trespass of which you have
been guilty.”
My blood did begin to boil at this speech, &n5


32
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
I was tempted to utter a vigorous denial of both
charges; but I compressed my lips to keep the
“mad” under, and determined not to speak ex-
cept in answer to whatever questions might be
put to me. I had fully expected that he would
prove me guilty before he accused me of false-
hood. Instead of speaking to me any further on
the subject of the bell, he turned to the students,
and delivered quite a homily on the administra-
tion of justice. It was to the effect that offenders,
however high in social standing, however wealthy
and influential, should be punished for their trans-
gressions. He alluded to a notable instance, in a
neighboring State, of a bank officer-who had plun-
dered the institution of which he was the legal
guardian, but had escaped the penalty of his crime
through the influence of powerful friends. He
insisted that even the sentiment of gratitude
should not save the guilty. He gave a political
illustration of his meaning, alluding to a governor
of a distant State who had permitted a guilty offi-
cial to go unpunished because the chief magistrate
was largely indebted to the offender for the high
position he held. I wondered what all this had to
do with my case.


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
33
CHAPTER III.
HEARING THE EVIDENCE.
“A
LEXANDER GARNINGHAM, you are the
only son of the most munificent patron of
Somerset College," continued the doctor, turning
to me after he had made a general application
of the principle of his discourse ; and for the first
time I realized that I was to be the subject of the
special application.
“ You have been guilty of an
outrage against good order and discipline in Som-
erset College, an institution which bears the hon-
ored name of your mother. I regret the circum-
stance extremely; but justice must be adminis-
tered without regard to gratitude, social rank and
title, wealth, or influence. Have you any thing
for
Nothing, except that I am not guilty,” I re-
plied firmly but respectfully.
“ I regret to hear you deny it again when the
evidence is overwhelming. As I said before, your
to say
yourself?”


34
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
relation to the practical founder of this institu-
tion, as it exists at the present time, must not
shield you from just punishment,” added the
doctor.
It seemed to me just then that I was in a pecu-
liarly perilous position; for the doctor was so fear-
ful of being biased in my favor as “the son of my
father,” that he was inclined to judge me without
trial.
"I expect to be punished if I disobey the rules
and regulations of the college, just the same as
any other student,” I ventured to add, in very
respectful tones.
“I am glad to find that degree of submission to
constituted authority, Garningham,” replied Dr.
Rawley. "You have been guilty of a gross breach
of discipline, which doubtless you regarded as a
good joke, but which, you will permit me to add,
is a very old and a very stupid one.”
“I intend to submit, guilty or innocent; but I
did not even know that the bell of the college
had been frozen up till I heard you say so after I
came into this room," I protested.
“ Young man, do you wish to be formally con
victed of this outrage ?” demanded the principal
sternly.


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
35
“ Yes, sir, if it is possible,” I replied without
any hesitation.
• Very well, Garningham: if you really believe
you are not guilty, I think we shall be able to con-
vince you, allowing that you are at all reasona-
ble,” replied the doctor, chuckling at this mild
joke.
He opened his desk, and took therefrom a soiled
handkerchief. It looked as though it had been
wet since it came from the laundry.
“ Will you look at this handkerchief?” contin-
ued the doctor, as he handed it to me, very much
as though he considered the present proceedings
a waste of time, and he was conducting them only
to gratify an unreasonable whim of mine.
I took the article, and examined it.
“ Whose handkerchief is that?" asked the
principal.
“ It is mine, sir," I replied promptly.
“Washburn, ask Mr. Butts to step into the
schoolroom, and bring with him the bucket,” con-
tinued Dr. Rawley.
Butts presently appeared in obedience to the
summons, carrying a bucket in his hand. The
doctor took the handkerchief from my hand, and
handed it to the porter.


36
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
“ Look at it, Mr. Butts, and tell what you
know about it,” continued the principal.
“ It is the one I found in the belfry of the Com-
mons this morning, when I went up to see why
the bell wouldn't ring as I pulled the rope,”
answered the porter. “It had been wet, and
was frozen when I found it.”
“ Are you sure this is the one ?”
The handkerchief I found was marked A.
G.'"
“Well, what else did you find there?” inquired
the doctor, with a yawn, as though the trial was
very tedious and a mere formality.
“ I found this bucket in the belfry,” replied
Butts, holding up the implement.
- What is the number on it?”
“Forty-two, sir."
“ What is the number of your room, Garning-
ham ?”
Forty-two, sir," I answered, confounded by
this array of evidence.
“Is that the bucket from your chamber?”
“I have no doubt of it, sir," I replied; and I
was so familiar with the awkward figures of the
number on my slop-bucket, that I could not mis-
take the article.


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
37
“ Very well, so far. Do you wish to ask the
witness any questions, Garningham ?” said Dr.
Rawley, turning to me.
“ I should, sir,” I replied; for I was beginning
to be very much mystified by the situation.
“ You have permission to do so.”
“Did you bring me a note in the night?” I
asked the porter.
I happened to glance at the principal as I
spoke; and I saw that there was a smile on his
face, as though he was fully aware what my line
of defence would be. I was rather disheartened
at this circumstance; for I had calculated from
the beginning that my absence from the Commons
since midnight would relieve me of all suspicion.
“I did bring a note to your room,” answered
Butts; but he was a prudent witness, and he said
nothing more.
“ What time was it?” I proceeded.
“ Half-past twelve, by the hall clock.”
“ Did you see me leave the Commons after
that?”
“I did: you went out at the side door shortly
after I carried up the note,” replied Butts.
“I will save you the time and the trouble of


38
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
I was
putting any more questions in that direction,"
interposed the doctor, “by admitting that you
left the Commons in the middle of the night, that
you staid at Mr. Brickland's house till morning,
and did not return till breakfast was
on the
table.”
s taken all aback, as we used to say at
sea, by this admission; for I relied upon the fact
of
my
absence from the Commons to convince the
principal that I had not frozen up the bell.
“ Have you any more questions to put to the
janitor ?” asked Dr. Rawley triumphantly; though
it was the triumph of the logician, rather than
of the malicious schoolmaster who takes pleasure
in convicting delinquents.
“One more question, if you please," I replied.
“Proceed,” added the doctor, nodding at me,
and apparently satisfied that he was giving me
every possible chance to resist his reasonable con-
clusion that I was guilty of the outrage.
“Where did you get the note you carried to
my room, Mr. Butts?” I asked; and I was
assured that this question would lead to a vital
point in the argument.
“Found it on the table in the lower hall, where
I had put my lantern,” answered the janitor.


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
39
“How came it on the table?" I asked with
considerable energy.
“ That's more than I can tell," said Butts,
shaking his head, while a sort of a non-committal
smile played on his lips.
“I suppose I shall have to answer that question
for him, since he appears to be unable to do so
himself," added the doctor.
“ You put the note
on the table yourself, Garningham.”
“I should like to hear the evidence on that
point, sir,” I replied.
“ Unfortunately, so far as your personal gratifi-
cation is concerned, there is no evidence on this
point. The handkerchief and the bucket, and the
fact of your absence from the Commons, are
enough to convict you, without proving that you
left the note on the janitor's table. Of course
the note was a forgery.”
“ It was, sir; but I have no idea who wrote it."
“I hope you are keeping account of all the
falsehoods you are telling in this connection, Gar-
ningham,” said the doctor sternly.
“I have not told a falsehood since I came into
this room,” I protested earnestly.
“It is plain to me,” continued the principal,


40
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
taking no notice of the warmth of my expression,
" that the bell was turned, and filled with water,
at some time between nine and half-past twelve
o'clock. The articles found in the belfry prove
that it was done by Garningham. The note was
simply a trick to cover up his tracks."
“ It was a very stupid trick," I added.
“So it was!” exclaimed the doctor.
“I would rather be convicted of freezing up
the bell than of being a liar and a fool,” I added.
“Of course it would be shown the next day that
Mr. Brickland was not sick, and that no note had
been sent to me; and I don't like to be thought
so stupid as to resort to such a silly trick. If the
handkerchief and bucket had been carried to the
belfry by me, I should certainly have taken them
away with me. I am not an idiot."
I was quite disgusted with the situation ; but I
had made up my mind to take the penalty, what-
ever it might be, and I decided to say no more.
“Murder will out,” said Dr. Rawley. “I find
that people who are very sensible under ordinary
circumstances will be very senseless while engaged
in doing wrong. Evil-doing seems to impair the
judgment. Do you wish to examine any more wit-
nesses, Garningham ?"



HEARING THE EVIDENCE. Page 34.





THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
>>
“No, sir.”
" But I should like to be examined,” interposed
Ellie Dykeman.
“Do you know any thing about this business,
Dykeman ?” asked the doctor.
“I think I do, sir,” replied my room-mate, ad-
vancing to the platform.
“Well, what do you know about the matter?
You room with Garningham; and, if anybody
knows any thing about it, you are the one."
May I ask a question ? " said Ellie.
- Proceed.”
“Did I understand you to say that the bell was
frozen up between nine and half-past twelve ?”
“Such is my conclusion, Dykeman.”
“ Then I wish to say that Garningham was with
me all the time between the hours you name, sir.”
“ Were you in the belfry with him ?”
No, sir; neither of us was in the belfry ;” and
Ellie proceeded to testify, in his earnest manner,
that we had both been in our room from the time
the bell rang to retire at nine in the evening, till
the note was brought to the door.
He had missed the bucket when he washed his
hands in the evening. The doctor appeared to be


42
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
somewhat staggered by the evidence of Ellie, and
apparently much more by his earnest manner and
air of truthfulness. He questioned him for some
time. Other students were examined, but no more
evidence could be obtained.
“Do you say; Garningham, that you did not
write the note?" said he, turning to me.
“I did not write it," I replied, taking the note
from my pocket.
66 Is that the note?”
“It is;" and I gave it to him.
He spent some more time in comparing it, with
the aid of his assistants, with my writing, as seen
my
exercises. It was not mine. The case was
postponed
in


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
43
CHAPTER IV.
THE DOCTOR'S DOG.
I
THINK the argument that had the most weight
with Dr. Rawley in the end was the one which
had done most to convince him in the beginning
of my guilt, — the leaving of the handkerchief and
the bucket in the belfry. It looked as though
these articles had been purposely left there. Af-
ter the morning session of the school, the doctor
called me into his private office, and had a long
talk with me. I told him the truth, as I had be-
fore; but I saw that he was still in doubt. I had
no means of removing these doubts when we
parted : the evidence was not sufficient to acquit
or convict me.
I was not well pleased to have even a suspicion
hanging over me; but there was no clew by which
the guilty one could be approached. I could only
hope that the truth would come out after a while;
but I could do nothing to bring it out. I concluded


44
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
66
that the whole affair was a practical joke, including
the attempt to cast the guilt upon me; and I was
willing to believe that it had proved to be a more
serious matter than the perpetrator of the joke
intended. I was not aware that I had an enemy
among the students, and I did not like to think
that any one had really meant to get me into
trouble.
Well, I
suppose
the doctor is satisfied that
you
didn't freeze up the bell, Captain Alick," said
Lynch Braceback, after I came out of the private
office.
“I don't think he is satisfied that I did, or did
not, do it," I replied.
“ I don't believe a fellow in the college thinks
you did it, Alick," added Lynch warmly.
“Does a fellow think any one did it?" I asked,
laughing
“Of course some one did it."
6. Who was it?"
" How should I know? But I think it was mean
to set a trap for you, as the fellow did. Freezing
up the bell was a good joke, but the rest of it was
rascally.”
“I don't see any fun in freezing up the bell,”


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
45
added Bob Washburn.
“It only gave Butts the
trouble of going to all the rooms to call the stu-
dents.”
“I should like to know who set the trap for
Captain Alick,” said Ellie Dykeman.
“So should I,” added Lynch Braceback; “and
I will be one to help thrash him within an inch of
his life. No meaner thing was ever done."
- Then I think we had better find out,” con-
tinued Ellie. 5 Here are four of us; and I move
that we form an association of detectives to spot
the fellow."
“Good! I am one of the number," exclaimed
Lynch.
“And I am another,” added Bob Washburn.
“I don't object; but I don't see what we can
do about it,” I suggested.
6 We will meet and talk over the matter," re-
plied Ellie.
“ Each fellow can keep his eyes and
ears open; and, when we get together, we will
compare notes.”
We met in our room that evening. We had
all listened to what had been said by the students,
and we put all that we heard together; but when
we separated, as the nine-o'clock bell rang, we


46
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
were no wiser than before. Lynch Braceback was
the most forward in his suggestions; and, without
giving any good reason for it, he declared his be-
lief that a student by the name of Monk was the
author of the mischief. He was a wild, harum-
•scarum fellow, full of fun and mischief; but I had
never regarded him as a designing knave. I could
easily have believed that he froze up the bell, but
not that he charged his own offence upon me, for
he was a good-hearted and honorable fellow.
We watched Monk during the remainder of the
week, but we found nothing to connect him with
the affair. Ellie talked with him about it. He did
not think it was half so wicked to freeze up the
bell as it was to “lay it to another fellow.” If he
had done it, he would have owned up when it was
charged to an innocent person. Our detective
association did not amount to any thing; and
after a week we discontinued our meetings, for
we accomplished nothing to encourage us.
We
were told that the instructors were comparing the
handwriting of the note with that of each of the
students; but, if they ever came to any conclusion,
we were not informed of it.
About a fortnight after the mischief was done,


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
47
it was whispered about that the assistants found
a strong resemblance between the capitals in the
note and those in the composition of one of the
students; but the doctor could not see that the
letters were much different from those made by
the majority of the class, and would not even let
the name of the student be mentioned.
“ We are all instructed by the same writing-
master, and of course there would be a strong re-
semblance,” said Lynch Braceback, when we were
talking over the rumor.
“Whoever he is, the fellow is shrewd, and man-
ages his case extremely well,” added Bob Wash-
burn. " I don't believe that cat will ever come
out of the bag.”
That was just my view of the matter. If there
was a student among us who was cunning and
artful enough to remain unmoved after all that
had been said and done about the bell, I did not
care to know him. His very art would lead him
to be a thief and a swindler, to say nothing of the
meanness of his disposition. This was my thought
as I walked home from the college Saturday morn-
ing after breakfast; for it was a holiday, when I
usually went over to see the Bricklands. As I


48
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
jumped over the fence to cross the lot to the road,
I saw some one dodge around a corner of one of
the out-buildings of the college. I could not
make him out, but I judged that he was one of
the students from his size and his dress.
My path lay through a little grove of pines. I
had hardly got over the fence before I heard a
choking sound which startled me. It was attended
by the faint sounds of a struggle. I was afraid
it might be a human being in distress, and I quick-
ened my pace. A few steps more brought me to
a point from which I discovered the origin of the
sounds.
Hanging by the neck, suspended to a pine with
a piece of bedcord, was Dr. Rawley's dog “Conny,”
struggling and choking in the agonies of death. I
rushed forward, and, taking my knife from my
pocket, I cut the rope, holding the animal with
my left arm as I did so. I laid the dog on the
ground, and he was soon able to recover his breath.
I had hardly accomplished this act of humanity
before I heard footsteps near me.
At this mo-
ment the clock on one of the village churches
struck nine. The person approaching was coming
through the pines at a hasty pace; but I could
not yet see who it was.



66
66 WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH MY Dog, YOU VILLAIN?” Page 47.





THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
49
“ What are you doing with my dog, you vil-
lain?” demanded the new - comer, in wrathful
tones; and I at once recognized the tones of the
principal of the college.
“I have been trying to save his life,” I replied,
not heeding the pet name the good man had ap-
plied to me.
“ You are trying to kill him!” cried the doctor,
coming up to the spot, out of breath with his
exertions.
“ If that had been my intention, I should not
have cut him down,” I added gently.
He looked at the knife still in my hand, and
then at the dog, whose spasmodic breathing, and
the cord around his neck, assured him that I had
not done an unfriendly act to the dog.
“I am glad I cut him down, in spite of the hard
charge you make against me," I added, as I
pointed to the rope in the tree by which the poor
beast had been suspended. It had been passed
over a branch of the tree, the animal swung up,
and the end made fast to a bush.
" Then it was not you that hung him, Garning-
ham?” said the doctor.
“If it had been, I shouldn't have cut him
down.”


50
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
66 Who did it?”
“I don't know, sir. As I jumped over the
fence to go home, I saw some one dodge behind
the out-building, but I could not tell who it was.”
“ Poor Conny!” said Dr. Rawley, stooping
down, and patting the dog on the head. “Did
they try to kill you ?” Conny wagged his tạil;
but he was not in condition to be very demon-
strative.
“Shall I carry him to the house, sir?” I in-
quired.
“ If you will, it will oblige me very much.”
I took the dog in my arms as tenderly as
though he had been a baby, and bore him into the
library, which was the principal's sanctum, where
the dog spent most of his time, for he was not a
favorite with the students. No amount of coax-
ing could make him take the least notice of them,
though he was very affectionate to his master.
Dr. Rawley had brought this dog all the way
from Constantinople. He was nothing but a cur,
and as useless as the majority of dogs; and we
all thought it very strange that a learned man
like the principal should bestow his affections upon
such an ill-favored puppy. I laid the dog on a


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
51
sofa, as his master indicated; but by this time he
had nearly recovered from the effects of his harsh
treatment.
“ It is more blessed to give than to receive;
and we love those most whom we have served
best,” said Dr. Rawley, after he had assured himself
that the pup was in no danger. “Five years ago
I was a missionary in Turkey. On my way home,
I stopped in Constantinople several days to wait
for the French steamer for Marseilles. One morn-
ing, as I stood at the door of the hotel, I saw
a little puppy chased by a herd of larger dogs.
I suppose the little fellow had intruded upon their
territory, and they were chasing him off. I
thought he had been punished enough for his
temerity, and I interfered to save him from the
rage of his tormentors. The dogs turned upon
me, and I was severely bitten for my pains. I
should have fared worse if some Turks had not
come to my assistance.
“ The next morning I found this dog at the
door of the hotel. He was lank and hungry; and
I went to the bake-shop opposite, and obtained a
roll for him. Every morning for a week he came to
me for his breakfast, and I fed him. Then I took


52
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
him to my room; and, when I sailed from Constan-
tinople, I brought the dog with me; and he has
been one of
my
best friends ever since. This is
the very dog,” he added, pointing to the cur on
the sofa. “ His name is Constantinople; but I
call him Conny for an abbreviation.”
“ Then I am very glad I saved him. He would
have been dead in a minute or two more, sir.”
“You will excuse the hasty words I used, Gar-
ningham," continued the doctor, taking a note
from his pocket. “I was excited ; and I think I
nad reason to believe that you intended to hang
my dog."
He handed me the note he had taken from his
pocket. It had come by the morning mail, which
Butts always carried to the doctor at half-past
eight. I read it: “I have just found out that
your dog will be hung by a student precisely at.
nine o'clock on Saturday morning, in the pasture,
near the woodsheds. Save him if you can."
This note was evidently written by the same
person as that I had received at midnight a fort-
night before.


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
53
CHAPTER V.
THE BURNING OF THE SHEDS.
* IT does not appear that the writer of this note
T
does not appear
that the writer of this note
desired to have my dog destroyed,” said Dr.
Rawley, after a few moments of consideration.
“ If he had, he would not have written this note
to me.”
66 What did he desire?” I asked.
“ It appears to have been a friendly act on his
part; else, why should he have taken the trouble
to give me this information?”
66 The note is in the same hand as that which
was sent to my room at midnight,” I added, glan-
cing at the writing again.
“I see that it is, or, at least, that it appears to
be. But that is not very strange, since all the
students write very nearly the same hand."
By this time Conny had entirely recovered
from his choking, and his master affectionately ca-
ressed him. I attempted to pat him on the head;


54
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
but the brute growled at me, and seemed to be
utterly insensible to the feeling of gratitude for
the service I had rendered him. I was willing to
believe, however, that he was not conscious of the
fact that I had saved his life.
I left the doctor's office, and started again to
go home. I could not help thinking of the event
which had just transpired. It looked to me just
as though the author of the note had intended to
have the doctor discover me on the spot where
Conny was expiating the penalty of his surliness.
Every Saturday morning I was in the habit of
going home by this path through the pasture.
The person who had dodged around the corner,
as I jumped over the fence, was undoubtedly the
intended executioner of the cur. He had evi-
dently waited, with the rope around the animal's
neck, ready to swing him up, till he heard me
coming. When he saw or heard me, he had done
the deed, and made his escape under cover of the
pines, which effectually concealed him till he
reached the shelter of the sheds.
I made up my mind, and it seems to me I did
not force the conclusion, that I was to be caught
on the spot where the dog was hung. I was will.


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
55
ing to believe that the plan had not worked in
every respect as the conspirator intended; for he
could not have meant to give me time enough
to cut the dog down before his master appeared.
Who was this person that was laboring so dili-
gently to get me into trouble?
When I reached the pasture where the tragedy
was acted, I looked about for any thing that
would indicate the individual who was plotting
against me. I examined the ground for any
tracks of the conspirator.
But the soil was
frozen, though it thawed during the day, and
there was no mark on the ground of his foot-
steps. I followed the path he had taken into the
sheds; but they contained no human being.
Dr. Rawley said nothing about this affair in
the schoolroom; for, after consultation with the
assistants, he decided not to do any thing till he
had some evidence to implicate the guilty one.
It was plain enough to me that the conspirator
had nothing against the dog : the plot was in-
tended to injure me, and not the cur.
I spent my Saturday at home, and returned to
the college in the evening. I had a long talk
with Mr. Brickland in regard to the matter; and


56
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
on.
he advised me to say nothing about it, but to be
on the watch all the time. The conspirator had
accomplished nothing so far, and it was not likely
that he would be satisfied to let me alone for any
great length of time. I was content to act on
this advice; and for the next two weeks I kept
my eyes and ears open. If any unusual event
occurred, I began to look for a catastrophe of
some sort.
The winter passed away, and the spring came
I was not involved in any more difficulties;
and I hoped my enemy, whoever he was, had
concluded to let me alone. But I was mistaken.
One evening Lynch Braceback and Bob Wash-
burn were in our room, with Ellie and myself.
We had studied the lessons for the next day till
eight o'clock, when the wind suddenly breezed up
sharp and cold from the north-west. It had been
so warm for three days that we needed no fire ;
but in a short time after the freezing wind began
to rattle the windows, we were all very cold ;
and I did not like to go to bed with my feet like
ice. There was no wood in the room ;
began to consider the question as to who should
go out to the sheds, and get some.
and we


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
57
“Draw lots to see who shall go,” suggested
Lynch.
“ It is either Ellie or I,” I added.
66 This is our
room; and we don't expect any outsider to bring
wood for us.'
“I have no fire in my room, and I should like
to get warm before the nine-o'clock bell rings,”
said Bob; “and I am willing to take my share in
the lot.”
By this time Lynch had cut three slips of paper
of unequal length, for he did not intend to in-
clude himself in the lot. He placed them in a
book so that the ends looked all alike.
“Here, Captain Alick, you are the skipper,
and you shall draw first,” said he, as he held the
book out. “It is time for me to go home, and I
have only a minute to see fair play among you
before I go.”
I drew out one of the papers.
“ That's the longest one!” exclaimed Lynch.
“ You must get the wood, Captain Alick.”
“ All right: I am willing to abide by the lot,”
I replied, taking out my boots from the closet,
for I wore thin slippers in the house.
“Good-night, fellows. I must run home as


58
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
fast as I can, or my father will give me fits for
being out after eight o'clock,” added Lynch, rush-
ing out of the room; and we heard his rapid foot-
steps as he descended the stairs.
“I will get the wood if you don't want to go
out,” said Ellie. “My slippers are thick enough.”
“ The lot has fallen on me, and I will get the
wood," I replied, as I drew on my boots.
Lynch Braceback was not much of a scholar,
and he had come to our room to obtain some
Assistance in working out a problem in geometry.
Ellie had explained the problem to him; but he
was so listless and inattentive, that we were both
in doubt whether he knew any thing about it in
the end.
I went down stairs. In the lower hall I saw
the janitor kindling a fire in the stove; for the
schoolrooms and halls were kept warm night and
day to prevent the ink and the water from
freezing
“ Have you any matches, Mr. Butts ? ” I asked,
remembering that my stock in the chamber was
exhausted.
Plenty of them, Captain Alick;” and he
gave
me a supply.


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
59
66
“It has come up very cold all of a sudden,"
said he, as I passed on towards the back door.
“I want to make a little fire, and warm my feet
before I get into bed.”
It isn't a good plan to go to bed with cold
feet,” he added.
I went out to the woodsheds in the dark; but
I knew just where to find the shavings, the kin-
dlings, and the hard wood. I took a large armful,
and a handful of shavings. On my way back, I
saw Butts still engaged in his task. He had
lighted the fire, and was waiting to see it burn.
“ You have company in your room this evening,
Captain Alick," said he.
“ Only Washburn: Braceback was there, but
he went home before I came down,” I replied.
“I don't think you have heard of the new
rule," said he with a smile.
66 What's that?”
Day-scholars are not allowed in the rooms of
the resident students after dark."
“ I am sure I never heard of the rule before.”
“See here,” continued Butts, taking his lantern,
and conducting me to a notice posted on the wall
near the schoolroom door.
66


60
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
66
“I never saw it before. How long has it been
there?” I asked, after I had read it.
* Nearly a week, I should say.”
“Of course Braceback didn't know of the rule,
or he would not have come over,” I added, as I
went up the stairs.
Ellie made a fire in the little stove while I
pulled off my boots; and in a few minutes we
were toasting our feet in readiness to go to bed
when the bell rang; for at quarter past nine every
light in the building must be extinguished, except
that in the janitor's lantern.
“ This is tremendous cold weather for the
month of March," said Bob Washburn, as he
hitched up closer to the stove. “I believe it is
colder here than in the State of Maine, where I
come from.”
The words were no more than out of his mouth
when a bright light flashed in at the windows,
and glared upon us as though the house were on
fire. My chamber was on the corner at the north
end of the Commons. It had two windows, one
looking out over the pasture and the pines where
poor Conny had almost come to his end, and the
other a cross street on which the woodsheds


62
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
the wind carrying them over the corner of the
roof of the Commons. I called to Ellie and Wash-
burn, and they followed me up to the belfry. It
was a shingle roof, and not very steep. I walked
out on the ridge-pole, and then down to the eaves
of the structure, kicking off the brands that were
falling at my feet.
Bob followed me out on the ridge-pole: he did
not care to trust himself to the sloping sides; but
the fire came within his reach, and he rendered
good service. I was a sailor: I had been com-
pelled to go aloft on the schooner in which I sailed
in the night and the storm; and it was an easy
thing for me to handle myself at that height. I
saw that Ellie was afraid to trust himself even on
the ridge-pole; and I told him to ring the bell as
hard as he could, in order to let him feel that he
was doing something.
In less than fifteen minutes the sheds were en-
tirely consumed ; and, as there was nothing more
to burn, the fire went out. Our party staid on the
roof till there was no further danger, and then
went down into the yard.


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
63
CHAPTER VI.
A SEVERE SENTENCE.
BY
Y this time the excitement in the yard had
subsided. An engine was playing upon the
smouldering remains of the shed, but the building
had been entirely destroyed before a machine was
ready to work. In half an hour more the crowd,
who did not like the feeling of the cold north wind,
had left the spot, and most of the students had
retired. Ellie and I went to our room.
The nine-
o'clock bell had not rung, but we went to bed with-
out its assistance.
“Did you hear how the sheds caught fire?”
asked my room-mate, after we had turned in.
“I did not," I replied with a gape, for I was
beginning to be very sleepy.
No more was said, and I went to sleep. The
next morning all the students were talking about
the fire, and wondering how it caught. No one
seemed to be able to throw any light on the sub-


64
LAKE BREEZES; OR.
ject. Several of us asked Butts if he knew any
thing about it, but the janitor seemed to avoid any
conversation on the subject. He looked very wise,
but said nothing. As soon as breakfast was over,
the four students who had been in our room to-
gether the evening before were summoned to the
office of Dr. Rawley. I had no doubt the business
of the occasion was in relation to the fire. It was
to be a sort of inquest into the cause of the con-
flagration.
When we reached the office we found the assist-
tants and Butts there. For my own part, I had
hardly thought of the matter. The sheds were
never locked, and all the servants from the kitchen
went for wood when they wanted it. One of them
had probably set a lamp too near the shavings, or
Butts had dropped his lantern among them. I
was a little perplexed when I saw that only the
students who had assembled in No. 42 were sum-
moned to attend the inquest; but I was willing to
believe that it was because that room was on the
corner nearest to the sheds, and we might be sup-
posed to know more about the fire than any others.
Dr. Rawley looked very stern; but I saw that he
was very much troubled, as though the question


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
65
66
before him was a very difficult one to settle. I
concluded that he and his assistants had already
done something towards working up the case. It
was not improbable that they had come to a con-
clusion, and I thought the doctor was wise in not
bringing the matter up before the school.
Mr. Butts, we are ready to hear what you
know about the fire,” said the doctor.
“I was making a fire in the lower hall when I
saw a strong light at the end window. I went
out, and found the sheds were on fire. I threw a
bucket of water on the pile of shavings inside,
where the fire was breaking out through the side
of the building; but it did no good,” replied the
janitor. “I did all I could in two minutes; and
by that time the fire was beyond my control, and
was blazing up through the roof. Then I shouted
for help. By this time the students from No. 42
came down
“Four of them?” asked Mr. Lawrence, the
first assistant.
“No, sir; only three of them. Braceback had
gone home a little while before the fire broke
out," answered Butts. “It was no use to try to
put the fire out, for all the engines in town could


66
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
not have done it if they had been on the ground
in the first of it.”
“Never mind the putting-out of the fire," in-
terposed Dr. Rawley. 66 We know all about that."
“I was only going to say that Garningham and
the other two with him rushed up to the roof of
the Commons, and did all they could to keep the
building from taking fire. I saw Captain Alick
kicking the firebrands off the shingles; and I
think the Commons would have been on fire in a
few minutes if it hadn't been for him."
“No doubt he did good service; but Garning-
ham seems to appear
before in
a double
phase,” added the doctor.
I wondered what he meant by that.
" Who was the last person that went into the
sheds before the fire broke out?" asked the
doctor.
Garningham, sir.”
That was what he meant! I was to be charged
with setting fire to the building.
“ State the facts, if you please, Mr. Butts,"
continued the doctor.
“Garningham came down, and asked me if I
had any matches. I gave him a dozen or so, and
us


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
67
>>
he went out to the sheds for some wood to make
his fire. When he came in, I told him about the
new rule, and found that he had not noticed the
paper posted in the hall. He went up stairs; and
in less than five minutes I saw the light of the
fire as it broke through the side of the sheds.”
“ Did any one else go into the sheds about this
time ?” inquired the doctor, as he glanced at me.
“Not that I know of,” replied Butts.
" Where were all the servants ?”
“I think they had all gone to bed. When I
went into the kitchen after some matches to light
the fire in the hall, there was no one there."
“ How about the door that opens into the back
street?” asked Mr. Lawrence.
“ This was locked, as it always is," replied
Butts.
“ And the window opening into the street ?”
“I don't know any thing about that,” replied
Butts shaking his head. “I only know that I
never knew it to be open; and I am sure it has
been closed ever since I came here."
" To the best of your knowledge and belief,
Garningham was the last person in the sheds
before the fire broke out?" continued the doctor.


68
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
fire ;
“ Yes, sir ; he was," answered Butts, looking on
the floor, as if he was not pleased to give testi-
mony against me.
“ Braceback, do you know any thing about the
fire?” asked Dr. Rawley.
Nothing at all, sir,” replied Lynch. “I heard
the alarm after I got into the house ; but my
father wouldn't let me go out again, and I didn't
go to the fire. I didn't even know the wood-
sheds were burned till this morning.”
“ You came down from No. 42 just before the
did
you not?”
“ Yes, sir; but I didn't know there was a rule
forbidding day-students going to the rooms in the
evening.”
“Did you see any fire at the sheds when you
came out of the Commons ?”
“ No, sir : if I had, I should have raised an
alarm,” replied Lynch, laughing at the seeming
absurdity of the question.
“ How long after you got into the house was
the alarm given ? " inquired Mr. Lawrence.
“ I don't know, but I should say about five
minutes; but it may have been ten."
“ You live down the back street, upon which
2


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
69
the door and window of the woodsheds open.
Did you see any one about the premises when you
went out?”
66 Not a soul.”
“ Which way did you go out of the Com-
mons?” asked the doctor.
“ I went out at the end door, and left the yard
by the front gate.”
Why didn't you go out at the gate on the
back street ? It would have been nearer for you.”
“I don't know why I didn't, unless it was
because I am not in the habit of going out that
way,” replied Lynch, laughing as though he had
given a good answer to a question which was
intended to “ corner
"On which side of the back street did you
walk on your way home?"
66 On the side next to the sheds."
“ Did you see anybody on that street ?”
“ No, sir; not a soul.”
“Was the door of the sheds open ?” demanded
Mr. Lawrence, with sudden energy.
No, sir: both the door and the window were
closed."
“ Then you noticed that they were closed ?”
» him.


70
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
“Yes, sir : a gust of wind struck me in the
face, and I stopped to turn up my coat-collar;
and I am sure if they had been open I should
have noticed the fact,” answered Lynch ; and I
think he colored a little ; but any one might have
been flushed under such a cross-fire of questions.
“ You feel confident that the door and window
were closed, do you ?” asked the doctor.
“ If they had been open, I am very sure I should
have noticed it, for I stopped to fix my collar
right in front of the door. I turned towards the
door at the time."
“ Did you think of the door at the time?”
No, sir: I was only thinking of getting home
without being frozen to death,” replied Lynch,
shrugging his shoulders.
“ You saw no one in that street?”
“ No, sir; no one. If there was any person
about at the time, he hid himself when I passed.”
“That will do, Braceback," added the doctor.
“Mr. Butts, how long before the fire was it that
you went into the sheds ?”
“I didn't go into the sheds at all after dark: I
never do. I always get in my wood and kindlings
while school is in session,” replied the janitor.


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
71
“Was any one in the sheds after dark besides
Garningham ? "
"No, sir: I think not.”
“ Have you any means of knowing ?
“I know the wood was got for the kitchen
before dark; and all the servants say they did not
go into the sheds after supper."
Dr. Rawley looked upon the floor, and for a
few minutes seemed to be considering the case.
" It appears from the evidence we have heard
that Garningham was the only person who went
into the sheds after dark,” said he, speaking very
deliberately; and I saw that he was about to sum
up the testimony, and give his conclusion. “Gar-
ningham, would you like to ask the witnesses any
questions?”
“No, sir," I replied.
I was not a little disgusted with the proceed-
ings, though I did not see how the judge could
resist the conclusion which he evidently intended
to announce.
Perhaps it will be well to hear what Wash-
burn and Dykeman know about the matter,
added the principal; but they knew nothing
which had not already been brought out.


72
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
“It appears that Garningham was the only per-
son that went into the sheds after dark; that he
obtained some matches from the janitor on his
way; and that the fire broke out about five min-
utes after he left the sheds," continued Dr. Raw-
ley, resuming his judicial air. 66 I do not see how
we can resist the conclusion that Garningham set
the building on fire.”
I made no protest against this conclusion. I
knew, if no one else did, that I did not set the
fire. I felt a sort of pride in my innocence, which
would not permit me to speak. I was asked if I
had any thing to say, and I answered in the nega-
tive.
“As you do not even deny the charge, I ad-
judge you guilty; and the penalty is expulsion,”
added the doctor.
I was formally expelled !


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
73
CHAPTER VII.
A NEEDY PROFESSOR.
IT
..
T seemed just a little odd that I should be
expelled from the college my father had so
largely endowed for my especial benefit. For
the third time I had been placed in a false posi-
tion; and it was again evident that I had a very
cunning enemy near me all the time. Some one
had set the sheds on fire: I had not done it;
but it was certain the incendiary intended that
I should be charged with the act. Whoever he
was, his plot had been a success this time.
The burning of the sheds was a criminal
offence, and it was possible that the conspirator
intended to have me convicted by the court of
the offence; but, after I had fully considered the
case, I did not believe that the charge could be
proved. It had not even been conclusively shown
that the building was set on fire by any person ;
and all the evidence against me was the fact that


71
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
I had obtained some matches of the janitor, and
had been the last person in the sheds before the
fire broke out. Of course it was possible that
some person on the outside of the house had done
the deed.
But, after all my reflection, I was forced to say
that the appearances were against me. I was
not even sure that a court of justice would not
convict me of the crime. Lynch Braceback would
testify that he had passed down the back street
only a few moments before the fire broke out, and
had seen no person near the spot. I knew that I
was innocent; and this feeling gave me a sort
of pride which I could not repress. I was very
anxious to have my character vindicated ; and I
was willing to use every effort in my power to
bring about this result.
I was not permitted to see any of my compan-
ions, for they had to attend to their studies. I
thought it possible, that, if we could get together,
we might obtain some clew to the conspirator,
though our experience as detectives had not been
such as to afford me any substantial encourage-
ment. A silence long enough to permit me to
think a few moments had followed the sentence


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
75
of the doctor. I saw that the worthy principal
trembled with emotion, though he spoke with
something like desperation in his manner when
he uttered the final words. He did not like to
send me away
from the college; but my position
was peculiar, and he felt that he must be im-
partial. I have no doubt it had been hinted to
him that he could not punish the son of the bene-
factor of the institution; and he was struggling
to be just against any odds. But, whatever else
I did, I determined not to resent his severity.
He had tried to do right; but his fear of doing
wrong had led him into the very error he had
striven to avoid.
“ You have heard the sentence, Garningham,”
said Dr. Rawley, when he had in some measure
recovered his self-possession. “You are no longer
a member of this institution."
“I will leave at once, sir," I replied, rising from
my chair, and moving towards the door of the
office.
“ The other students may return to their du-
ties,” continued the doctor.
I left the office, hoping to meet my room-mate
before I left the college ; but I saw nothing more


76
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
of him. I went to my room, and packed up
my clothes and other articles belonging to me.
I could hardly believe that I had been expelled
from Somerset College, which had been revived
and invigorated for my benefit. But I did not
think I should remain long away from it; for I
was confident that my innocence would be made
apparent in some manner within a few days, or at
most a few weeks.
Butts was very kind and sympathetic : he was
evidently very sorry for me, even while he could
not help believing that I was guilty of the charge
upon which I had been expelled. I did not blame
him, after the consideration the authorities had
given to the matter, for he could hardly help the
conclusion he had reached.
He offered to carry my bundles for me; but I
declined his kind offices, fearful that he might
be blamed for his good-will towards a convicted
and expelled student. I walked up to the store
where Mr. Brickland bought his goods, and left
my packages, intending to come for them with
a wagon some other time. I felt like a waif on
the sea of existence again, as when I was wander-
ing from the persecutions of my former guardian.


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
77
of me.
I was not guilty; and I could not explain how
it was that I did not like to meet the people in
Montomercy, with whom I had been rather a
favorite, if I may judge from the notice they took
I found myself trying to avoid the famil-
iar faces I should gladly have confronted under
other circumstances. The storekeeper looked at
me more attentively, I thought, than usual, and
it seeined to me at that moment just as though he
believed me guilty of some crime. But he said
nothing, and smiled as sweetly as ever.
I did not
feel right at all.
Next to the store was the bank, with which my
father had done a great deal of business; but
I was not inclined to enter, though it was one of
my usual “ loafing” places when I had nothing to
do, and was waiting about the town. The cashier
was always very civil to me; but, as he happened
to pass me at the entrance of the bank, I thought
he looked more stern than usual, as though he
had heard of my discharge at the college. Inno-
cent as I was, I could not escape these strong
imaginings.
As I passed the barn on my way to the river
road which led to Mr. Brickland's house, I noticed


78
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
a very seedy-looking man, who halted as I ap-
proached. He was a stranger to me; but, as he
looked as though he intended to accost me, I
slackened my pace. I thought he might wish to
ask me a question, perhaps to find some place, or
the residence of some one in town.
“Excuse me," said the stranger, with a great
deal of embarrassment in his manner, “but may
I speak to you for a moment?”
“ To be sure you may; this is a free country,”
I replied.
“ It is free to those who have money enough
to pay for the necessities of life,” he added, with
a sickly smile.
“ And just as free for all others: they may go
where they please, and do what they like, if they
don't break the laws."
“How can a hungry man get any thing to eat
without breaking the laws ?” he asked, with a
great deal of bitterness in his tone.
“ That's a conundrum,” I answered ; "and there
are a great many ways to do it; but the best way
I know of is to go to work, earn some money,
and
buy something to eat.”
“ But if one can obtain no work?” he added


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
79
quite earnestly. But excuse me: we seem to
attract attention. Will you do me the favor to
retire to some less exposed place ?”
In spite of myself, I felt an interest in the
stranger, perhaps because he appeared to have
been unfortunate, like myself. I led the way to
the rear of the store, where there were some sheds
used by the country people for their horses when
they came to town to buy goods. I found a
bench in one of these, on which we seated our-
selves, though I noticed that he shivered with
the cold.
“If one cannot obtain work?” he repeated,
as he seated himself on the bench.
“There are always people enough who are will-
ing to feed the hungry,” I suggested.
“Where are they? can you point me out such
a person ?” he demanded eagerly.
“I think if you should apply to any house in
the town, you could get something to eat,” I
replied, looking at the stranger.
He was a man of not more than thirty-five, if
he was as old as that. His clothes had formerly
been of good quality, though their day of service
for a genteel person was well-nigh passed. I


80
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
66
66
could see that he had made an effort to keep
himself tidy on a dearth of material.
Young man, I spoke to you rather than to
an older person in the street, because you have
not had your sympathies blunted by too much
contact with a cold world,” said the stranger
impressively.
“If I can do any thing for you, I should be
glad to do it," I replied.
Possibly a young man like you may not be
as likely to have any money in his pocket as an
older one,” he added.
“I have money," I replied; and I happened
to have over five dollars in my pocket at that
moment. “But I thought you wanted something
to eat.'
“ That is what I want; and money will buy
it,” said he, with a sort of desperation. “I am
not a beggar; and between going to a door, and
begging for something to eat, and starving to
death, there is little to choose with me. Young
man, I am a gentleman: I was a college professor
less than three months ago.”
“ Indeed!” I exclaimed, rather startled by the
announcement.


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA,
81
for me.
“Circumstances beyond my control, and for
which I was not responsible, threw me out of my
position; and since that I have been like Cain, a
wanderer upon the face of the earth.”
I saw him wipe a tear from his
eye,
while an-
other stole down his wan face. It was too much
I pulled out my wallet, and took from it
a dollar. I tendered it to him, and he took it with
something like the clutch of a maniac.
" I thank you, young man.
Your face did not
belie your heart,” said he, as he thrust the dollar
into his vest-pocket, and rose from his seat.
" Where are you going now?” I asked.
“ To the hotel; they will give me a breakfast, if
I pay for it in advance," he replied, as he moved
towards the street.
“ And you say you have been a professor in a
college?” I continued ; for I wanted to know more
about him.
I wondered whether or not he had been accused
of setting fire to the college sheds, and expelled
for it. He was a castaway, as I felt that I was
myself; and my sympathies went out to him.
6. I have been; but I am hungry now, and you
will pardon me if I hasten to the hotel,” he re-
plied.


82
LAKE BREEZES ; OR,
Certainly,” I answered; and I saw that a hun-
gry man could not feel much like telling the his-
tory of his misfortunes on an empty stomach.
“ But may I not see you again? I am interested
in you."
“I thank you, and I shall be happy to meet you
again.”
“One question more: in what college were you
a professor ?”
He would only whisper it in my ear, but it was
one of the most celebrated in the land. I detained
him no longer, and he disappeared at the corner
of the street. I walked home, and the Bricklands
were not a little astonished to see me. When I
told them I was not guilty of the crime for which
I had been expelled, they all seemed to believe me.
Nothing more was said about the affair at the time.
In the middle of the afternoon, I went up to town)
with the horse and wagon, for my clothes and
books.
As I was driving back, I saw the college pro
fessor so drunk he could hardly walk.


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
83
CHAPTER VIII.
AN HONEST CONFESSION.
OF
F course I realized, when I saw the professor
in such a condition that he could not navi-
gate, that my dollar had been put to a bad use; and
I was correspondingly indignant. I was inclined
to hail him, and reproach him soundly for the use
he had made of the money; but it was foolish to
talk to a tipsy man, and I said nothing. The pro-
fessor — if he was a professor, and I began to
have some grave doubts on the subject — saw me
in the wagon, and spoke to me.
“I want to see you, young man,” shouted he.
“I agreed to meet you again ; and I always keep
my word when it is practicable to do so.”
“Never mind it now," I replied. “I think you
must have eaten too much dinner, for you don't
seem to be very well.”
“ Too much dinner? No, sir! that's not it: I
have drunk too much whiskey. Call things by
their right names, young man.
I am drunk !"
22


84
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
“I should say that was about the right namo
for it, professor," I replied.
“So it is,” he added, staggering into the street
where I had stopped the horse. “ I want to talk
to you; for you are a young man with a good
heart. You are willing to help the needy.”
“ I'm not as willing as I was; and I think I
shall be a little careful how I do it the next time.”
“I see what you mean, young man; but I for-
give you.”
“I don't ask to be forgiven.”
“But I want to see you. I warn you against
the practice of drinking intoxicating drinks. It is
a very bad habit to get into; and I advise you, as
one who knows all about it, never drink a drop of
any thing.”
“I shall never do it; and I think I am a better
person to advise you on this subject than you are
to warn me," I answered, somewhat amused at the
novelty of his position.
“ You don't know any thing at all about it; and
I know all about it. Those who have suffered
most from the habit are the best qualified to warn
others. One that knows what he is talking about
is better than one who don't know. A man that


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
85
>>
don't understand any Latin is not the right one to
hear you recite from Virgil.”
“I think I should rather hear you at some other
time,” I answered.
When I'm not drunk, you mean?”
66 Yes: that is what I mean.
Where are you
going now?"
“ Nowhere: I have no place to go to. I have
spent the dollar you loaned me, half for a break-
fast, and half for whiskey. I am almost sober
now; and the next thing will be for me to find
where I shall get my next drink,” said he, leaning
against the wheel of the wagon.
“Where are you going to sleep to-night ?”
“In any shed or barn which happens to have
the door left open. Perhaps I may have to sleep
on the ground.”
“But you will sleep your last sleep if you do
so in this cold weather,” I suggested, rather
moved by his homeless condition.
“So much the better!” exclaimed he. “The
only hope for me in this world is death.”
But I saw that a crowd was gathering around
the
wagon,
and I was not anxious to be the centre
of observation at the present time.


86
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
“I must go home now. Won't you ride with
me a short distance?" I asked.
He made no verbal answer, but attempted to get
into the wagon, though he did not succeed till he
was assisted by Butts, who happened to be in the
street at the time. I helped him to a seat at my
side. He seemed to be very weak, and he was
able to control his speech much better than his
limbs. I drove down the river road; and my pas-
senger held on with both hands, for the way was
very rough in the spring of the year. He could
not talk under these circumstances, and I asked
him no more questions.
But I did not like the idea of taking him to the
house of Mr. Brickland, for I feared his good lady
would object to receiving such a guest. I felt an
interest in the man, in spite of the manner in
which he had expended the dollar. Tipsy as he
was, his language and pronunciation were correct.
I desired to know his history; for he had been
driven from one college, and I from another. It
was a cold snap just then, and I was afraid he
would be frozen to death if he was not taken care
of. It occurred to me that he could be quartered
on board of the Sylvania without much danger of


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
87
doing her any harm. I often slept on board of
her myself, and I could make the professor as
comfortable as he would be in the house.
I drove to the landing-place. My passenger
seemed to be nearly frozen, for the ride of two
miles had chilled him through. He was but poorly
clad, and had no overcoat: he told me afterwards
that he had sold it to obtain whiskey. With my
assistance he alighted from the wagon; and I con-
ducted him to the pilot-house, from which a door
led into the captain's room. I had a little stove
in the former, and I made a fire in it. In a few
moments the apartment was warm enough, and I
left my passenger in order to put up the horse. I
put my books and clothes on board of the steamer,
for I thought I should spend most of my time
there during the period of my suspension; for I
did not think it would amount to expulsion in the
end, by whatever name it was called.
The Sylvania had been frozen up all winter in
the river; but a recent thaw and blow had cleaned
out the ice, and she was afloat in clear water,
moored to the little wharf I had built for her. She
was eighty-six feet long by sixteen feet beam.
Next to my own room was that of the engineers,


88
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
..
in which I thought I could bestow my passenger.
But I intended to remain on board myself, for I
would not trust a man of his habits alone in her.
Even while the beautiful vessel was frozen up,
I had entertained my friends on board; for we all
enjoyed being in the cabin and pilot-house when
it was too cold to be out doors. I had cooked
many a dinner and supper on board while she lay
in the ice; and I had a plentiful supply of pro-
visions in the hold and ice-house: I had bacon,
potatoes, ship-bread, salt fish, pork, and groceries ;
so that I could have fed a ship’s company very
well for a week or more.
After I had put up the horse, I told the folks
in the house that I should stay on board of the
Sylvania, as I often did ; and no questions were
asked. I returned to the steamer, and found my
passenger had gone to sleep on the bench near the
stove. I did not wake him, for I thought that
rest of this kind would do him more good than
any thing else. I went out to the galley, and made
a fire in the cook-stove; for I did not suppose my
guest had eaten any thing since his breakfast, and
it was now four o'clock in the afternoon. I put
on a kettle of potatoes, and cut a slice of ham


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
89
ready to be fried for his supper. By the time I
had done this, the professor awoke without any
help from me.
My passenger seemed to be entirely sober, and
looked around the pilot-house as though he did
not fully comprehend how he happened to be
there. He asked me a great many questions
about the Sylvania, which I answered.
“Do you live on board of her?” he asked,
when I had given him the history of the beautiful
craft.
“ No, sir; only for a few days at a time, for
the fun of it. But I will stay on board with you
while you remain."
“ Thank you, young man. Will you oblige me
with your name?”
“ Alexander Garningham; but I am generally
called Alick by my
friends.”
“I am one of your friends, and I shall call you
Alick. Is there any cold water on board ?” he
asked, looking about him.
“ Plenty of it, sir;” and I brought him a
pitcher from the bucket I had filled in the
forenoon.
“ Thank you, Alick,” said be, when he had
taken a long draught.


90
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
>>
“Will you oblige me with your name, pro-
fessor?” I continued, thinking that one good
turn deserved another.
Certainly, Alick: my name is
Buckmin-
ster,” he replied, stumbling when he came to
the name.
“Buckminster!" I exclaimed.
“ Are you re-
lated to Alfred Buckminister, who lives on the
Hudson?"
This was the name of the gentleman whose
daughter I had saved when she fell overboard at
the pier in New York City, who had given me a
suit of clothes and some money, and had wished
to do a great deal more for me.
“I am a relative of his,” replied the professor;
but I thought he was a little startled when
I mentioned the name. Why do you ask ?”
“For nothing: only I happen to know this
gentleman.
I met him a few years ago.
But
you haven't been to dinner, Mr. Buckminster?
“No: I seldom eat more than one meal a day,
and sometimes not even one,” he replied with
something like a shudder; but I thought it was
caused by his pride rather than by his hunger.
“I will have some dinner ready for you in a
66
>>


THX CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
91
..
few minutes. The potatoes are boiling now," I
replied, as I 1 ose to return to the galley.
“I need not give you all this trouble, Alick.
Perhaps you had better give me another dollar,
if
you have one, and let me leave you forever.”
“No: I will not give you another dollar,
though I have one; but I will give you a dinner,
and make you as comfortable as I can while you
stay on board of the Sylvania.”
I did not wait for his answer, but went out to
the galley, where I found that the potatoes were
nearly done. I set the table on the sideboard
in the kitchen, for this was where the hands
usually took their meals when we were out on
the lakes. I cooked the ham as nicely as I could,
and poured off the coffee. The table was well
garnished with small dishes of bread, butter,
pickles, and other relishes; and I was not ashamed
of the board to which I invited the professor. At
first he said he had no appetite; but he ate like
a hungry man, after all. He declared that the
coffee was as good as he ever drank in his life,
and he had lived a year in Paris.
“ Alick, I am very grateful to you for all this,
and I hope the time will come when I shall be


92
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
able to repay you for all your kindness. No! it
will never come : I shall never be any thing but
what I am now," he exclaimed.
“ You said you were discharged from your posi-
tion as a professor in the college on account of
circumstances entirely beyond your own control,”
I added, wishing to change the subject of the
conversation.
“ That was what I said,” he replied bitterly.
“Do you object to stating what those circum
stances were ? I was expelled from Somerset
College just before I met you this morning; and
our circumstances seem to be somewhat alike.”
“ Not at all alike,” he protested emphatically.
“ You were expelled for some college prank: I
was discharged for for drunkenness ! ”
I could not understand him.
>>


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
93
CHAPTER IX.
THE TROUBLE AT THE BANK.
CIRO
66
IRCUMSTANCES beyond his control!”
This was what Professor Buckminster
called drunkenness. I did not comprehend him,
and I asked for an explanation.
• My father was as good a man as ever lived,"
said he, fixing his gaze intently upon me, as
though he meant all he said ; “but unhappily he
was addicted to the use of intoxicating drinks,
which caused his death in misery and disgrace in
the end, as it will mine in a few months or weeks.
I shall be found dead, before many days, by the
roadside.”
“I hope not,” I added, shocked by his words.
“ It is impossible to avoid the end. I inherited
my father's love of strong drink. The excite-
ment of it is necessary to my existence. I am no
more responsible for it than I am for the shape
of my nose.”


94
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
“ You could not help drinking when you were
a professor in the college?” I inquired, not quite
willing to accept his theory.
“ Certainly not. It was a part of my nature
to drink. My father was a great scholar. I in-
herited his aptness to learn, his memory, his
ingenuity; in a word, his talents. It is no credit
to me that I was the best scholar in my class in
college, for I inherited my brains. In the same
manner I inherited this curse of an appetite for
drink, and it is no fault of mine. When I was dis-
charged from my high position as a professor, it
was as much a part of my destiny as it was for me
to obtain the situation."
I realized that he was thoroughly in earnest,
and fully believed the theory he advanced. For
my own part, I was very much in doubt whether
his conclusion was a correct one.
“ Did you ever try to stop drinking ?” I asked.
Many and many a time; but I mixht as well
have attempted to arrest the current of Niagara,
he replied with energy.
“What do you do when you are out of money,
and can't obtain any liquor?” I asked very much
interested in his case.


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
95
>>
66 I suffer all the tortures of the criminal on the
rack. But I have always managed in some way
to obtain liquor after a few hours' abstinence, as
I did when I met
you
this morning.”
• If I were in your place, I should stop drink-
ing, whatever broke," I added.
" You do not understand the matter," he pro-
tested. “You have no idea of this infernal appe-
tite.”
“ When I knew it was killing me, I should do
without it. I should be sure, if I didn't drink
the next glass of whiskey, that I should be all
right.”
* You are a child in this matter; and may God
keep you always a child in it! You have no
gnawing at your
vitals.”
“Do you have any just now?” I inquired.
“Not at this moment,” he replied with a faint
sinile, “ for I have just finished a hearty dinner;
but as soon as my stomach begins to be empty
there will be a pain there, and I must drink whis-
key to allay it."
“ We won't let the stomach get empty again,”
I added, laughing. “You shall stay with me for
a while, professor, if you are willing.”


96
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
“I am willing and glad to do so, if the fierce
promptings of this demon of appetite do not
drive me away from you.
“Do you really wish to cure yourself of this
habit? Are you willing to make an effort to do
so ?”
“ Is the drowning man willing to be saved ? Is
the wretch who is enduring the pangs of the most
intense suffering, moral as well as physical, will-
ing to be relieved ? I am willing to make an
effort,” he replied with energᎩ•
" I suffer a thou-
sand times more from the disgrace in which I
am plunged than from cold and hunger.”
“ Then we will begin to do something now," I
continued. “ I am only a boy, and I don't know
much more about this matter than what you have
told me; but I think you and I together can cast
out this devil.”
“ I am afraid there is no hope,” said he with
a sigh. “I have tried many times."
Perhaps you had no help, or not the right
kind.”
“I never had any help, for I would never allow
anybody to talk to me about the matter."
“I don't know any thing about the case, as you
66


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
97
say; but I knew a man once who inherited the
rheumatism from his mother, and it certainly was
not his fault that he had the rheumatism ; but this
did not prevent him from doing something to
ease the pain, and cure the disease. I think it
would have been just as sensible for him to have
given up, and took the grinding pain as it came,
because he was no more responsible for it than he
was for the shape of his nose, as it is to say you
can't stop drinking because your father died of
intemperance."
“ You are a bold young man to talk to me like
that.”
“I don't see any thing to be afraid of. I do
not see any reason why you should take another
glass of liquor, any more than that I should do
>>
so.”
“How can I stop it?” he asked blankly.
“Don't take any more: that's all I know about
it. If you say that you will make the effort, I
will do all I can to help you, professor.”
“I will make the effort if you will permit me to
remain on board of this vessel.”
“I will; and I will see that you have enough to
eat, and are kept warm and comfortable.”


98
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
"A thousand thanks ! I have not known what
it was to be regularly fed, and to be warm for
more than an hour or two at a time, for months.”
He gaped and yawned while he was speaking ;
and I concluded that his full stomach made him
sleepy. He told me he had walked nearly the
whole of the night before. He could obtain no
whiskey, and he was obliged to keep moving to
avoid being frozen. He had walked all the way
from one of the New-England States. He was a
“ tramp,” in fact. He told me he had fled from
the college as soon as his disgrace was made pub-
lic. He had a little money, and had kept himself
intoxicated for a whole week, though he was not
so drunk that he could not walk. When his
money was exhausted, he had sold his watch, and
then the contents of the little bundle of clothes
he had carried in his hands. He would not ride,
lest he should meet some one that knew him. At
Port Huron he had sold his overcoat on one of
the mild days of the spring; but he had spent his
last penny long before he reached Montomercy.
He had never begged when not absolutely suf-
fering for food. He was not going anywhere; he
had no end or object in view; he expected to


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
99
perish with cold and hunger in the course of a
few weeks. He seemed to have no strength of
mind left to resist the fate he anticipated. He
had plenty of pride left, and declared that he
would die rather than return to his friends in the
East, tho'ıgh they were willing to do every thing
in the world for him.
As he continued to gape, I concluded that the
best thing for him would be a good bed, and I
prepared the room of the engineers for him. He
was glad enough to retire, though it was not yet
dark. I insisted that he should undress himself,
and I put plenty of blankets on him. He was
asleep before I left the room, and I went out, clos-
ing the door after me.
I had some very decided views in regard to
my passenger. I was confident that I could keep
him sober long enough to let him know how it
felt, for he told me he had always drank liquor
since he left college as a student. He had not
passed a day without drinking up to the time of
his expulsion, except at the times when he tried to
cure himself of the habit; and he had never suc-
ceeded in refraining from the use of the cup for
more than two or three days.


100
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
As soon as he was asleep, I called Dick Blister,
who lived with Mr. Brickland, taking care of the
cattle and doing the work about the house. With
his assistance, I carried the heavy anchor out into
the middle of the river in the tender, and dropped
it overboard. Casting off the fasts which secured
the Sylvania to the wharf, the current carried her
out into the stream till the cable attached to the
anchor brought her up. Thus moored, she lay
about three hundred feet from the shore.
“What's all that for?” asked Dick Blister,
when the work was done.
“I have a passenger on board,” I replied; "and
I don't want him to leave during the night.”
“I heard you had a rum customer on board,”
laughed Dick. “Have you seen Mr. Brickland
since supper?”
"I have not."
“ He was looking for you; and he seems to be
in a big stew about something,” added Dick.
6. What's the matter ?”
“I haven't the least idea ; but he had some
company this afternoon."
I wondered what had happened to disturb Mr.
Brickland. Very likely some one from town had


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
101
been down to see him about my case.
I had told
him my story; but he appeared to think that I
told the truth, and I had not brought forward
any argument in my defence. I returned to the
shore with Dick, anxious to know what had oc-
curred to excite my worthy friend. We left no
boat at the steamer; and the professor could not
get ashore if he should happen to wake in my
absence.
I found Mr. Brickland in the sitting-room. He
was considerably excited, and I thought it quite
probable that some one had been telling bad sto-
ries about me. Very likely the day scholars had
gone home, and informed their parents that I had
been expelled; and the story had been exagge-
rated, as such things always are.
“What's the matter, uncle Brickland ?" I asked,
using the familiar appellation by which I often
addressed him.
“I didn't say that any thing was the matter,”
he replied with his accustomed smile.
“ Has any one been here telling bad stories
about me?" I continued.
“ No: why do you ask such a question? I
never knew you to tell a lie yet, and I believe all


102
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
>>
you said about the fire at the college last night;
and I should believe it if the whole town came
down to tell me it wasn't so.
Who told you
that any thing was the matter ?”
“ Dick said
you
wanted to see me; and I con-
cluded it was about the fire last night.”
Nothing of the sort. They say there have
been at least three attempts made within a couple
of months to rob the Montomercy Bank, and the
last of them was made last night."
“ I hadn't heard a word about it. Do they sus-
pect any body?”
“No; they kept still about it for fear it might
injure the bank. This afternoon Captain Green
called upon me: he is one of the directors, and
he notified me that the package in the vault which
contains your bonds is kept there on my respon-
sibility. If the bank should be robbed, the loss
would be mine, or rather yours. I was much
alarmed about it, and since supper I have been
for the package. And now the question is, what
shall be done with them?"
This was a hard question, and I was not ready
to answer it.


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
103
CHAPTER X.
THE HIDDEN TREASURE.
It was
AS
S I have said before, this package contained
over a hundred thousand dollars in bonds,
which were the same as money, besides other secu-
ities. If any thing should happen to my father's
estates on the other side of the ocean, this would
be all the fortune that would come to me.
enough, as I understood the matter; and I did
not wish to lose it.
For two months I had not heard a word from
my father, though before that time I had a letter
every week. I could not think what had become
of him. His relations were contesting the ques-
tion of the succession of the title, or some matter
which affected it. His last letter was hopeful,
and I had hardly given the matter a thought
since.
“ If it should be known that this package is
in the house, it would certainly be broken into,"


104
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
said Mr. Brickland, with considerable excitement
and even agitation.
“ It need not be known,” I replied.
“But it is already known to a few persons; and
it does not take long for such things to be dis-
covered by the whole town.”
“Where is the package now?” I asked.
“ It is in my desk; but that is no place for it.”
“I think it would be the safest on board
of the steamer," I suggested. “I have anchored
her in the middle of the river, and I intend to
sleep on board of her every night.”
“What is that for ? ” inquired Mr. Brickland.
I explained that I intended to prevent Professor
Buckminster from drinking any more liquor; and,
if I could keep him sober, I meant to continue
my studies under his direction. The good man
approved this plan under my present circum-
stances; for he knew that my father would not be
willing I should neglect preparation for college.
Before he went away, it was understood that I
should make a cruise in the Sylvania during the
months of July and August; but I was to do my
best with my studies till that time.
“If you can't keep this man in a condition to


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
105
instruct you, another person must be employed
for the purpose,” said Mr. Brickland. “I have
been thinking ever since you came home, what
I should do with you. Your father would never
forgive you or me if your education is neglected.”
“I don't mean to neglect it. Mr. Buckminster
is a great scholar; and, as long as I can keep him
on board of the Sylvania, he must be sober.”
“ We will consider that settled for the present.
But what shall we do with the package? Another
attempt was made last night to break into the bank,
though they have a man to sleep in it every
night."
“ Who sleeps there?” I asked, for I had not
heard of this fact before.
Captain Braceback: he has had nothing to do
since he lost his place as commander of the Syl-
vania. He came to Montomercy because he could
live cheaper here than in Detroit. They say he is
poor, and has hard work to get along.”
“I don't think he can be very poor, or he would
not be able to pay his son's tuition at Somerset
College,” I added.
- 1
only know what Captain Green says about
it. He told me that Braceback had been looking


106
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
for work of some kind since he came to Monto-
mercy. They pay him a dollar a night for watch-
ing the bank, or for sleeping in it. Green says
this is all he has to live on.”
“I should think the robbers would know that
some one slept in the bank; at any rate, if they
have tried three times, they must have found it
out by this time.”
“I never heard a word about the matter till
Captain Green called upon me to-day. It seems
that when the first attempt to break in was made,
Captain Braceback suggested to the president
that some one ought to sleep in the bank; and, as
he had nothing to do, he offered to stay there for
a dollar a night. Some of the directors thought
it was a needless expense after a while, and wanted
to save it: but, soon after, another attempt was
made to get in. An auger-bit was found on the
ground, and a hole near the fastening of one of
the shutters. Braceback said he fired a shot out
the window, and this scared the robbers away.”
“Did he fire at any one last night?” I asked,
considerably interested in the account.
“ He says he fired twice at three men, who ran
down the river road. They left some tools near


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
107
the window, and had begun to bore the shutter
again.”
66 Of course the robbers must know that a man
sleeps in the bank.”
“ Bank-robbers are generally desperate charac-
ters; and I have no doubt, if they only got into
the building, they would make an end of Captain
Braceback very quick. I shouldn't want to be in
his place.”
“The president seems to believe in Captain
Braceback," I added; and I was thinking of some-
thing I could not well define.
“ I have no doubt Captain Braceback is a good
The president is a retired steamboat-cap-
tain, and Braceback was the mate of his boat.”
“But what is to be done with the package ?
Don't you think it will be safest on board of the
Sylvania if I sleep on board every night ? ” I
continued, returning to the “ question before the
house."
“No, I don't, Alick. In addition to the danger
of the package being stolen, it may be burned up
or sunk, if any thing happens to the boat,” replied
Mr. Brickland, shaking his head.
“And so the house may be burned.”
man.


108
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
“If it is, what's left of it won't go to the bottom
of the river or the lake.”
I had to admit the force of his reasoning. We
talked about the matter half an hour longer, and
then concluded to bury the treasure at the bottom
of the cellar, where it could not be burned with
the house, and where, as no one but Mr. Brickland
and myself, not even Mrs. Brickland, knew it was
there, it was not likely to be stolen. We wrapped
the package in oil-cloth, so that the dampness
would not injure it, and then dug a hole two feet
deep to receive it. When we had filled it up, we
carefully removed all the spare earth, relaid the
bricks we had taken up, and then covered the spot
with barrels of potatoes. I was very confident
that no one would think of digging in that place
any more than in another for the treasure.
Mrs. Brickland and all the rest of the family
were up stairs while we were at work. I had
walked around the house before the job was begun
in order to satisfy myself that none of the neigh-
bors or others were near enough to look in at the
cellar windows.
More depended upon
the
secrecy
of our proceedings than upon any other circum-
stance. I was confident that we had done exceed-


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
109
ingly well, and that the treasure was safer than if
it had been in the vault of the bank. When we
had finished, I hastened back to the steamer, fear-
ful that my passenger had waked, though he could
not get ashore. It was now about half-past seven
in the evening. I went out at the side door, and I
had hardly closed it behind me before I saw a
form approaching me in the darkness.
“Is that you, Captain Alick?” said Lynch
Braceback, stepping up to me at this moment.
“ Is that you, Lynch ?” I replied ; and I was
greatly relieved to find that it was he, for I had
feared some one had been spying about the house
whiln we were at work in the cellar.
I noticed that he was not in the path when I
first saw him, but appeared to come out from be-
hind a clump of shrubs that grew near the corner
of the house.
“I was just going up to the front door to ring
the bell when I heard you come out,” he added.
This explained how he happened to be out of
the path, for that circumstance had troubled me
for an instant. He had crossed the lawn from the
path to the front door to that leading to the side
door.


110
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
“What are you doing down here so late in the
evening, Lynch ?” I asked.
“My father went over to the bank as soon as
he had his supper to-night; and I wanted to see
you," he replied ; and I thought he stammered a
little.
“ I have to go on board of the steamer now,”
I added, wishing he had staid at home.
“ All right: I will go with
you.
My father
would kill me if he knew I was out," said Lynch
lightly, as though he had done a good thing in
evading his vigilance. “I couldn't wait till morn-
ing before I saw you; and I came down.”
“I see you did,” I continued, as we walked
towards the wharf.
“ The fellows are almost in rebellion at the col-
lege because you were expelled,” rattled Lynch,
talking as rapidly as he could.
“Ellie says he
shall write to his father to take him away from
the college, and Bob Washburn says the same.
My father told me a week ago that he couldn't
afford to pay my bills any longer; and so I shall
leave. That will make four of us out."
I hope the fellows won't make a tempest about
the matter. Dr. Rawley did what he believed was


112
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
“Well, is there any chance of their doing so ?”
“ They haven't got ahead any yet; but I have
a notion of my own about it. Some men tried to
get into the bank again last night; and I believe
they set the sheds on fire.”
Why should they do it?” I asked.
“So as to get all the people away from the
bank: don't you see?”
“ But your father was at the bank when the
men tried to get into it.”
“I know he was. I went up to bed as soon as
I got in; and I suppose he went to the bank right
off. I think he didn't get into the bank before he
fired at the men. I believe these men set the
sheds on fire so as to get my father and others
away from the bank.”
This was mere supposition; and I did not think
it was likely to relieve me of the odium of the
charge on which I had been expelled. Lynch got
into the boat with me, and we went on board of
the Sylvania. I found the professor planking the
deck.


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
115
I
not had my supper I joined him. He told me he
felt better than at any time before for months.
While his stomach was full, he did not hanker so
fiercely for liquor. When the meal was finished,
I cleared away the dishes. The captain's state-
room was abundantly heated from the stove in
the pilot-house, and we seated ourselves in that
apartment.
“I think I should have gone ashore when I
waked, if there had been any means for doing so,
said he. “I felt the need of whiskey. I see you
have moved the steamer out from the shore; and
suppose you have done it to keep me from leav-
ing you."
“I am willing to own that this was the reason,
I replied; “for I want to save you if it is possible
to do so.'
“I will try to work with you; for I feel more
hope now than for months before. But I am not
willing that you should be my servant, as it were,
and cook and wait upon me.
I will do that my
self. I know I should feel better if I had some
work to do."
“I think so myself, sir; but I am willing to do
the cooking, for I have something better for you
to do.”


116
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
" What is it?” he asked with interest.
In reply I told him about my difficulties at the
college. He took a deep interest in the case, and
asked me a great many questions relating to my
own and the conduct of others in the matter. In
the course of the evening, I related to him the
whole of my eventful history since I first came
to consciousness in Glossenbury. It was eleven
o'clock when the conference ended.
66 But
you
have not told me what work I am to
do," said he, when I had risen to retire.
“I have told you that my father desires to fit
me for college ; and I have just been expelled
from the school he endowed for my benefit,” I
replied. “I want to continue my studies, and do
the most I can in the next three months.”
“ That is telling me what work you have to do,
but not what I am to do,” added the professor.
“I want you to instruct me, sir," I answered,
surprised that he did not see what I was driving
at.
“ To serve as your private tutor: very well; I
am willing to do so. You will not be the first
private pupil I have instructed. I have received
a thousand dollars a year for taking care of a


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
117
single scholar; and I fitted one of only fair
ability in a year so that he entered without a
condition, and went into the first half of the
freshman class. But, Alick, I fear that I shall
not be able to let whiskey alone,” said he, shaking
his head mournfully.
“ If you will leave that to me, I will try to
keep you away from it.”
“ I will leave it to you, Alick ; and I will not
complain of any thing you do. As I am to be
your master in the studies, you shall be mine in
the conduct of life.”
“Do you feel as though you wanted any liquor
to-night?” I asked.
“ No: just at this moment I loathe the thought
of it," protested he. “But if I should wake in
the night when my stomach is empty, a certain
gnawing pain, which I cannot describe, will take
hold of me; and that is the time I want whiskey."
“ But it will be easy enough to fill up the
stomach,” I suggested. “ You have eaten so late
in the evening that I think you can hardly be
hungry before morning.”
“I may sleep soundly all night,” he added.
He rose and went to the engineer's room, which


118
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
I had assigned to his use. I made some more
wormwood-tea, and placed it, with a plate of ship-
bread, near the head of his berth. I had heard
of the gnawing of the drunkard's appetite; and
Mrs. Brickland had told me that wormwood-tea
and food, if the sufferer could eat it, were the
best remedies. The professor thanked me very
warmly for the service, and assured me he should
be able to take care of himself by the next day.
I did not hear from him during the night, and
when I got up in the morning he appeared to be
still asleep. I went on shore, and procured some
fresh provisions at the house, which I proceeded
to cook for breakfast as soon as I returned. Be-
fore my patient got out of his berth, I carried him
a cup of hot coffee. He told me he had been awake
but once in the night, and had taken the worm-
wood-tea, which seemed to quiet his nerves, and
enable him to go to sleep again. He felt better
than he had for many a day before. After break-
fast, which we had about seven o'clock, and I
had washed the dishes, we went to work on the
studies. The professor seemed to be a different
man as soon as he was at work. He was full of
fire and energy ; and I could see that he must


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
119
to 66
have been a very valuable instructor to the col-
lege in which he had been engaged. He spent the
whole forenoon in examining me in the various
branches; and then bestowed a very high compli-
ment upon Somerset College for the thoroughness
of its instruction. He did not find it necessary
put me back
in any thing. I was very
much delighted with the result of the examina-
tion, simply because it had realized my expecta-
tions. I had been one of first scholars in the
college; and it would have been a damper to fall
below the standard of my new instructor.
I immediately went to work in earnest; and, for
three months from that time, Professor Buckmin-
ster did not put his foot on the shore. After a
couple of weeks of abstinence, he assured me that
he had no desire for whiskey. Early in May,
when the pleasant weather came, we got up steam
on the Sylvania, and ran down to the lake, where
we anchored half a mile from the land, but in a
sheltered place where the storms could not seri-
pusly affect us. I took the Lakebird with me, so
that I could run up to Montomercy as occasion
should require. The professor and I became fast
friends. He stimulated me to the most tremen.


120
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
dous exertion in my studies; and I was surprised
at my own progress. I am sure I did better than
I should if I had remained in Somerset College ;
but this was owing to the extraordinary efficiency
of
my teacher.
Every afternoon my tutor and myself took our
exercise, either in rowing the boat, or in sailing
the Lakebird. We had various gymnastic appara-
tus on board, which we had bought or made; and,
in spite of the hard work we did, it would have
been difficult to find a more robust couple of stu-
dents. I had sent to Detroit for all the books the
professor wanted, for Mr. Brickland had plenty
of money in his hands for my use.
I heard very little from Somerset College,
though Ellie and Bob came down to see me once
in a while. They remained in the college, though
Lynch left at the end of the week on which I was
expelled. They were all very much dissatisfied,
and were to leave the institution at the end of
the spring term.
The treasure we had hidden in the cellar re-
mained there ; but we heard of no more attempts
to rob the Montomercy Bank.
Although my life on board tho steamer, an


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
121
chored out in the lake, was full of incident to me,
I shall pass over it to the beginning of the sum-
mer vacation. Bob Washburn and Ellie Dyke-
man had obtained the consent of their parents to
go with me during the “ cruise of the-Sylvania,”
which was to last two months. The professor and
I had lived a week in the Lakebird, for I had
taken the steamer to Detroit to be hauled up, and
put in condition for the voyage. Moses Brick-
land, the son of my good friend, was the regular
engineer; and he went on board for the summer
when we sailed from Detroit.
I anchored off the mouth of Glinten River on
the morning of the last day of the term of Som-
erset College. We lay there over night, and the
next morning I brought my friends with their
- bags and baggage,” down to the lake in the sail-
boat. But I was obliged to run the Sylvania up
the river in order to take on board the provisions
which Mr. Brickland had purchased from the list
I made out.
My friends came on board, and I sent the Lake-
bird back by Ben Bowman, who was to act as
assistant-engineer and deck-hand. We went into
the pilot-house to talk over the details of the pro-
66


122
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
posed cruise. I was, of course, to be the captain
of the craft; but the others wanted some regular
duty assigned to them.
We can't all be officers,” I said laughing; for
I feared they might have some hard feeling if I
gave one a higher place than the others.
“ We don't all want to be officers,” replied Bob;
6 at least, I don't want to be one."
“ Nor I,” added Ellie.
“Of course I don't ask for any such position,"
followed Lynch. “I am glad enough of the
chance to go, even as cook's assistant.”
“ We want a mate and two deck-hands to make
the thing all regular,” I added; but I was still
bothered to know who should be the mate.
“ We will leave that all to you, Captain Alick;
and we will all agree to do just what we are told,”
protested Bob.
The others assented to this proposition ; but I
was still unwilling to place one of them over the
others. While we were talking about it, Moses
came in to say that a steamer was close by,
headed for Glinten River.


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
123
CHAPTER XII.
A STARTLING DISCOVERY.
“SHE
HE looks just like the Sylvania !” exclaimed
Moses Brickland, when he brought the in-
formation in regard to the approaching steamer.
“ Where is she from ?” I inquired.
“She is coming up from the southward; and I
think she is from Detroit,” replied Moses.
I knew of no steamer that had any business up
Glinten River, and my curiosity was excited. I
hastened on deck, and found that the engineer
had not overstated the truth. The approaching
steamer was as near like the Sylvania as one pea
is like another. I had heard of another steamer
of which the Sylvania was the counterpart; but
I had never seen her. She was said to be owned
by a gentleman who lived on an island in Lake
Erie ; and I thought it strange that she had never
been up into Lake St. Clair during the years I
had lived at Montomercy. The Sylvania had


124
LAKE BREEZES ; OR,
>>
been built after the other, and it was affirmed that
she was an improvement in some respects upon
her twin sister, though the outward resemblance
had not been destroyed.
“She looks exactly like us !” exclaimed Bob
Washburn. “I think she must have been cast in
the same mould.”
“I have heard something about her, but I never
saw her before," I added. “She is exactly our
style; and we couldn't tell one vessel from the
other in a fog.”
“ Hardly in a clear day,” said Ellie, who was
carefully examining the beautiful craft, as she
shot by the Sylvania.
“Don't you know about that steamer ?” asked
Lynch Braceback, after we had looked at her a
while.
None of us knew any thing about her except
what I have already stated.
“I know all about her,” added Lynch. “My
father is to sail her this summer.'
“ What is her name?” inquired Ellie.
“She is called the Islander; and her owner is
Col. Ingersoll, a very wealthy gentleman from
Cincinnati, who lives on an island he owns in
Lake Erie."
>>


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
125
“What is she doing up Glinten River?” I
asked, as the steamer ran into the stream.
“She has been fixed up this spring; and I sup-
pose father has gone up to the house to get his
clothes, and perhaps to show off the steamer to
the people of Montomercy. They say she is
faster than the Sylvania.”
“Who says so?” I asked, with no little inter-
est; for I had heard that just the opposite was
the fact.
" Father says so, for one; but I don't know any
thing about it, except what he says,” replied
Lynch.
“ How long will she remain at Montomercy ?”
asked Bob Washburn.
“Not long : father went down to take charge
of her only yesterday morning.”
“I should think he would want you to go with
him,” suggested Ellie.
" That is the very thing he don't want; for he
would never let me go with him in the Sylvania
when he was her sailing-master. Besides, I would
rather go with our fellows, than with the crowd
they will have in the Islander,” answered Lynch.
Of course we were all duly flattered by the


126
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
compliment he paid to his companions. The
steamer had disappeared beyond the banks of the
river, and we returned to the pilot-house to dis-
cuss the interesting question which had occupied
our attention when we were interrupted. So far
as I could see, any one of my friends was as well
qualified to be the mate of the steamer as either
of the others. I rather preferred Ellie, perhaps
for the reason that I had known him longer.
They insisted that I should make the selection
myself, without regard to their wishes, and give
the place to the one I considered the most compe-
tent.
"I do not know that one is any more compe-
tent than the others,” I replied.
“ Then I will tell you how we can settle the
question,” said Ellie, laughing. “Let us draw
lots for the place, just as we have always settled
difficult questions.”
6. That's the idea !” exclaimed Bob.
don't want Captain Alick to feel that we are jeal-
ous of each other, or that any fellow will not be
satisfied if he is not the mate of the Sylvania.”
I was pleased with the suggestion ; and I took
three matches from the safe, and, breaking them
66 We


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
127
off at unequal lengths, I placed them between my
thumb and finger so that they could see only the
ends.
“ The one that draws the longest stick shall be.
the mate of the Sylvania,” I continued.
“That's fair!" exclaimed Ellie. “I don't think
any one of us is inclined to break things if he
don't get the position of mate."
Certainly not, but Captain Alick don't feel
like deciding this question, and the lot will re-
lieve him of the necessity of doing so. I am sure
we shall all be satisfied with the result,” added
Bob Washburn.
o Of course we shall,” said Lynch heartily.
6 Then draw; and I don't think either of you
can tell by the looks of the ends of these matches
which is the longest one,” I continued, as I held
out the sticks to Ellie.
He drew one, Bob drew another, and Lynch
took the last. They then laid the sticks on the
table; and it was found that Lynch Braceback
had drawn the longest. I was very sorry the lot
had resulted in this way; but I could raise no
objection to it. My lucky companion was as well
qualified for the position as either of the others,
1


128
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
though personally he was not as satisfactory to me
as either Bob or Ellie would have been.
“ That question is settled,” said Bob, laughing;
and he was a fellow so unselfish, that I don't be-
lieve he was at all disappointed.
“And nothing more need be said about it,"
added Ellie. “I congratulate you, Lynch.”
“But I shall not take the position,” protested
the new mate. “I don't think I am entitled to
it.”
“ You are as much entitled to it as any other
fellow; and I, for one, don't believe in going be-
hind the lot.”
“But I won't take it: it wouldn't be right for
me to do so," persisted Lynch. “I am a sort of
guest of Captain Alick; and I am sure I am
very much obliged to him for letting me go on
the cruise, without taking the softest place on
board.”
“We are all sort of guests,” laughed Ellie. “I
am sure I don't claim any rights on board of this
craft; and I think Lynch has as good a right to
the position as any other fellow: so we won't say
any thing more about it.”
“ As we all agreed to the lot, we ought to be


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
129
bound by its decision,” added Bob, as he and
Ellie walked out of the pilot-house, as if for the
purpose of ending the discussion.
" I don't feel a bit like taking this place,” said
Lynch, as if he were appealing to me from the
decision of his companions. 6. I know that Bob
and Ellie don't want me to be mate.”
They don't say so," I replied.
“ Of course they will not say so.'
“We all agreed to the lot; and they are not
the fellows to go back on any thing to which they
have agreed.”
“But I would rather be a foremast hand than
to have them angry and jealous of me. I didn't
expect the position, and I shall be just as well
satisfied if one of them has the place.”
They will not be angry or jealous. You
needn't disturb yourself about that.
have to go up the river, and we won't talk any
more about it now,” I continued, leading the way
out of the pilot-house. “ You will see to getting
the anchor
up,
Mr. Lynch.”
“ Mr. Lynch !” shouted the mate.
beginning to make fun of me already."
“Not at all,” I protested. “The mate of a
But we
66 You are


130
LAKE BREEZES ; OR,
vessel is always called Mr.; and it is no more
making game of him to call him so than it is to
address the commander as captain.”
Lynch Braceback looked a little suspicious as
he called all hands to get up the anchor. My
friends had been with me enough in the Sylvania
to be thoroughly acquainted with their duties;
and at the call of the mate they took their stations
at the windlass. The machinery was of the most
approved pattern, and the anchor was easily raised
from the sand at the bottom by the mate and his
companions. Moses Brickland had steam up, and
was at the engine.
“ Anchor's a-weigh, sir!” cried the mate, when
the iron was clear of the bottom.
I rang one bell, to go ahead slowly, and the
Sylvania began to move. The mate got the
anchor up to the cat-head, and stowed it, for we
had no use for it at the landing-place up the
river. Our provisions and stores were all on the
wharf, near Mr. Brickland's house.
My com-
panions did not come near me again on the trip
up to the town. I saw that they were talking
together on the forecastle ; and, as Lynch seemed
to do most of the talking, I concluded that he was


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
131
still protesting against the decision of the lot. I
was willing to let my friends settle the matter
among themselves.
At last Ellie and Bob seemed to be tired of the
discussion; and both of them became rather en-
ergetic in their manner. Finally they left the
mate alone on the forecastle, retreating to the
pilot-house to escape further words. In half an
hour we were in sight of the town; and I saw
that the Islander had made a landing at Mr.
Brickland's wharf. The water was rather shoal
in some places above, and I concluded that Cap-
tain Braceback was afraid of getting aground if
he went farther up. But he had run his craft up
to the end of the pier, so that there was
enough for me to place the Sylvania in her usual
position alongside.
I saw that Mr. Brickland was on the wharf;
and I concluded that he had given his permission
for the Islander to take in her stores there, if she
had any to take in, and to remain there while the
commander visited his family, which was doubtless
the object of his visit. As soon as we had made
the steamer fast to the wharf, Lynch asked per-
mission to go home and see his father and mother
room


132
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
before he sailed on the cruise, which was likely to
be continued for the next two months. Of course
I had no objection to so reasonable a request.
For the next two hours we were all busy in
getting our provisions on board.
All the Brickland family were gathered on the
wharf or on board of the Sylvania to see the op-
eration of taking in cargo. The house was quite
deserted. Before eleven o'clock every thing was
in readiness for a start. We had taken in our
beef, pork, vegetables, and ice, and stowed them
all away in the proper places. When the work
had been satisfactorily completed, I went up to
the house to get my best clothes, for I thought I
might want to go to church in some of the
places where we stopped.
On my way up to the house I met Lynch and
his father on their return to the wharf. Captain
Braceback did not speak to me, or even nod at
me, as he had not since his residence in Monto-
mercy. But Lynch stopped to ask me if all was
ready. He had several bundles in his hands;
and I could not help noticing that he was some-
what embarrassed about something. I concluded


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
133
that it was the chilly conduct of his father that
troubled him; and I continued on my way.
I went down cellar to see that the hidden treas.
ure was safe. It was gone!


134
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
CHAPTER XIII.
THE SPOTS UPON THE MATE.
I
SUPPOSE I went down cellar for the same
reason that I had done so a hundred times
since the hidden treasure was deposited there. I
had always found it right before; and I expected
to find it right this time. The barrels of vegeta-
bles had stood on the brick pavement over the spot
where the valuables were concealed ; and I had
intended to go only far enough to satisfy myself
that they had not been disturbed. But, as soon
as I had descended the stairs far enough to obtain
a view of the interior of the cellar, I saw at once
that the barrels had been moved.
My heart leaped up into my throat.
throat. I suddenly
felt that earthly treasures may take to themselves
wings, and fly away. Though my father was an
English nobleman, and a very wealthy man, I had
placed my main dependence upon the securities
which had been concealed in the cellar of Mr.


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
135
Brickland's house. I had them, and I had noth-
ing else, whatever the future might bring to me.
It was very strange that I had not heard from my
father for so long a time; and this fact seemed to
detach me more than ever from whatever posses-
sions and prospects I might have on the other side
of the ocean.
I rushed to the spot, and found that the barrels
had been hastily tumbled out of the way; the
brick pavement had been taken up, and a hole dug
in the spot where the treasure had been hidden.
It was evident that the robbers, whoever they
were, had not known the precise locality of the
package; for a hole much larger than the one we
had made when we concealed it had been dug.
The person or persons engaged in the robbery had
removed the earth till they found the treasure.
They had found it, and it was gone.
I felt like “ a poor boy” again. All that I had
on earth had been taken from me; for I did not
count much on what was in England, especially
after I learned that other heirs were fighting for
it. I now looked about me in the cellar to see if
I could find any thing that would throw any light
upon the identity of the robbers. I discovered


136
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
the oil-cloth in which the treasure had been envel-
oped. It was covered with the soft mud of the
cellar, and had evidently been removed because
it was in such a dirty condition. I could find
nothing else to connect the disappearance of the
treasure with any human being.
As I said before, I felt like a poor boy again.
Indeed, the finding of my father, and the fortune
which had fallen to me, were like a dream of
the past; and the startling discovery I had just
made seemed to render it more unsubstantial than
ever before. I came to the conclusion, before I
left the cellar, that I was really a poor boy, though
I had the steamer, which was nothing but an ele-
phant on my hands without the means to pay her
running expenses. For a short time I was almost
distracted ; but I gathered up my emotions, and
determined to “keep cool ” about the catastrophe.
I wanted to see Mr. Brickland, and I hastened
out of the cellar. I did not expect him or any of
the family to return to the house, as they would
be likely to remain on the wharf till the steamer
had started. In the yard I saw Dick Blister, whom
I had sent to the post-office as soon as I came up
to the wharf. He had gone with the horse and


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
137
wagon; and for the last ten or fifteen minutes
he must have been at the stable, taking care of
the team.
“ How long have you been here, Dick?” I asked,
as I met him in the yard.
“I came back from the post-office about fifteen
minutes ago. Here is something for you, Alick,” he
replied, handing me the letter, which was not di-
rected in the handwriting of my
father, from whom
I had not heard a word for over four months.
But I was too much excited at that moment,
even to read a letter from my father. I put it
into my pocket with the feeling that whatever was
done to recover the valuable package must be done
at once.
“Where have you been since you came back ?”
I inquired.
“ About the yard here,” replied Dick, with a
grin. “When I took the horse out of the wagon,
he got away from me; and I don't think that I
should have caught him to-day if it hadn't been
for Lynch Braceback.”
6. Then you
did catch him ?”
“Of course I did. Lynch was sitting on the
fence near the end of the house. He headed him


138
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
off so that I caught him without much trouble.
When that horse gets loose, it takes about ten
men to catch him, for I have tried it on before."
“ What was Lynch doing here?” I asked, ap-
proaching the subject very carefully.
“ He said he was waiting for his father.”
“Did you see his father when he came?'
“No: I was in the stable, I suppose ; at any
rate, when I came out, I saw Lynch and his father
walking down the road to the wharf.”
“Did you mind which way his father came
from?"
“No, I did not. I didn't see him at all till I
came out of the stable; and then he was
ways below the house."
“ Have you seen anybody else about the house
to-day, Dick ?” I asked, feeling that I had got no
clew so far.
66 Not a soul.”
“ Did you meet any one when you came down
from the village?”
6. Not a soul. What is the matter? What do
you ask these questions for, Alick?” asked Dick,
who saw that something was the matter, hard as I
tried to conceal what was in my thoughts.
some
>>


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
139
“ Never mind now. I want to know if anybody
has been about here the last hour."
“ I haven't seen anybody but Captain Braceback
and his son; and I don't believe anybody else has
been near the house to-day. I wasn't gone more
than twenty minutes from the house; and if any.
body had been here I should have met them on the
way back,” replied Dick very seriously; and he
could not help seeing that I was very much
troubled.
I told Dick to run down to the wharf, and ask
Mr. Brickland to come up to the house as quick
as possible. While he was gone I went into the
cellar again. As I looked at the hole in the soft
mud, I thought all this work could not have been
done without some sort of tools. The earth was
a sort of yellow clay which was not seen near the
surface of the ground; and, when it touched any
thing, it usually left its marks. I was sure I could
tell the shovel that had been used, by the color of
this clay upon it.
I looked about the cellar; but there was
implement of any kind to be found there. It was
a warm spring day, and the windows of the cellar
had been opened to air the place; for Mrs. Brick
no


140
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
land was very particular to keep it “sweet,” as
she called it.
I went out doors again, and found a shovel and
a hoe, which had evidently been thrown out at
one of these windows; not only the blades, but
the handles of these implements, were daubed with
the yellow clay. Those who had dug up the
treasure had plainly used their hands as well as
the tools I had found, which I recognized as those
belonging to the stable.
By the time I had examined the shovel and the
hoe, Mr. Brickland joined me.
The urgency of
the message I had sent him caused him to hasten
to the house with all the speed he could make.
In as few words as possible, I told him what had
happened, and led the way to the cellar, that he
might verify my statement by looking into the
hole the robbers had dug.
My good guardian and friend was utterly
bewildered by the announcement. He gazed into
the hole in the cellar-bottom like one who had lost
his wits. He said hardly a word; and what he
did say did not amount to any thing. Possibly
he understood the situation as I had figured it out,
and concluded that the robbery made a poor boy
of me again.


142
LAKE BREEZES ; OR,
they will
go
post-office. I am inclined to believe they have
moved down the river towards the lake, and that
to Detroit in a boat. Whoever did the
job must be pretty well plastered with that yellow
mud from the bottom of the cellar," I continued,
musing upon the situation rather than expressing
my deliberate convictions. “But Dick said that
Lynch Braceback was here when he came back
from the post-office, and helped him catch the horse
when he got away from him. I must see Lynch
at once, for he will know something about the
matter."
I wondered that I had not thought of it before ;
but, as I was sure to see Lynch when I went on
board of the Sylvania, I suppose I was looking
out for persons who might not be so easily found
when wanted. I led the way at a rapid rate
towards the wharf, — so rapid that my guardian
could not keep up with me. As I passed around
the corner of the house, I saw the Islander back-
ing out from the wharf. I got into the road to
the wharf, and broke into a run; but before I
could reach the wharf I saw the steamer under
full steam, going down the river. I could not
stop her, even were it desirable to do so.


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
143
When I came to the wharf, the Islander was
out of hailing distance; but, as I had no business
with her, I did not trouble myself with this
matter. Lynch Braceback stood on the wharf,
watching the receding steamer which contained
his father. I walked up to him before he saw
me.
>>
“Where is the Islander going, Braceback?” I
asked.
Lynch turned short round, and looked at me,
instead of answering my question.
“I didn't know you were here, Captain Alick,"
said he, stammering out the words as though he
had been frightened at my sudden appearance.
“You startled me so that I have lost a year's
growth.”
“ I didn't know you were so easily frightened,
Mr. Braceback," I replied, rather astonished at
his manner.
“Of course I am not frightened : I was only
startled. It always made me jump when any one
spoke to me suddenly.
“ I asked you where the Islander was going,” I
repeated.
“I beg your pardon, captain : so you did; and
..


144
LAKE BREEZES ; OR,
I was
so startled that I did not answer you,”
replied Lynch, turning towards me.
For the first time I noticed that his hands and
his clothes were daubed with yellow mud!


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
145
CHAPTER XIV.
PREPARING FOR THE CHASE.
I
COULD not possibly mistake the color of the
yellow mud I saw upon the garments of Lynch
Braceback. Mr. Brickland's house was built on a
slight elevation of land ; and the yellow clay ap-
peared at about four feet below the surface. I
knew of no other place in the vicinity where the
stratum was to be found. I had seen it only when
the cellar and the well were dug until we dug
into the bottom of the cellar to conceal the
treasure.
The fact that Dick Blister had seen Lynch seat-
ed on the fence when he returned from the post-
office came to my mind in this connection; and I
was at once forced to the conclusion that Lynch
had assisted in digging up the valuable package.
He and his father had been loaded with bundles
when I met them as I went up to the house. I
had no doubt that the treasure was in the posses-
sion of one of them.


146
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
I wonder now that I did not at once charge
Lynch with the robbery ; but I did not. In fact, I
was so astounded when I discovered the mud on
his clothes, that I turned away from him. His
embarrassed manner when I met him, and his sud-
den start when I spoke to him on the wharf,
seemed to be a part of the evidence against him.
Then it occurred to me that I had seen Lynch as
I came out of the cellar after my guardian and I
had buried the treasure. The conclusion was irre-
sistible, that he had discovered what we were
doing in the cellar on that occasion. As I did not
care to talk any more with the mate of the Sylva-
nia until I had made up my mind what course to
pursue, I told Lynch that I would return in a
short time, and walked towards the house again.
Lynch had been with his father when I met
him; and it seemed to follow as a natural conse-
quence, that Captain Braceback was concerned in
the robbery. As I thought of the matter, I was
even willing to believe that he was the prime
mover in the affair. I knew that he hated me
with all the venom of his malignant nature. In
spite of my intimacy with his son, he had never
“let up” in the slightest degree, and had not


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
147
bestowed a single pleasant word upon me during
his residence in Montomercy.
“Have you got at any thing, Alick?” asked Mr.
Brickland, as I met him on his way to the wharf,
even more excited than when I had left him.
“ I think I have found out all about it," I re-
plied, seating myself in an arbor near the path
where we met.
"You don't say so! what have you found out?"
demanded my guardian, with breathless interest.
I told him what I had discovered, and stated
my conclusions in full. He agreed with me that
there was no place in the vicinity where the yel.
low clay was to be found; and he made no objec-
tion to the argument by which I fastened the guilt
upon Lynch and his father. He stood with his
mouth and his eyes wide open till I had finished
my process of reasoning, and repeated my conclu-
sions.
“ It looks as though you had hit it about right,
Alick," said Mr. Brickland, when I had concluded
1y argument. “I didn't think Captain Braceback
was that sort of a man. You have always said
that he hated you like poison.”
“ But I don't believe he stole the package be.


1.48
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
cause he hated me, or at least not for that reason
alone, but because he wanted the money. He is
a poor man now," I continued.
“ But he has a job now to sail this steam-yacht
for the season,” added Mr. Brickland.
6. And the first use he makes of her is in run-
ning off with the package.”
“ As I look back, it all seems plain enough now.
He found out about this package before he was
the watchman at the bank. I am inclined to think
he wanted this place so as to help him in getting
hold of it. But how could he know that it was
buried in the cellar?”
“I begin to see a great many things that I did
not understand before," I replied, recalling the
events of the past. “It is plain enough to me
that Lynch Braceback has been watching me, or
was doing so at the time we concealed the pack-
age. I remember now, that, when I came from
the cellar after we had finished the job, I met
Lynch. He came out from behind that bush;
and I pointed to the one from whose shade I had
seen him come out on the evening we hid the
package.
“Why didn't you tell me this?” asked Mr.


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
149
Brickland. “If I had known it, I should have dug
up the bundle, and put it in some other place. It
is plain enough now that Lynch and his father
have been working up this matter for months.”
" Lynch has been one of my most intimate
friends for months; and I had no reason to sup-
pose he was spying out what I was doing,” I
pleaded. “But he told me he had just come from
home. He said he was going to the front door to
ring the bell when he saw me.”
“I have no doubt that steamer came up here
on purpose to carry off that package !” exclaimed
my guardian, as he glanced down the river as if to
get a sight of the Islander. “But it is time some-
thing was done.”
“I think so myself; but it is better to go to
work right, if we are an hour or two behind the
other boat," I added.
“Don't you think we had better have Lynch
arrested at once?” asked Mr. Brickland nervously.
“No, I don't: I think we had better not say a
word about the matter to any one.
I will follow
the Islander if she goes to the end of the world,'
I replied, rising from my seat. “I have no doubt
that package is on board of her. But, whatever


150
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
we may believe, we have no evidence of any thing.
The only thing to do now is to follow the Island-
er; and that I shall do. If I don't recover that
package, I have no business in a steam-yacht; for
I shall be a poor boy, as I was when I first came
to Montomercy.”
“ You can never be as poor as you were then
while I have any thing, Alick," added my guard-
ian with earnestness. 6. Shall I go
with
you
in
the steamer ?”
“ No, sir: I think you had better stay here. As
the matter stands now, Lynch don't know I sus-
pect that he had any thing to do with the rob
bery, even if he knows that we have discovered
the loss; and I think I can find out more by
watching him than I can in any other way. I
have not much doubt that Captain Braceback
intends to take those stocks and bonds into Cana-
da, and get rid of them as soon as possible. I
shall follow him; and that is all I can do at
present.”
“ But you need an officer to go with you,”
suggested Mr. Brickland.
“Not at all. I have no doubt Captain Brace-
back would throw the package into the lake, or


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
151
burn it in the furnaces of the Islander, rather than
have his villany discovered. Revenge is his first
object, and profit his second; and, if he can't
have both, he will satisfy himself with one.”
“I wish your father was here," mused my
guardian.
“ So do I; but, as he is not here, we must do the
best we can without him. But it is time for me
to be off. We have yet to prove whether the
Islander or the Sylvania is the faster vessel.”
“Don't blow her up, or any thing of that sort,"
added Mr. Brickland.
“Moses is a safe engineer; and I don't believe
he will allow any harm to come to the Sylvania,”
I replied, as I hurried into the house for my
clothes.
I was disposed to be excited; but I used my
best efforts to keep cool. I could hardly think of
treating Lynch Braceback like a friend after the
event of the morning, though I could not do
otherwise and carry out the plan I had formed. I
hastened down to the wharf, followed by my guar-
dian. The Islander was out of sight beyond the
bends of the river, and was probably out in the
lake by this time. When I reached the river I


152
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
found Lynch still on the wharf, walking up and
down as though he were engaged in meditation. I
thought he had enough to think about.
“We are all ready for a start, Lynch,” I said
as pleasantly as I could ; but it required an effort
for me to do so.
He followed me on board, after I had shaken
hands with Mr. Brickland and bidden an affection-
ate adieu to the other members of the family.
"All hands on deck !” shouted the new mate.
All hands consisted of Ellie Dykeman, Bob
Washburn, and Ben Bowman ; and they appeared
promptly at the call. A colored man whom we
all called “Gopher" was the cook and steward;
but he was busy at the galley, and was not expect-
ed to answer the summons, unless in case of an
emergency. Professor Buckminster was in his
state-room, attending to the duties of his position
in reading some written exercises handed to him
in the morning
I went into the pilot-house, and took my station
at the wheel. I gave the mate the order to cast
off the fast forward, and then I backed her against
the stern-line to throw her head off from the
wharf.


154
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
;
returning by the south shore. After this, if we
did not spend too much time in hunting and fish.
ing on the north shore, which was said to be the
paradise of sportsmen, the plan was to visit Chi-
cago, making the entire circuit of the Lake Mich-
igan. We had two months before us, which
appeared to be time enough to do all we had
planned.
In half an hour we reached the mouth of Glin-
ten River, and I looked in every direction for the
Islander; but I could see nothing of her. I con-
fidently anticipated that I should see her stand-
ing over to the flats, or headed south for Detroit
River. In fact, there was no other course for her
to take, unless she went in among the shoals, and
crawled into some creek. But we were not yet
out of the river, though I could have seen the Is-
lander if she had gone in either of the expected
directions. She might be concealed from my view
by the headlands on either side of the river; and
I expected to discover her as soon as the Sylva-
uia was fairly out in the lake.
In a few minutes more we were clear of the
river; but the Islander was not to be seen in any
direction.


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
155
CHAPTER XV.
BEYOND POINT HURON.
“WWE
was
IERE is your father going in the Islander,
Lynch?” I asked, when we were out in
the lake, and he appeared to be looking in
every direction, as I was.
“ I'm sure I don't know,” replied Lynch; and
his face as blank as though he was as
much bewildered as the rest of us.
“ Didn't he tell you where he was bound ?”
“He didn't say a word to me about it; but
I supposed he was going down to Lake Erie.
It didn't occur to me that he was going any-
where else; and I asked no questions. He is
out to try the steam-yacht; and I dare say it
don't make any difference where he goes.”
I could not determine in my own mind whether
Lynch was lying or not. I had no doubt that
the treasure was on board of the Islander. The
fact of her sudden disappearance confirmed my


156
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
theory, adopted before I left the house of my
guardian. Captain Braceback had a strong mo-
tive for getting out of my way. Thus far he
could not know, or even have any good reason
to suspect, that I had discovered the loss of
the hidden package. Doubtless he had counted
on the hurry and confusion of my departure on
the extended excursion to obtain the treasure;
and he could hardly have expected me to make
an examination of the cellar at such an exciting
time.
One mile north of the river was a point of
land, and two miles south was another, behind
either of which the Islander might be concealed.
She had had time enough to conceal herself
beyond either of them. The water was shallow
in both directions; but Captain Braceback was
a skilful pilot, and knew all the intricate chan-
nels of the lake. I was satisfied that the steam-
er was behind one or the other of these points,
and the question was to determine which one.
The navigation was rather better to the south-
ward than in the opposite direction. I concluded
that Captain Braceback intended to go through
Detroit River as soon as he had shaken off the


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
157
Sylvania ; and was therefore more likely to have
hidden himself around the south than the north
point.
Though I was well posted in regard to the
navigation of these waters, I was not willing to
take the risk of running as near the shore as
the Islander must have gone. To get aground
in the lake, where there are no tides, was to
lose the battle in the beginning. About a mile
out from the mouth of the river, I threw over
the wheel, and headed her a little east of south
for Point Huron buoy.
“Where are we bound, Captain Alick?" asked
Lynch, who was standing on the forecastle, still
looking in various directions by turns for the
Islander.
“ To the south south-east just now,” I replied,
with as much indifference as I could assume.
“ But what are you going to do down here?”
demanded the mate, evidently a little excited by
the course of the Sylvania.
6 I want to make an observation before we head
her for the St. Clair River."
“ Where are we going now?” asked Ellie, as
he and Bob Washburn came into the pilot-house.


158
LAKE BREEZES ; OR,
“I want to take a look behind that point,” I
replied, indicating the direction by a nod of the
head.
“What's up?" inquired Bob, who could not
help seeing that I was acting with a motive.
“ Never mind: don't ask any thing more about
it now, and I will tell you what I mean at some
other time. Don't say a word to Lynch about it,”
I added in a low tone, so that the mate could not
hear what I said.
“ All right,” answered Ellie, as he led the way
out of the pilot-house.
6. What are
we doing down here?” asked
Lynch of them, in a rather petulant tone, as they
appeared on the forecastle.
“ I'm sure I don't know,” said Ellie. “ You
must ask Captain Alick: I suppose he knows
what he is about."
Lynch glanced at me, and said no more; but
I could see that he was vexed at the course of
the vessel. I made up my mind that he knew
the Islander was concealed behind Point Huron,
though it was very easy to be mistaken. He and
his father had expected me to stand over to the
St. Clair River; and, as soon as I was fairly out of


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
159
sight, he intended to run down to Windsor, oppo-
site Detroit, and from that point proceed to some
large city in Canada or the United States to dis-
pose of the bonds and other securities, most of
which had a cash value in the market. He could
certainly realize a hundred thousand dollars from
the treasure. It was not at all likely that he
intended to return and command the Islander
during the summer season. It was more probable
that he would proceed to Montreal, and take a
steamer of the Allen line for England.
I rather congratulated myself that I had
** smoked out” his plan, and that I should defeat
its execution. Captain Braceback might succeed
in landing at Windsor, or some other port on the
British side; but if he did I would follow him,
even if he went across the Atlantic. I believed
just then that I was a very shrewd young man ;
and boys of my age are apt to be a little con-
ceited.
I watched every look and every movement of
the mate of the Sylvania ; but I had no fear of
any thing he might do as long as he remained on
deck. Yet it was perfectly evident to me that he
on board of this steamer for a purpose.
was


160
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
While I acted for my own interest, he was in the
service of his father, whose object it was to pre-
vent me from pursuing, or at least from overtak-
ing, the Islander. I had no doubt Lynch would
run the steamer aground, derange her machinery,
or do any thing else that would disable her. It
was necessary to watch him all the time; for as
mate he had the power to ruin all my hopes.
While I was thinking about the situation, Lynch
walked aft. I called Ellie to the wheel, and fol-
lowed the mate.
I found Lynch on the quarter-deck. He was
evidently very nervous about the situation; and
my following him did not quiet his agitation.
He wanted to do something; and it was possible
that he had gone aft to derange the steering ap-
paratus, or for some similar purpose. Whatever
his object, my appearance prevented him from car-
rying it out.
“ It seems to me, Captain Alick, that you are
taking a very strange course in order to reach the
upper lakes,” said Lynch, after he had fidgeted
about the deck for some time.
“ We are in no hurry: we have two months
before us," I replied rather carelessly. “We may
go through the cut channel.”


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
161
“But you are headed for the south-west corner
of the lake ; and you are altogether out of the
way for the channel,” added Lynch nervously, as
he gazed earnestly in the direction of Point
Huron.
“ I know; but it will not take long to run over
to the channel if we conclude to go up that
way.
I had nothing particular to say, and no explana-
tions to make. I wanted an opportunity to talk
over the situation with Ellie and Bob; and by
this time I had come to the conclusion that it
would be necessary for me to take into my confi-
dence all on board except Lynch Braceback, and
possibly Ben Bowman and the cook. I was sure I
could trust them, and that every one of them
would be devoted to my interest. Until I had in-
formed my friends of the situation, I should be
obliged to watch the mate myself; and at this
moment I had to follow him wherever he went
to prevent him from doing any mischief.
In a short time the Sylvania was abreast of
Point Huron, and I wanted to be forward where
I could better examine the shore beyond it; but I
could not take my eye off the mate, for he might


164
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
thought that came into my mind amused me so
that I wondered it had not come to me before.
“ I'm not in misery,” answered Lynch, with a
rather sickly smile, as he glanced at the shore
inside of the point. “ There isn't a fellow on
board of the steamer that don't like to be at the
wheel.”
“ I dare say there isn't one of you that will not
get enough of it before the cruise is finished," I
added. “ You may take the wheel now, Lynch.”
“Of course I don't want to take the wheel
away from Ellie Dykeman,” protested Lynch ;
and I saw that his jaw fell tremendously on the
instant.
“ I am perfectly willing to give it up, though I
confess that I like the job better than any thing
else on board," said Ellie.
“ You hear that, Captain Alick !” exclaimed
Lynch.
“I hear it; but you will take the wheel,
Lynch,” I replied.
“But I protest against depriving Ellie of his
fun,” continued Lynch.
“ We can't have any protesting on board ship:
it is never in order. If I am captain, all hands


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
165
must obey me. — Go forward, Ellie,” I added,
taking the wheel from his hands.
Ellie obeyed the order without any hesitation;
and Lynch, sorely against his will, took the helm
from
my
hands.


166
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
CHAPTER XVI.
THE ACCIDENT TO THE WHEEL.
LYNCH had not intended to disobey my
orders, and I did not regard his objection
to taking the helm as mutiny. If I had not un-
derstood his intentions, I should have considered
his conduct a fit subject for discipline. By this
time I had fully made up my mind that the
Islander was concealed somewhere beyond Point
Huron. Lynch wanted his time to himself, so
that he could slip below and disable the Islander,
thus enabling his father to escape without any
pursuit.
Keep her south-west ! ” I called to Lynch, as I
left the pilot-house.
But I saw that it would be necessary for me
to watch him very closely, for there was so much
shallow water near that he could have put her
hard and fast aground in five minutes. I walked
a little way aft to a point abreast of my state-
66


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
167
room, so that I could see where the steamer went,
though the mate could not see me. It was possi-
ble for Lynch to derange the steering-gear, but
he could not interfere with the engine. If he
attempted to run the vessel ashore, I had a bell-
pull near me, and I could stop and back the en-
gine before the traitor in the pilot-house could
run her aground.
I got the range of an object on the shore miles
ahead, and any considerable deviation from the
course would be apparent to me. In this position
I beckoned Ellie to join me. He had one eye on
me all the time, for I dare say my movements
were somewhat strange to him. I intended to
give him only a hint in regard to the conduct of
the mate, reserving the full explanation for a
more convenient season. Ellie came aft at once,
leaving Bob Washburn on the forecastle, for he
had not observed my signal to his companion.
“ Ellie, there is trouble on board," I began in
an impressive whisper, which caused him to open
wide his expressive eyes.
He looked at me, apparently confounded by the
announcement:
re just sta ing on
pleasure-excursion, and had always been the best
we
a


168
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
of friends, nothing could have been more unex-
pected to him. He asked no question, but waited
for further explanation.
• Lynch Braceback is playing a big game on
me, Ellie,” I continued in the same impressive
whisper.
“ What do you mean by that, Captain Alick ?”
demanded my companion.
“I can't stop to explain it now, but he is a
traitor to me. Don't say a word to him, or let
him know by your looks or actions that we sus-
pect any thing. I know what I am about; and I
want you to watch him all the time, without let-
ting him know that you suspect any thing.”
66 But I can't see
“ Never mind : I can see it all. Now go for-
ward, and as soon as
I had said so much when there was a sudden
snap, the noise of a rattling chain was heard,
and it was evident from the feeling of the vessel
that something had given way.
Of course I at
once attributed the mishap, whatever it was, to
the trickery of the mate at the wheel. But in an
instant I realized what had happened. A similar
accident, if this was an accident, had occurred on
>>
..


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
169
board before. The wheel-rope was broken or
detached from its fastening on the drum; and one
of the tiller-chains had run out, making a great
noise as it rushed through the grooves and over
the pulleys which kept it in place.
I sprang to the bell-pull, and one stroke of the
gong in the engineer's room stopped the engine.
I rang to back her, and then to stop her as soon
as the steamer had lost her headway. She lay in
the channel, with twelve feet of water all around
her; and for the present she was perfectly safe.
It was plain enough to me that Lynch had in-
tended to let the Sylvania run aground, for he
ought to have pulled the bell the instant the rope
parted. In half a minute more she would have
been hard and fast; for, running on at full speed,
she must have buried her keel in the sand at the
bottom of the lake.
“ That's what's the matter!” I exclaimed, as
soon as the steamer was stationary on the water.
Lynch did that on purpose.”
“Do you think so?” demanded Ellie, with a
look of blank amazement.
“ I know it!” I replied in an energetic whisper.
* Remember what I told you, and keep your eyes
wide open.


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
171
cited; or at least he pretended to be so. 6. Didn't
you see that the lashing of the wheel-rope was
loose, Captain Alick?”
“I hadn't observed it," I replied.
“ It is strange that you did not: you are so
careful about these things,” added Lynch.
“ It is strange. But it is lucky it broke here
where there was no strain on the rudder, and not
when we were running in a swift current, which
might have carried us ashore. Never mind it: we
can soon repair damages,” I continued.
I saw Lynch gazing anxiously at the shore in-
side of Point Huron; and I was confident the
Islander was concealed somewhere beyond it,
though I could not think of any creek that would
afford her a hiding-place. But there was no time
to lose, and I did not lose any. I called all
hands, and, putting the helm amidships, had the
chain attached to the broken wheel-rope hauled
forward. Giving the rope the required number
of turns on the drum, I rigged a whip, and hauled
the line taut, so that we could secure the end
around one of the spokes, as it had been before.
I removed the piece of spun-yarn with which it
bad been fastened, and sent Ben Bowman for a


172
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
new
one.
While he was gone I examined the
spun-yarn which had parted, though I turned my
back to the mate as I did so. It was a mystery
to me that the seizing should give way, but my
examination assured me that the rope-yarn had
been cut with a knife. As Ben returned to the
pilot-house, I put the seizing in my pocket for
further examination, and possibly for use as evi-
dence.
I secured the end of the wheel-rope again with
the greatest care, so that there should be no ex-
cuse for another accident of this kind. I said
nothing more to the mate about the matter, noth-
ing more to any one.
I overhauled the seizing on
the other wheel-rope, and found it perfectly sound,
as I was confident the other had been.
“We are all right now, Lynch; and you can
go ahead again," I said, when the damage had
been repaired.
Backing the Sylvania had brought her to her
original position when the wheel-rope gave way,
and she was headed down the channel. The mate
rang the bell, and the steamer went ahead again.
I did not think the traitor would attempt to dis-
able the steering-gear again; and I left the pilot-


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
173
house, as Ellie and Bob had done before. I went
forward, and seated myself at the heel of the bow-
sprit, where I could obtain a good view of the
shore inside of Point Huron. I could see nothing
of the Islander, though by this time we were in
a position to discover her if she were in this part
of the lake.
Ellie was following my instructions to the let-
ter, for he neither said nor looked any thing.
The Sylvania continued on her course to the
south-west till she was full five miles from the
mouth of Glinten River. I took my spyglass, and
carefully examined the shore from the point to
the head of the bay; but I could see nothing that
looked like a steamer. I was mystified and per-
plexed; for I had been so confident the Islander
had come in this direction, that I was not willing
to believe to the contrary.
“How much farther are we going in this direc-
tion?” called Lynch from the pilot-house.
“ I'll see in a few minutes," I replied.
I had kept one eye on the mate all the time,
and he had been examining the shore as carefully
as I had done; and more than once he had used
the field-glass which usually lay on the shelf in


174
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
front of him, by the side of the binnacle. If i
was mistaken, as I began to think I was by
this time, he had been no less mistaken, in re.
gard to the direction taken by the Islander. My
companions not on duty had been strolling about
the deck, and continued their walk to the stern
of the vessel.
“I see the Islander is making for the north
channel,” said Bob Washburn, as he came forward
after one of these strolls aft.
He spoke as though it did not make the slight-
est difference where the Islander went, for neither
he nor Ellie knew that I was looking for her.
did not care to call the mate's attention to the
fact that the other steamer had been discovered,
and I walked leisurely aft with the glass in my
hand. When I reached the quarter-deck, I ex-
amined the distant craft, and realized that it was
indeed the Islander.
She was all of seven miles distant from us. It
was plain enough that she had run in behind
the north point, instead of going to the southward,
as I had believed she would do. As soon as the
Sylvania was well out of her way, she had come
out from her hiding-place, and stood off to the


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
175
north-east. But I had discovered her, and that
was all I wanted. I was satisfied that I could
overtake her some time; or at least get upon the
track of her captain if he landed on the British
side of the lake.
“I think we won't go any farther in this direc-
tion, Lynch,” I said, in an indifferent tone, as I
walked forward. “Come about, and stand over
to the south-pass channel.”
“ All right, Captain Alick,” replied the mate.
I was confident that he had not, yet seen the
Islander; but he knew enough about the lake to
be satisfied that his father's vessel was not where
we had both supposed she was. He put the helm
down, and the Sylvania was soon standing over
towards the channel in an east south-easterly
direction. Seven miles to the northward and
eastward was the Islander, barely to be observed
at this distance. I watched the face of Lynch,
and I saw the slight start he gave when he dis-
covered her.
We had a run of six miles to the entrance of
the channel; and I concluded that it was time for
me to enlighten my friends in regard to the situa-
tion.


178
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
for a
late now to recede from my position, and I could
only make the best of it.
After carefully examining the chart, I made up
my mind what to do. I could not afford to let
Captain Braceback get to the southward of me;
run of twenty miles would bring him to
Windsor, where there were several trains every
day to the large towns of the Dominion. I de-
cided, therefore, to run into the south pass a short
distance, and take a position where I could see
the Islander if she returned to the south. I knew
of several places where the Sylvania could be
concealed.
By the time I had made these calculations, we
were at the entrance of the old channel, used
before the opening of the canal through the flats.
A large schooner in tow of a tug-boat had just
come through, bound to the southward. The en-
gine of the tug appeared to be out of order, and
she had stopped her propeller to repair damages.
The two vessels were at rest near the entrance
of the channel. The schooner was a three-mast-
er; and, though the wind was light, she had all
her sails set. The sight of her suggested a new
idea. I went into the pilot-house, and relieved
the mate from duty at the wheel.


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
179
Taking the helm of the Sylvania, I ran her
to wind ward of the schooner, so that she was
between the steam-yacht and the Islander. The
men on board of the tug hailed us
as we ap-
proached ; and this afforded me a sufficient excuse
for running alongside of the schooner. The en-
gineer of the tug asked if we had a certain kind
of bolt on board. I called Moses; and, in order
to delay matters as much as possible, I directed
the mate to get out the boat, and, placing Ben
Bowman in charge of the machine, I sent our
engineer on board of the disabled steamer.
I was satisfied that those on board of the Is-
lander could not see the Sylvania ; and, at her
distance from us, it would be easy for them to
suppose she had entered the south pass. Moses
went on board of the tug. I had quietly in-
structed him to render all the assistance in his
power, assuring him that we were in no hurry.
He was an enthusiast in the matter of machinery,
and I had known him to work all night over a
difficult problem in his favorite study. It ap-
peared afterwards that he and the engineer of the
tug had disagreed in regard to the disability of
the engine, which had been built in the shop


180
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
where Moses learned his trade; and between
them it took an hour to settle the question in dis-
dute before they were ready to repair the damage.
As the mate was at a safe distance, I had the
desired opportunity to explain the situation to
Ellie and Bob Washburn. Before I had fairly in-
troduced the explanation, Professor Buckminster
came out of his state-room where he had been
reading, and wanted to know when I intended to
resume my studies. I told him I did not believe
ļ could bring my mind up to Latin, Greek, and
mathematics, for a few days, for I was greatly ex-
sited over another subject.
“ You mustn't turn aside from your studies for
any thing else if you intend to enter college in a
year from this summer,” said he, shaking his head.
“I don't know as I can enter college at all, to
say nothing of a year hence," I replied ; and I am
afraid my smile was rather a sickly one as I thought
of the consequences of the loss of the treasure.
Why, what has happened ? ” asked the profes-
sor, with a look of anxiety; and I was sure it was
born of a real interest in his pupil.
“I have not heard from my father for several
months, and I should not be at all surprised to


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
181
learn that all my prospects on the other side of
the Atlantic were blasted," I answered. “I should
not mind that so much if I had not been robbed
of all I had on this side of the ocean.”
Why, what do you mean, Alick ? ” demanded
the professor.
“What has happened, Captain Alick ?” asked
Bob and Ellie in the same breath.
It took me half an hour to tell what had hap-
pened as briefly as I could. I related the history
of the valuable package from the time it had been
first deposited in the Montomercy Bank for safe-
keeping, down to the moment when it had been
taken from the cellar of Mr. Brickland's house.
“I did not think you and Mr. Brickland were
such fools as to put a package containing over a
hundred thousand dollars in the cellar of the
house,” said Ellie bluntly.
“We were not fools enough to leave it in the
bank after two or three attempts to rob it had been
made,” I retorted rather sharply.
“But it is evident enough that Captain Brace.
back, as the watchman of the bank, made all these
attempts himself," interposed Mr. Buckminster.
“ It is very easy to see that now; but it was not


182
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
so easy when we took out the package, and we
should certainly have taken it out if we had un-
derstood that he had designs upon it. But it is
useless to discuss the past: the future is all we
have to do with. I am confident that package is
on board of the Islander. Captain Braceback will
land at some port on the Canada side, where he
can take a train to Montreal, Toronto, or some
other large place; and our business just now is to
prevent him from doing so, and to recover the
property if possible,” I continued.
“ Well, why are you not following the Islander,
instead of lying idle here?” asked the professor,
with no little excitement in his manner.
66 I think the Islander will come about, and run
for Windsor as soon as Captain Braceback thinks
we are well on our way through the south pass,”
I answered.
I explained the movements of the Islander, as I
understood them, and the reason why I had placed
the Sylvania in the shadow of the great sails of
the three-master. As I spoke I took the glass, and
examined the situation of the steamer at the north
It seemed to me that she had stopped her
propeller; and, comparing her with the stationary
of us.


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
183
case.
objects in the distance, I was satisfied this was the
We had been alongside the schooner more
than half an hour, and I was satisfied that her
people had missed the Sylvania. They were
doubtless engaged just then in looking her up, or
waiting for her to get well up the south pass.
I explained my views of the situation to my
friends, and they expressed the opinion that I was
correct. At any rate, every thing worked in ac-
cordance with the theory I had laid down. The
schooner had lowered her jib and flying-jib, and
there was hardly wind enough to flap her other
sails, which afforded the steamer a convenient
shelter. I had directed Ben Bowman to bank his
fires so that the smoke from the furnaces should
not betray our position.
We continued to discuss the situation in the
pilot-house, until we had used up an hour in this
way. By this time the engineer of the tug had
been convinced as to the difficulty with the en-
gine of his craft; but it required another hour to
repair the damage. Lynch had become disgusted
with the delay, for Moses had not told him what
instructions I had given him.
The mate sculled the boat back to the Sylvania.


184
LAKE BREEZES ; OR,
He could not help seeing the position of the Is-
lander; and very likely he fathomed the purpose
of his father, as I was satisfied I had done. She
had ceased to move; and this fact disturbed
Lynch. Probably he understood from it that his
father intended to return to the southward as soon
as the Sylvania was fairly out of sight in the south
pass. He could no longer wait patiently for the
engineer to complete his work, as he had done
while he believed the Islander was increasing her
distance from the Sylvania.
“How much longer are we to remain here?” he
demanded, as his boat came within hailing distance
of the steamer.
“ We are in no hurry, Lynch, as I have been
saying all the morning,” I replied quietly.
“Moses will never get that job done,” protested
the mate.
“Do you think so ? How far along have they
got with it?"
“I don't know. We shall not get into the St.
Clair River till night at this rate,” continued
Lynch impatiently.
“ No matter if we don't: we know the
way.
But
just return and ask Moses how much longer it will
take to finish the job,” I added.


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
185
Possibly Lynch believed this would expedite the
matter, and he sculled the boat back to the tug.
- You can see that he understands the situa-
tion,” I remarked, as the mate passed out of hear-
ing distance. “He was not in a hurry till he saw
that the Islander had stopped. Some of us must
keep an eye on Lynch night or day,” I continued
earnestly. “If he goes below, some one must fol-
low him.”
“We will do that,” replied Ellie and Bob to-
gether. “ This is getting to be rather exciting.”
“It will be when the chase actually begins. We
are only skirmishing now," I added, as I raised my
glass to examine the Islander again. “She has
come about, and is headed to the south now!” I
exclaimed, not a little excited to find that I had!
correctly read the intentions of the captain of the
Islander.
In half an hour more she was off Glinten River.
When Moses had finished the job on the tug's en:
gine, Lynch and the engineer returned.


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
187
" Don't be in such a hurry, Lynch: we may not
go up the St. Clair for a day or two yet. What
makes you so impatient ?”
“When a fellow gets his mind made up for any
thing, he don't like to be kept back a week for
nothing."
“But we have two months before us; and it
isn't more than three days' run to Lake Superior
at the most," I added. 6. Isn't that the Islander
coming down the lake, Lynch ?”
“I suppose it is,” replied the mate, looking at
me very sharply.
“ Your father seems to have changed his mind,
and concluded not to go up the lake any farther."
“I don't know that he intended to go up the
lake any farther,” growled Lynch.
At this moment Ben Bowman struck eight bells,
for we did every thing in ship-shape style. Before
the mate could say any thing more, the steward
rang
the bell at the door of the cabin for dinner.
“We may as well go in and have dinner before
we get under way again,” I said, calling Ben, and
giving him the charge of the pilot-house and deck.
“ I don't want any dinner yet,” exclaimed
Lynch, who saw that the Islander must be quite


188
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
near us by the time the meal was finished. “If
the rest of you will go to dinner, I will start the
steamer, and eat my dinner when you get through,”
suggested Lynch.
“ No: let's have a good time at the table, for
Gopher has got up a nice dinner for us,” laughed
Ellie, who saw where the shoe pinched the mate.
“ Besides, we want to give the Islander three
cheers when she comes down.”
I insisted that we should all dine together, and
the mate reluctantly followed us down into the
cabin.
We had beefsteak, fried potatoes, coffee, and a
pudding, which we discussed at length, though we
could all see that Lynch was fidgeting the whole
time, unable to keep reasonably quiet in his seat.
The Sylvania was still in the shade of the sails of
the steamer; for in repairing the damage the engi-
neer of the tug had been obliged to draw his fires
because the heat interfered with the work. He
was getting up steam again, and all hands on the
three vessels were at dinner.
We enjoyed the dinner very much, not only
because it was a good dinner, but because the
mate was so much annoyed at the delay. Ellie


190
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
was rather low; and this fact was against us. But
I knew that Moses would have her at her best
speed in a very short time. I opened the binna-
cle, and headed the Sylvania south-west, half
south. The distance to Detroit River was just
twenty miles; and the Islander had the same dis-
tance to run, with some little advantage of us in
the fact that she had a full head of steam on.
“Where are we going now?” demanded the
mate, as soon as I had laid the course of the
steamer.
“We are going down to give the Islander three
cheers,” I replied merrily.
“ It seems to me you are going a long distance
out of your way to do it," said Lynch with a
sickly smile.
- She is not more than two miles from us now,'
I answered, glancing at the chase.
“But you won't get any nearer to her for two
hours at least. My father says the Islander can
outsail any thing on the lakes.”
• Perhaps he is right; but I should like to
measure lengths with him for a while.”
Why don't you give the three cheers here, and
let us go about our business ?”
66
66


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
191
“We are out on a pleasure-excursion; and we
may as well take our fun as we go along,” I con-
tinued, laughing at the earnestness of the mate.
Lynch was not at all satisfied with the situation ;
but he evidently could not trust himself to con-
verse with me on the subject. He could not help
realizing that he was betraying himself; or at least
that he was manifesting too much interest in the
course of the Sylvania, as compared with his com-
panions on board. He walked aft; but both Ellie
and Bob followed him, as they had been instructed
to do. I did not feel that the mate had any power
to do any mischief under this close surveillance.
I soon found that Moses was carrying out his
instructions to put on all the steam he could
carry; for the speed of the Sylvania was rapidly
increasing. The Islander had been gaining upon
us, but within half an hour I was satisfied that we
were holding our own. I watched the chase with
the closest attention ; and I used my geometry in
measuring the angles between our relative posi
tion and the fixed objects on the shore. For the
next half-hour neither vessel appeared to gain on
the other. But we were approaching the same
point from positions two miles apart; and, if each


192
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
was.
I
steamer held its own, we should enter Detroit
River at about the same time.
I had not told Moses Brickland any thing about
the situation on board, as he had been on the
tug when I made my explanations to the rest
of my friends. I thought I had better give him
the information I had conveyed to the others, and
I called Bob Washburn into the pilot-house. He
had often steered the Sylvania by compass, but he
was not quite so good a wheelman as I wished he
gave him the helm; but I charged him to
keep her very steady, and not let her vary even a
fraction of a point from the course.
“Steer very small, and watch the compass every
instant: don't mind any thing else," I said to him,
as I left the pilot-house.
The great fault of inexperienced helmsmen is,
that they keep the vessel “wabbling” about by
turning the wheel too much when she varies a
little from the course. I had often spoken to Bob
about this matter; and he had greatly improved.
I watched him for a few minutes, till I saw that he
was doing just right, and then hastened to the
engine-room, though not till I had stationed the
mate on the forecastle as a lookout.


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
193
“ Are you doing your best with her, Moses ? ” I
asked.
• Perhaps not the best,” replied the engineer as
he glanced at his gauges. “ I am not driving her,
but she has what we call full steam.”
“ Can she do any better without danger ?” I
inquired with interest.
“I should say that she could; but I did not
understand that you were in any particular hurry,"
said Moses.
“I am in the biggest hurry I ever was in in
my life.
“ Is that so ?” and Moses looked inquiringly at
me, as though he wondered why I could possibly
be in a hurry on the present occasion.
But, without waiting to hear what I had to say
in explanation of my haste, he went down into the
fire-room, and added an extra supply of fuel to the
furnaces. Calling Ben Bowman, he charged him
to watch the fires, and returned to the engine-
room.
In as few words as possible, I told him the story
I had related to my other friends. He was much
astonished, and wondered that his father had
never said any thing to him about the package. I


194
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
stated the reason why Mr. Brickland had been
silent. · He was sure he could get another mile an
hour out of the Sylvania without any danger;
and he at once busied himself with the oil-cans.
I had no doubt he would do all in his power to
enable me to overhaul the Islander, and I left
him.
Returning to the pilot-house, I watched the
steering of the vessel, and assured Bob he was
doing as well as anybody could do with the
wheel. I measured the angles again ; and, when
the Sylvania began to shake and vibrate under
the increased pressure of steam, I saw that we
were gaining a little. The race was growing
rather exciting to all who understood the situation.
“What are you trying to do, Captain Alick ?”
asked Lynch, striving to be as calm as possible.
“ You say your father thinks the Islander can
beat the Sylvania ; and I want to know about it,
I replied.
“ But you are driving the Sylvania : she shakes
like a log in a saw-mill,” added Lynch. “I don't
think my father is hurrying the Islander.”
" I should say that he was. Can't you see by
the smoke that they are piling in the coal ?”


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
195
“ My father has sailed both of these steamers,
and he says the Islander can beat this one; and I
think he ought to know,” added Lynch; and he
was evidently glad to have something besides the
real situation to explain his nervous manner.
“I have heard it stated just the other way, -
that the Sylvania, which was built after the Is-
lander, was just a little faster," I added. “Be that
as it may, we can settle this question now to the
satisfaction of your father and all concerned.”
“But my father is not driving the Islander.”
“Well, if he chooses to let her be beaten, that
will not be my fault. But there goes another lot
of coal into the furnaces,” I continued, as a vol-
ume of black smoke rolled up from her smoke-
stack.
“You ought to have said something about it to
father before we started, if you wanted to race
with him," said Lynch.
66 I think he can see it now. We are beating
him, as sure as you live!”
About five miles from the entrance of the
river, the Islander suddenly came about.
my


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
197
Bob, and follow the Islander; but you need not
follow her if our craft insists upon going ahead.”
"I don't see what you want to keep fooling
with her for!” exclaimed the mate, disgusted with
the situation.
“I think I shall be obliged to follow the Island-
er till you are willing to admit that the Sylvania
is too much for her.”
“ If that is all you want, I will admit it now,”
added Lynch.
“Oh no! I'm not going to accept your admission
till you are satisfied on the point. I don't want
you to go on shore and
say
that the Sylvania was
beaten, or that your father was not driving his
craft.”
“I will give it up, and never say a word about
the matter any way, if you will only let us go on
about our business," replied the mate.
“ You have got my blood up; and I want to
know about it now, especially as the Islander is
headed the very way we desire to go.”
Lynch said no more, and I sent him to the wheel
to relieve Bob. I told him to follow the Islander
wherever she went; but I did not intend to trust
him without keeping a sharp lookout over his
actions.


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
199
5 It was that which assured me he had been
concerned in the taking of it.”
“ I have been thinking of this matter since you
told us about it,” continued Ellie thoughtfully.
“Don't you believe it was Lynch who got you
into all those scrapes at Somerset College?”
“I don't know: I hadn't thought of the matter,"
I replied, turning my attention in that direction.
“I will bet my life that Lynch was at the bot-
tom of the whole of it!" exclaimed Bob Wash-
burn.
Perhaps it was; but it isn't proved,” I added.
Perhaps it may never be proved; but a fellow
can have his opinion, for all that,” said Bob.
" It looks to me now just as if Captain Brace-
back was in Montomercy for the sole purpose
of
getting you into trouble, Captain Alick,” added
Ellie.
He went over the ground to show the reason for
his belief. I had no doubt that Captain Brace-
back got into the bank as a watchman for the sole
purpose of obtaining possession of the package
deposited there by my guardian ; but I could not
see why Lynch should try to get me into trouble
at the school, unless it was to make it appear that


200
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
The en-
I was a bad boy, and had taken the package my-
self. But it was of little use to prove that Lynch
had been a traitor to me from the very beginning
of our acquaintance: he was certainly playing a
double part now, and that was enough for my
present purpose.
I told Moses that he need not drive the Sylva-
nia any more ; that all I desired was to keep the
Islander in sight. The pressure was removed,
and the chase began to gain upon us.
gineer noticed the increasing distance between the
two vessels, and spoke to me about it. I waited
a while longer, and then saw that Captain Brace-
back was no more inclined to drive his boat
than I was.
The pressure was removed from the
Islander, and for the next hour the two vessels
maintained their distance from each other.
“ The Islander has changed her course,” said
Ellie, who was the first to notice the fact.
“I see: she is going through the canal,” I
replied.
A moment later the mate changed the course
of the Sylvania. By this time the chase was
about half a mile ahead of us. When she en-
tered the canal, she was obliged to slow down to


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
201
less than half speed; but, as we were compelled to
do the same, we gained nothing; and both vessels
entered the south pass at the same distance as be-
fore from each other. At eight o'clock in the
evening we reached Port Huron. I was curious
to know how large a supply of coal the Islander
had; but I had made up my mind in the morning
that her bunkers were full, for she was well down
in the water. In this respect the conditions of
the two vessels were about equal.
Captain Braceback must be satisfied by this
time that he could not run away from the Syl-
vania; and I was confident that he relied upon a
fog, or some other circumstance, to enable him to
dodge us. But the weather was entirely clear,
with no prospect of a storm, or even of thick
fogs.
“She is going in at a wharf!” exclaimed Bob
Washburn, rushing up to me on the quarter-deck.
“ All right," I replied, ringing the gong to stop
her.
I went forward, and saw that the chase was
headed for a coal-wharf. I went into the pilot-
house, and took the wheel from Ellie, who had
been steering for the last hour. I made a landing


202
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
at a wharf a few rods below that where the
Islander had gone in, and made fast. I concluded
that Captain Braceback intended to fill
up
his
bunkers in order to be prepared for any emer-
gency; and I lost no time in doing the same
thing. With one day's supply of fuel more than
we had, the chase might lead us about the lakes
for a couple of days, and then give us the slip
when we had not the power to follow him. I felt
that I was too smart to be caught in any such
trap. It was the mate's duty to attend to the
work of coaling; and, while he was so employed,
I left him, with Bob Washburn to have an eye
upon his actions. I wanted to take a look at the
Islander, and Ellie and I walked up to her
berth.
Good-evening, Captain Alick,” said the sail-
ing-master of the Islander, as we approached.
Good-evening, sir,” I replied, utterly con-
founded by this stretch of civility on the part of
Captain Braceback; for this was about the first
time he had spoken to me since he had been dis-
charged by the former owner of the Sylvania.
Of course I concluded that his civility was for
a purpose; but I was not disposed to resent it on
66
66


204
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
66
much difference to us where we go,” I answered
evasively.
Well, it don't to me. My owners sent me out
for a week to make sure that the Islander was in
good condition for the summer; and, as this is my
first season in her, I am anxious to get fully ac-
quainted with her before I take any passengers on
board."
“ It is a good plan to know your craft well,” I
added.
“ You handle the Sylvania exceedingly well,
Captain Alick.”
I thought this very kind of him. I was not
much astonished when he invited me to go on
board of the Islander, as I had never seen her. I
considered a moment, and then decided to accept
the invitation. I did not see that any harm could
come to me in doing so, and I had a perfect confi-
dence in my ability to take care of myself under
all circumstances. We glanced at the arrange-
ments on deck, and then descended to the cabin.
Every thing was precisely like the Sylvania.
“ Take a seat, Captain Alick," continued the
captain of the Islander, as he dropped into a chair
beneath the swinging light over the table.


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
205
I seated myself, and Ellie did the same. As I
glanced at the captain, the first thing I noticed was
that his clothes were even more richly bedaubed
with yellow mud than the garments of his son.
“You gave us quite a smart run down the lake
this afternoon, Captain Alick,” said our host.
“ Your son says the Islander can beat us; and
I wanted to know about it," I answered, still
studying the mud on his clothes.
“Does Lynch say that? He is much mistaken.
The Sylvania has the reputation of being the
fastest boat of the two,” added the captain gra-
ciously. “And I think you got ahead of us this
afternoon.”
“ I think so too,” I replied confidently.
“No doubt of it,” he added.
But I was not much interested in the conversa-
tion. I looked about the cabin for any thing that
might add something to my knowledge of the
situation. I particularly wondered where the
valuable package was kept, for I was sure it was
on board of the yacht. But I did not think it
could be in the cabin. I spoke of the captain's
state-room, and asked if it was like the same
apartment on board of the Sylvania. Our host an-


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
209
“He will kill you for that,” exclaimed my
friend.
“He won't know any thing about it till he
breaks open the desk,” I replied, as I led the
way
back to the Sylvania.
“ I am shaking all over, Alick,” added Ellie.
“Don't shake any more: we have got the best
of it just now. Hush up! follow me in behind
this pile of lumber.”
Though it was rather dark, I could distinctly
make out, in a form approaching us from the di-
rection of the wharf where the Sylvania lay, the
person of Captain Braceback. This was the rea-
son why I suddenly changed my tone and the sub-
ject of the conversation. It was plain enough to
me that he had been to see the mate of the Sylva-
nia. If he saw us, he took no notice of us; and,
when he had passed, we hastened on our way to
the boat. When we reached the wharf, I was not
a little astonished to see that our steamer was
swinging her head off from the pier.
“Some trick here, Ellie!” I exclaimed, —
“hurry up!"
I broke into a run, and my companion kept
close to me. When we were half way down the


210
LAKE BREEZES ; OR,
66
wharf, I saw one of the shore-men cast off the
stern-line of the Sylvania. At the same moment
the gong rang, and the boat began to go ahead.
• Jump over the stern, Ellie ! be quick about
it!” I said to my companion.
It was not a long leap, and he made it without
accident. I followed him ; but, as the boat was
at this time some little distance from the pier, I
caught only by the ends of my finger-nails, as it
were, on the rail.
With two inches more to over-
come, I should have gone overboard; and I should
as it was, if Ellie had not taken one of
my
hands
and assisted me.
" Who's there?” demanded Bob Washburn, as
he came aft, whither his attention had been called
by the yells of one of the coal-men.
“What's going on here, Bob?” I asked, as soon
as I could gain breath enough to enable me to
speak.
Why, is that you, Captain Alick?” demanded
Bob, evidently very much astonished, though I
could see no reason why he should be.
“ Of course it is: who else should it be?” I in.
quired. “What's up on board now ?”
“I thought you were in the pilot-house.”


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
211
“ How could I be in the pilot-house when I
was on shore ?"
“ That's what bothers me,” replied Bob, taking
off his cap, and rubbing his head. “Lynch said
you were in the pilot-house; and that's all I
know about it."
“Never mind; go forward, and don't say a
word to the mate for a while," I continued.
“ But what's up, Captain Alick ?” asked Bob
curiously.
“ I have been on board of the Islander; and I sat
talking with Captain Braceback, when he asked
to be excused for a few minutes while he went
to look out for the coaling of the vessel. It
seems that he came over here, and told his son
to start the Sylvania without me. That's the
whole of it; and Lynch was going to run away
with the steamer, so as to help his father out
with the job he has undertaken. But don't say,
a word to Lynch: he still believes I am on
shore.”
Bob went forward; and, as the mate was busy
at the wheel, he had no chance to look about
the vessel. He had no reason to suppose that
his father's trick was not an entire success. I


212
LAKE BREEZES ; OR,
did not exactly see how Lynch expected to get
out of the scrape ; for he knew that all on board
were my friends, and would be true to my
interests. But I concluded that he did not care
to get out of it. All he wanted was to give
the Islander time to get a good start down the
St. Clair. But I was perfectly satisfied with
the course he was steering.
“How are we coming out of this, Captain
Alick ?” asked Ellie, as soon as Bob had gone
forward.
" It doesn't make any difference how we come
out, Ellie,” I replied, laughing. Lynch thinks
that you and I are on board of the Islander,
and, I suppose, is waiting for Bob Washburn to
discover that we are not on board of the Sylvania.
I have no doubt he is prepared for the row that
is likely to follow the discovery.”
Why don't you let him make the row after
a while, just to see what he will do ?” sug-
gested Ellie, who had as much taste for fun as
the average boy of his age.
“Good! I am willing to try it on. Gopher
has lighted up all the state-rooms, as usual; and
no one need know that we are not in them.”
>>


214
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
board of the Islander he saw that the Sylvania
was backing against her stern-line to throw her
head off from the pier; and in another minute she
was going ahead. At this moment Ellie and I
jumped aboard of her. The mate was so busy
looking out for the course of the boat that he had
no thought for what was taking place at the stern.
Captain Braceback believed that he was a very
shrewd and cunning man; and I think he was
more than half right. He rushed down to his
craft, and quietly directed one of his deck-hands
to cast off the bow-line. There was but one door
to the state-room where he had entertained us ;
and that opened from a little hall, which occupied
the space not taken by the stairway leading down
into the forward cabin. Passing into this entry
from the main deck, the door on the left led into
the pilot-house, and that on the right into the
Captain's state-room, precisely as it was on board
of the Sylvania.
When Captain Braceback went out of the room,
leaving his visitors there, he closed the door be-
hind him. The blinds of the two windows were
closed; so that no one on the deck, if there had been
any person there, could have seen what I was


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
215
doing. As I thought of it afterwards, I wondered
he should have believed his guests, under the cir-
cumstances, would remain there any great length
of time. As soon as he stepped on board, he
hastened to the little hall, and turned the key in
the state-room door.
As I told Ellie afterwards, I would have given
something handsome to see Captain Braceback
after he had turned that key. I have no doubt
he rubbed his hands with delight, after the manner
of the stage characters when they have done a
shrewd thing. No doubt he felt like a hunter who
has trapped a big wild animal. He was confident
that he had me a prisoner, and very likely he
intended to call it all a mistake when it suited his
convenience to discover me locked into his room.
At Detroit or at some other landing-place, he doubt-
less meant to let me go; but it would be at some
point where I could not easily get back to the
Sylvania.
By the time he had “bagged his game," as he
supposed, the head of the Islander was well out
from the wharf, and he gave the order to cast off
the stern-line. The steamer stood off from the
shore; and, with her helm hard a-port, she soon


216
LAKE BREEZES ; OR,
swung around so as to be headed down the river.
I saw her do this part of her evening's work; and I
understood the situation so well, I felt that I could
almost hear the chuckle of the conspirator, as he
started on his voyage down the river.
As my informant, who was the acting mate of
the Islander, told me, Captain Braceback was in
the highest spirits. But when the steamer had
gone five or six miles down the river, the captain
opened the door leading to the little hall from the
pilot-house. He seemed to be listening, and wait-
ing for something; but nothing occurred to dis-
turb him. There was no outcry from the state-
room where Ellie and I were supposed to be pris-
At last the captain opened the door of the
state-room, and found that it was empty. He
could not tell his mate what he was dofng, but he
seemed to be very much disconcerted. He looked
at the desk, and then looked for the key. An
hour later he broke open the desk: the mate saw
him do this, but did not understand why he had
done it.
oners.



GETTING ON BOARD THE SYLVANIA
PAGE 210.





THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
217
CHAPTER XXI.
THE MATE ON WATCH.
I
SAW the Islander on her way down the river,
and she soon disappeared from sight. I con-
cluded, from the direction she had taken, that Cap-
tain Braceback had not yet discovered that the
package had again changed hands.
He might
think that he had locked the desk and mislaid the
key. He might not think to break open the desk
till the next day, or even till he reached his desti-
nation, whatever it might be.
While Bob Washburn was forward, I concluded
that Ellie and I would be safer from observation
in the cabin than on deck; and we went below. By
the telltale over the skylight, I saw that the Syl-
vania was headed north by east.
This course
would take her to Cove-Island light, at the en-
trance of Georgian Bay, one hundred and seventy
miles from Port Huron. I supposed he had taken
this course by direction of his father.


218
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
While I was in the cabin, Professor Buckminster
came out of his state-room; and I took the oppor-
tunity to tell him all that had happened. He did
not take much interest in the affairs of the steamer;
but he laughed heartily when I told him my story,
and intimated that Lynch supposed I was on shore.
He volunteered to call Moses, and to tell Ben Bow-
man the state of the case.
Later in the evening we had a visit from Bob
Washburn, who had been on duty all the time
since we saw him before. He had asked the mate's
permission to come below for his overcoat. Lynch
had been at the wheel all the time; Ben Bowman
was on the bowsprit, keeping the lookout; and
Bob had spent his time in the pilot-house with the
mate.
“ Does Lynch say any thing, Bob?” I asked, as
he stood at the door of the large state-room which
was reserved for my use when I chose to occupy
it.
“He don't say much,” replied Bob, laughing.
“ He keeps wondering where Captain Alick is.”
“ Where does he say I am ?” I inquired.
“ He says you are in your state-room ; and I
noticed, as I came by the door, that it was locked.


220
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
“ Probably there won't be any to-night. If I
can get into my room without being seen, very
likely Lynch will let me stay there all night; for
it is plain sailing, and the weather is all that can
be desired.”
“I will tell you how you can get into the room,
Captain Alick,” interposed Bob, rubbing his closely
shaved head, as he was apt to do when he had a
bright idea or when he was perplexed.
“ What is it?” I asked.
“ He told me to ask Gopher to have a lunch for
him, as the captain evidently intends to keep him
at the wheel all night. I will tell the steward to
have the lunch on the cabin table; and, while he
is stowing it away, I shall be at the wheel, and you
can get into your room without any trouble."
“ All right; but of course I must get out of the
cabin before he comes down.”
“Certainly: you can hide in the engine-room.”
In a few minutes the steward appeared with a
tray bearing the lunch for the mate, which he
arranged on the table. When he had done all,
and looked the table over to assure himself that it
was all right, he started up the ladder to call the
mate. I followed him up the steps; and, as he went


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
221
to port, I took the starboard side. Moses gave me a
hearty welcome to his quarters, and I concealed
myself behind the boiler. I had a little talk with
him, till the conversation was interrupted by the
step of the mate on the deck. Lynch did not stop
on the way to the cabin: very likely he was hun-
gry, and thinking only of the needs of his stomach,
though I am inclined to believe he was thinking
more about me than he was of the needs of his
inner man.
“ The coast is all clear,” said Bob, as I showed
myself at the door of the pilot-house.
“ Does Lynch say any thing more about me?”
asked.
“ Yes: he said he thought you must have gone
to sleep. I told him he ought to call you,” replied
Bob, with his gaze fixed upon the compass, like a
good helmsman.
What did he say to that?”
" He said he would not call
you
if
come out of your room till morning; and I don't
believe he will. Then I asked him how he knew
what course to steer. He answered that
you
had
told him to keep her north by east; and that
you said you were going to Lake Superior by the
you didn't


222
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
north passage, so as to make a good part of the
trip among the islands to the north of Manitou-
line.”
“ He invented all that; but of course he can't
carry on the game without a multitude of lies,” I
added.
“How long will it be before we come up with
the land on this tack, Captain Alick?”
“Seventeen hours from the time you left Port
Huron, at our usual rate of speed, which is about
ten miles an hour.”
“ All right: then we shall not go ashore in the
night, if the mate should leave me at the wheel
while he takes his nap."
“ It is plain sailing : keep her north by east,
and
you
won't be
up
with the land till about two
o'clock to-morrow afternoon."
I deemed it prudent by this time to unlock my
door, and go into my state-room. The light by
the desk and chart-table was burning, and the
room was as cheerful as I had always found it;
and I am free to say it was “the dearest spot on
earth to me." The chart of Lake Huron, which I
had laid out on the table in the afternoon, was
not where I had left it. I concluded that Lynch


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
223
had taken it out of my room for use during the
night. I did not want it just then; and as the
mate had taken upon himself the navigation of
the steamer for the next few hours, be it more or
less, I was glad he had taken the precaution to
secure the chart.
Nearly 'one-half of the door of my room was a
blind, with close slats, for the better ventilation
of the apartment. When I heard the step of the
mate on the deck outside, I seated myself in a
chair near this blind. I wanted to hear what
was done and said. The door of the pilot-house
was generally fastened open, as I noticed that it
was when I was talking with Bob at the wheel.
“I feel better, Bob,” said Lynch as he entered
the pilot-house. " A lunch at this hour, when a
fellow is to sit up all night, makes him wide
awake.”
6. How do
you
know
you are to sit
up
all night?
That isn't the way they do on board ship, I be-
lieve,” replied Bob. “ The captain will not sleep
all night, if he is asleep now.”
“But Captain Alick told me he was tired out,
completely used up, and he thought he should
turn in and sleep all night after we got on this


224
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
tack," continued Lynch, who had evidently made
up his mind not to let my absence be discovered
till the next morning.
" Is that so? I haven't seen him since we left
Port Huron. I supposed he would divide the
hands into watches, and let us know who were to
sit up all night, if any, and who were to relieve
those on duty. By the way, where is Ellie Dyke-
man ? I haven't seen him either since we sailed
from the river."
Very likely he has turned in also," replied
Lynch. “The fellows got up very early in the
morning, and I don't blame them for being
sleepy,” replied the mate, with
proper
considera
tion for those under him.
“But we ought to have some arrangements for
the night,” suggested Bob, who was evidently en-
joying himself by exercising the inventive ability
of the mate.
“We can get along well enough for to-night
without any arrangements. We have nothing to
do but steer the boat; and you and I can do that
as well as half a dozen fellows, and have all the
fun to ourselves,” said Lynch. - You can take a
nap now for a couple of hours, and then relieve
me.”


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
225
>>
“But I don't like this way of doing things;
and I think I will call Captain Alick,” Bob re-
plied, simply to torture the mate.
" Don't do it!'
“ He won't like it if we don't call him ; for I'm
sure he didn't mean to sleep all night,” persisted
Bob, as he rose from his seat, and I heard him
moving towards the door.
• Stop, Bob! I am the mate of this steamer,
and I tell you not to call the captain. If he
don't come out before midnight, I will see about
calling him. He told me he did not wish to be
waked up after he got asleep.”
“ Did he tell you so ?'
• Of course he did.”
6 I don't believe it.”
“Do you think I would lie about it?” de-
manded the mate indignantly.
“I didn't know but you might be telling fius
for the fun of it,” said Bob. “ I will ask him in
the morning if he said that to you."
“ You can ask him when you see him. Now
camp down on the floor, and go to sleep, Bob.”
• I can't sleep on this hard floor. I think I will
go down to my room, and turn in, ship-shape and
Bristol style."
66


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
227
CHAPTER XXII.
BOUND FOR SAGINAW BAY.
AS
S Lynch Braceback had suggested, I was
tired enough to turn in and sleep all night.
In fact, I did, after eleven o'clock, just what he
charged me with doing, — slept like a log, without
a thought of the safety of the vessel. But then,
with Moses Brickland at the engine, and the
vessel headed away from the shore, there was no
possible danger to be encountered.
When I woke, the thought that I was the cap-
tain of that steamer suddenly forced itself upon
my mind, and I leaped from my berth. I was
startled by the reflection that I had been guilty
of a neglect of duty in sleeping away the whole
night, as though I had been a passenger. It was
a moment before the situation in which I had left
things when I turned in came to my mind. Then
it occurred to me that I was making more noise
than was necessary, and I went to the door.


228
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
661
“Is that you, Captain Alick ?” called Bob
Washburn, who had evidently heard me when I
leaped out of my berth.
“ Yes: how are things this morning ?” I re-
plied.
“ Just as we left them last night. Lynch turned
in at two o'clock this morning; and, as he didn't
like the soft side of a pine board, he went down to
his state-room in the cabin. He told
me,
if
any
thing happened, to ring the gong to stop her, and
that would wake him up,” continued Bob.
was just going in to call you; for there is a
steamer to the southward of us.
6. How far off ?” I asked with interest.
6. I should
say
that she was ten miles distant.
I have just examined her with the glass, and she
looks like the Islander,” replied Bob.
“ I expected to hear from her this morning.
Captain Braceback has broken open the desk in
his state-room, and made a discovery,” I contin-
ued, as I unlocked the door of the room, and
joined Bob in the pilot-house. “Where is the
chart?”
He pointed to it, on the shelf forward of the
wheel. I unrolled it, and proceeded to lay down


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
229
the position of the steamer by the dead reckoning.
Our usual speed was ten miles an hour, a rate
which provided for an economical expenditure of
coal. This was fast enough, though the Sylvania
could make twelve every hour in the day; but it
required about a third as much more coal to ob-
tain the additional two miles as for the first ten..
We were about twenty-five miles from the
shore on either side, and we had made sixty miles
since the boat left Port Huron. I looked through
the glass at the steamer astern of us; and, though
I could but just make her out, I was confident it
was the Islander. Perhaps I should not have been
so sure if I had not expected her about this time,
as the almanac says.
“Make the course north-west by north, Bob,” I
continued, after I had finished and verified my
calculations.
“ North-west by north,” repeated the helmsman.
“I'll bet Lynch Braceback will be as mad as a hat-
ter when he turns out, and looks at the telltale in
the cabin.”
“ Very likely; but he will have time enough to
cool off in the course of the day," I replied, laugh-
ing with Bob at the fun in prospect.
as though you were sleepy, Bob.”
66 You gape


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
231
afforded, he would not scruple to run her down,
to board and search her, or to resort to any vio-
lent steps that would enable him to recover posses-
sion of the treasure. As I thought of the matter,
I did not care to encounter him in the wilds of
Manitouline Island or on the shores of Lake
Superior.
I had changed the course of the steamer so
that she was now headed directly for the De-
tour Passage, between Drummond Island and the
main shore of the upper peninsula of Michigan.
From this strait it was only fifty miles to Lake
Superior. But I was not particularly pleased
with the idea of being chased by the Islander,
and of being in danger of assault or capture all
the time. The treasure was locked up in my
desk, and I was not willing to run any risk of
losing it again.
While I was thinking of the matter Ellie took
the wheel, and I made another examination of
our pursuer. I found that the Islander had al-
ready changed her course to correspond with that
of the Sylvania. Captain Braceback was evi-
dently wide awake at that early hour of the morn-
ing. The clouds of dense black smoke above and


232
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
behind the Islander indicated that they were driv-
ing her; and I felt that it was time something
was done on our boat. Before I left the pilot-
house I glanced at the chart again.
“ The Islander is after us, isn't she?" asked
Ellie, with a long gape.
“She is; and of course, after what happened
last night, I expected her,” I replied.
“ You have your package, and you don't care
for her,” added Ellie.
“But I do care for her. You don't suppose
Captain Braceback has been looking for that
package all winter to be ready to give it up now,
do you?"
Well, he can't help himself. You have the
treasure; and that's the end of it."
"Perhaps not. Suppose he should catch us at
anchor in some unfrequented part of the lake.
Do you suppose he would make any bones of com-
ing on board the Sylvania, and taking the pack-
age if he could find it?"
“ You mustn't let him find it, Captain Alick.”
“If it were on board, I don't see how I could
help myself. He would turn the vessel inside out
to find it. I wish it was in some safe place."
>>


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
233
Just then it occurred to me that I might find a
safer place than the steamer for it. I had been
up Saginaw Bay several times, and I felt quite at
home in that part of the lake. I had been to the
bank in Bay City with Captain Boomsby; and I
thought that the treasure would be safer there
than in my desk. But I did not exactly like the
idea of leaving it there. My old enemy lived
near; and, if he found by any mishap that I had
something in the bank, he might put in his claim
to be my guardian again.
“One thing is certain, Ellie,” I continued, after
I had mused a while: “it won't do for us to be
caught in any out-of-the-way place with that pack-
age on board.”
“ You don't think Captain Braceback would
take it from you by force, do you ? ” asked Ellie.
“ I know he would, if he got the chance ; and I
must take care not to give him the opportunity.
While the Islander is near, I shall keep the Sylva-
nia in the regions of civilization. Make the course
west-north-west, Ellie."
“Where are you going now?”
• Up Saginaw Bay."
“ West-north-west it is,” replied Ellie, as he


234
LAKE BREEZES ; OR,
changed the course of the steamer to the direc-
tion indicated. “I never went up that bay; and I
should like to see what there is up there.”
“I would rather have it out up there than in a
more lonely place," I replied, as I left the pilot-
house.
I made my way to the engine-room, where I
found Ben Bowman on duty. In reply to my
question as to how fast the boat was going, he
said she was doing her ten miles an hour, as indi-
cated by the number of revolutions made by the
crank in a minute.
“She don't vary ten feet from it in an hour
when the wind is light, as it is this morning,”
added Ben.
“I want you to give her another mile to the
hour," I continued.
“I can give her two if you wish it."
Only one."
It was not my intention to run away from the
Islander, only to keep at a respectful distance
from her. Before I left the engine-room, I saw a
Railroad Guide on the seat, which belonged to
Moses Brickland. I picked it up, for it suggested
an idea to me. I carried it into my state-room,


236
LAKE BREEZÉS ; OR,
>>
“What mean?” inquired Bob, who did not
seem to be more than half awake.
“What are you doing here, when I left you in
charge of the wheel ?”
"I felt as though I needed a little sleep,” pleaded
Bob.
“Who has changed the course of the boat?”
demanded Lynch; and, as I looked through the
skylight into the cabin, I saw that he was examin-
ing the telltale.
“How is she headed ?” asked Bob innocently.
« West-north-west."
“ Is that so? I don't know who did that,” pro-
tested Bob, with entire truth. “I think we had
better go to the pilot-house, and see about it.”
The mate had not finished dressing himself;
and I concluded to be in the pilot-house when he
and Bob went there to see about it.


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
237
CHAPTER XXIII.
A NIGHT TRIP TO MONTOMERCY.
I
SAW that Bob Washburn anticipated some
fun, and he was wide awake by this time. I
told Ellie that the mate was coming; and I as-
sured him Lynch would be the most astonished
mate on the lake when he did come.
“No doubt he thinks you and I are still at
Point Huron, looking out for a passage in some
steamer bound to the north,” I added, laughing.
“ But he can see the Islander only three miles
astern of us,” suggested Ellie.
“ He won't be likely to notice her at first, for
there are several vessels coming up from the south-
ward,” I replied.
I seated myself in the corner of the pilot-house,
where the mate could not see me at first, and
waited for him to make his appearance. But Bob
came first.
“He's coming!” said Bob impressively, as he


238
LAKE BREEZES ; OR,
entered the pilot-house. “Where are you going
now?”
?
“Up Saginaw Bay,” I replied. “ The Islander
is after us: she has been chasing us since four
o'clock this morning. You may take the wheel,
Bob. - Ellie, come over here."
I placed him by my side, so that the mate
would not be likely to notice us when he came in.
By this time Moses had got up more steam, and
the Sylvania was shaking under the increased
pressure.
66 What does all this mean demanded Lynch,
rushing into the pilot-house.
6. The course I
gave
you was north by east when I turned in. Who
has changed it?”
“ The captain of the Sylvania, I suppose,” re-
plied Bob, chuckling at the situation.
“Good-morning, Lynch," I interposed at this
moment, as the mate turned his eyes in the direc-
tion where I was seated. “How do you
find
your
self this morning ?”
He started as though he had been shot.
“What, Captain Alick! are you here?” ex-
claimed Lynch, falling back as though a ghost had
suddenly appeared to him.


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
239
“Of course I'm here: where else should I be?”
I replied, laughing. " " When duty calls we're
wide awake, early in the morning.'
I was not much of a singer; but my song
seemed to fit the occasion in this instance. The
mate stared at me, and then at Ellie. Neither of
us had any business to be on board of the Sylva-
nia when Lynch and his father had plotted to
keep us on board of the Islander.
“I thought you were asleep in your state-room.
You didn't give me any orders to wake you
during the night, and so I didn't disturb you,”
stammered Lynch, seeing that his unfortunate
exclamation had committed him.
“ You didn't expect me to sleep all day, did
you?” I replied. “I turned out at four o'clock
in the morning, and have been on deck two
hours now.”
“I see you have changed the course, Captaii
Alick,” said the mate, looking into the binnacle
“I didn't give out any course last night after
we left Port Huron. But then, Lynch, I was
aware that you knew all about the lakes, and it
was not necessary to give one out when you were
on board.”


240
LAKE BREEZES ; OR,
Ellie and Bob both laughed heartily at the way
I was managing the situation. The mate was so
confused and confounded by my appearance on
board when I ought to have been down in St.
Clair Lake by this time, that he hardly knew
what to say
of
“ You did not come into the pilot-house after
we left port last night, and I concluded that you
had gone to sleep in your room. But you had
spoken of going to Lake Superior by the way
Georgian Bay and the north passage, and I
thought I would head her in that direction.”
“Oh! it was all right, Lynch. I don't find any
fault: you managed it first-rate. But you came
very near leaving Ellie and me on the wharf at
Port Huron last night.”
“ I did!” exclaimed Lynch.
“I suppose you started the boat before we got
on board. I know I didn't give any orders to
start her. However, it is all right. I like to have
the fellows prompt in getting under way.”
“But I thought you were
in
your
state-room
all the time," protested the mate. “I say, Bob
Washburn, didn't I tell you that Captain Alick
was in his room just after we started ?”





THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
241
“Of course you did; and you knew he was
there, every time," replied Bob.
“Of course I knew he was there if I told you
he was. There wasn't any need of lying about
it.”
“ Certainly not; no need of lying about it at
all. I knew the captain was in his state-room,”
continued Bob, doing his best to worry the be-
wildered mate. “I saw him there while you
were taking your lunch in the cabin.”
Lynch saw that he was the victim of some kind
of a conspiracy; but he could not understand it,
and therefore he was afraid to
say
much more.
“I must say, Lynch, that I don't believe in
your starting the boat without any orders to do
so from the captain,” I continued seriously.
“I didn't mean to do any thing that was not
right”-
“Of course you didn't!” I added with em-
phasis. “If a fellow means right, not much fault
ought to be found with him; and for that reason
I only remarked, in the gentlest possible manner,
that I did not believe in the mate's starting the
boat without an order from the captain."
“ [ don't believe in it either; but then, I am


242
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
rather new to this business of being a mate. I
was saying I didn't mean to do any thing that
was not right. After we had finished taking in
the coal, I went on board, and into the pilot-
house. I didn't think you wanted to stay there
all night, and so I told Bob to cast off the bow-
line: didn't I, Bob?
“Not the least doubt of it, Lynch; and, as I
would as soon think of jumping overboard in a
dark night as of disobeying an order given me by
the mate, I cast off the bow-line,” replied Bob.
" Then I backed her. I knew you were in your
state-room all the time, Captain Alick, and, if
you objected, you would let me know. I confess
that I didn't think any thing about the order
from you. It seemed to me to be a matter of
course, that when we had taken in the coal we
were to go ahead again.”
“Not without an order from the captain, if the
boat had staid there all night.”
“I understand that now; and of course I shall
never start her again without an crder. As soon
as her head was pointed out into the river, I sent
Bob aft to see that the stern-line was cast off:
didn't I, Bob?"


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
243
“ No doubt of it, Lynch; and, after you had
rang her ahead, I had just time to pull Captain
Alick and Ellie on board," added Bob.
“I thought Captain Alick was in his state-room.
I didn't see him after he gave me the money to
pay for the coal,” persisted the mate.
“No: he didn't go to his state-room till you
went below for
your
lunch.”
“But didn't you see your father last evening,
Lynch?” I asked in a careless way.
66 Just for a minute : he came on the wharf
while I was paying the man for the coal.”
" Then you didn't see so much of him as I did ;
for I made him a call, and was very handsomely
treated on board of the Islander. He was very
polite, and asked to be excused for five min-
utes; and I suppose that was the time when he
came over to see you."
“ He said you had called upon him,” replied the
mate, now knowing what it was prudent for him
to say:
“Did he tell you where he was going with the
Islander?"
“He said he was going back to Lake Erie. He
gave it up that the Sylvania had beaten his boat.


244
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
He left the wharf about the time we did, and
went down the river.”
“I think he didn't go far," I added, satisfied
by this time that Lynch had not discovered the
Islander astern of us.
“He is in Detroit River by this time.”
“I think not,” I answered, pointing out of the
rear windows of the pilot-house at the other
steamer. “There she is; and she has been chas-
ing us since four o'clock this morning.
66 What in the world does that mean?” And
I had no doubt that the mate was thoroughly as-
tonished to see his father's steamer so near us.
Probably your father has concluded that he
would like to try the speed of the Sylvania
again,” I replied.
• Why should he do that when he admits that
we can beat him?"
“Your father knows what he is about; and
when you see him he will explain his actions to
you,” I added, willing to drop the subject here.
I left the pilot-house, followed by Ellie. Moses
Brickland had increased the speed of the steamer
till it was evident to me that the Islander was no
longer gaining upon us. She followed us into
66


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
245
Saginaw Bay, and at one o'clock the Sylvania
went into the river. I had the wheel, and Ellie
and Bob were with me in the pilot-house.
" I shall anchor in the river off Bay City," I
said, “and you will remain there all night.”
What for?” asked Ellie.
" I shall take the train which leaves this place
at about two o'clock for Detroit. You will not
hint at what I am about to any one on board,” I
continued. “I will not take the risk of having
that package on board any longer. If I do, I am
afraid it will be taken from me by force before we
return from Lake Superior.”
“But suppose the Islander should come up as
soon as you are gone? Captain Braceback may
take a notion to something here," suggested he.
“No: he won't meddle with us here."
I was confident on this point. Off the town I
anchored the Sylvania ; and a boat in charge of
Ellie put me on shore.
on shore. I had transferred the
precious package from the desk to my breast-
pocket. It was time for the Islander to appear if
she was coming up the river; but she was not yet
to be seen. I discovered soon after I got on shore
that she had anchored in the bend of the river, a
mile below the town.


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
247
CHAPTER XXIV.
AN INTERVIEW WITH THE ENEMY.
I
HAD been absent seventeen hours. I was
warmly greeted by my friends on board of
the Sylvania Lynch looked at me with a kind
of suspicious aspect, as though he wondered
what I was about all this time on shore; for I
don't think he had any idea that I had been to
Montomercy and back.
“Is every thing all right?" asked Ellie, after
he had given me a cordial welcome on board.
“ All right with me: how is it here?” I
replied.
“Every thing has been as quiet as a tomb
since you left. Bob and I have been on the
watch all the time. Of course you saw the
Islander before you left. She anchored where
she is now just as you went on shore. I had
hardly returned with the boat, and had it hoisted
up to the davits, when I saw Captain Braceback


048
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
go on shore. He waited on the wharf all the
afternoon, with an eye on the Sylvania. At
dark he returned to his steamer. I think it is
very likely he had us watched all night.”
“Has Lynch been out of the steamer?” I
asked.
“ Not for a moment; and no one from the
Islander has been near us,” replied Ellie.
“I don't quite understand it,” I continued,
musing on what my friend had told me.
“I don't believe Captain Braceback knows
that you went on shore. That's the only way
I can explain his actions. If he had known
you were on shore, he would not have watched
on the wharf all the afternoon."
6 I should think not.”
“ The Islander did not come to anchor in the
river till you had left the Sylvania.”
“ But Captain Braceback must have seen your
boat when you returned from the shore," I sug-
gested.
“I don't believe he did. I think I was on
board, and the boat hoisted up, by the time
the Islander had her anchor down. You know
you hurried off, the moment the screw stopped,
in order to catch the train.”



CAPT. BRACEBACK WANTS TO SEE CAPT. ALICK. Page 252.





THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
249
>>
“ Didn't Lynch say any thing ?”
“Not a word. I think he was asleep all the
afternoon.”
“I wonder that Captain Braceback has not
been on board, or that Lynch did not go down
the river to see his father.”
“Lynch did ask this morning where you had
been all night; and Bob told him he thought
you had gone to see your friends. Captain
Boomsby lives somewhere in this part of the
State, I believe you said.”
“Yes; but I don't go to see the Boomsbys
much," I replied, laughing.
My breakfast was waiting for me in the cabin,
and I directed the mate to get the anchor up
while I was attending to it. In accordance with
the orders I had left the day before, Moses had
a full head of steam on. As soon as I had fin-
ished my morning meal, I hastened to the pilot-
house. By this time the boat was ready to go
ahead, and I struck the bell. Having secured
'the anchor, Lynch took his place at the heel
of the bowsprit, while Ellie and Bob joined me
at the wheel.
“ The Islander is getting up her anchor,” said


250
LAKE BREEZES ; OR,
Ellie, as the Sylvania began to move down the
river.
“I see she is,” I replied. “I suppose she will
chase us all day, as she did yesterday: but the
package is in a safe place, and I shall not hurry
the boat.”
Before we reached the berth of the Islander
she was in motion; and it was evident that her
anchor had been hove up to a short stay before
we got under way. She ran down the river at
full speed, for her captain was more familiar
with the navigation than I was. I followed him
out into Saginaw Bay; but he soon reduced his
speed, so that the Sylvania came up with him
about a mile from the light at the mouth of the
river. At this point the Islander stopped her
I headed the Sylvania to the west, so as
to give her a wide berth; but she immediately
started again in the same direction, with the evi-
dent intention of cutting us off.
“What does she mean by that?” I mused,
when the Islander had placed herself directly
screw.
across our course,
“She means to stop us,” replied Ellie.
“She won't do it just yet,” I added, as I
changed the course to the eastward.


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
251
suc-
As soon as our vessel was fairly headed on her
new course, the other began to back, and
ceeded in keeping in our track. I ran on till
our craft was within a hundred feet of the
Islander. Then I rang to stop and back her in
season to avoid a collision. Was it possible that
Captain Braceback intended to prevent the Syl-
vania from going down the bay?
“Sylvania, ahoy!” shouted Captain Braceback
from the waist of the Islander.
“ On board the Islander !” I replied.
“I want to see you for a few minutes, Captain
Alick,” continued the captain of the Islander.
“All right: here I am!” I called back.
“Come on board of the Islander."
“No, I thank you ; " and I had no idea of being
locked into a state-room again.
“ Hold on a minute, and I will go on board of
the Sylvania,” he added.
I was not afraid of him, now that the package
was no longer in my state-room. But I was deter-
mined to be very prudent; and I waited till the
crew of the Islander had lowered the boat into the
water. I made up my mind on the instant, if
Captain Braceback attempted to come on board of


252
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
the vessel with two or three men, that I would not
wait for him.
• Are you going to wait for him, Captain
Alick?” asked Ellie.
“If he comes alone, I will: if two or three
come with him, I shall keep out of his way,” I
replied.
“Three men are getting into the boat," said
Ellie, with some excitement in his manner.
I rang the bell to back her; for I realized that
three men, if they were disposed to be ugly, as I
knew Captain Braceback was, could even capture
the Sylvania, for we had no fighting material on
board. I was not willing to risk a combat, for it
was safer to run than it was to fight.
“What are you about?” yelled Captain Brace-
back, when he saw that the Sylvania was in
motion again.
I made no reply, but kept the steamer backing
towards the mouth of the river. It was easy
enough to keep out of the way of the boat;
and, when I had placed a reasonable distance
between the Sylvania and the pursuers, I stopped
her screw, and started her ahead. But, as soon
as the people in charge of the Islander
saw


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
253
her going to the west again, they proceeded to
head me off once more.
“Why don't you stop her?” demanded Cap-
tain Braceback as we passed near the small boat.
" I don't want to see more than one of you at a
time," I replied.
“What are you afraid of? But hold on, and I
will go on board of you alone,” added the captain.
The Islander was right in my path, and I had to
stop the boat; but I backed her again, so that the
boat with the three men could not board the Syl-
vania.
It looked to me just then as though we were to
keep vibrating like a pendulum all day, waiting
for a chance to get by the other steamer. But
the small boat ran up to the Islander, and the two
men with Captain Braceback left him, and went
on board of her.
“I am alone now!" shouted the captain.
I
rang to stop the screw.
“I don't believe he means any harm,” said Ellie.
“I don't know that he does; but it's best to be
on the safe side,” I replied. 66 The Islander has
two boats on her quarters, as well as the Sylvania;
and, Ellie, I want you to keep your eye on that


256
LAKE BREEZES ; OR,
66
know very well,” continued the captain, taking a
memorandum-book from his pocket.
6. His name
is Boomsby."
Captain Boomsby! I knew him altogether
too well,” I added.
“What sort of a man is he, Captain Alick ?
Is he an honest man?” demanded my visitor.
“I don't think he is,” I answered bluntly.
" You don't think so: well, that's bad," con-
tinued the inquirer, shaking his head as though I
had given him a piece of bad news. “I never like
to deal with any but honest men."
“ Nor I either,” I added heartily.
“ Then we are agreed on that point. But I want
to see this Boomsby. We were thinking of going
into a little speculation in a steamer; or, at least,
he wrote to me about the matter. I got his letter
at Port Huron, where all my mail was forwarded
to me.
But I did not open it till late in the even-
ing, when we were on the way down the St. Clair
River. As soon as I saw what it was, I put back;
and have come up to Saginaw to see him. I don't
know just where he lives.”
At this moment the gong sounded to go ahead.


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
257
CHAPTER XXV.
A CLOSE SHAVE.
“WH
HAT does that mean?" demanded Cap-
tain Braceback, as he sprang to his
feet when he felt the motion of the Sylvania.
“ It means that the people on board of the
Islander are getting out the other boat; and I ex-
pect more visitors than I wish to see on her deck
to-day,” I replied.
“Is that all ?” added the captain with a smile.
6. That's all.”
“But am I to understand that you intend to
carry me off in the Sylvania ?”
“You may get into your boat whenever you
wish to do so: I will stop long enough for you to
do that,” I answered.
My visitor went out upon deck. By this time
the boat from the Islander was in the water, and
pulling towards the Sylvania. Ellie rang the
speed-bell, and the steamer began to rush through


260
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
his house in the Islander,” I replied; but I did not
believe he wanted to see Captain Boomsby any
more than I wanted to see him.
“ Then how did you get to his house yesterday?”
“I didn't get to it. I haven't seen him this
year; and I don't want to see him for ten years to
come,” I replied smartly.
“ You didn't go to his house?” asked the
captain, looking rather perplexed. “What did
you go up to Bay City for, then?”
“ I went up on a little business.”
“But you did not do any business; for you did
not leave the steamer, so far as I could learn."
“ You staid on the wharf all the afternoon
watching for me," I added, wishing to show him
that we had not all been asleep on board the
Sylvania.
“ And it seems that you were so much afraid
of me, that you did not go on shore because I was
there,” added the captain, with a sort of smile of
triumph.
“I am satisfied, if you are, Captain Braceback,”
I replied. “Is there any thing more that I can
tell you?”
“I supposed, if you came up to Bay City, you


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
261
would go on shore, and, as I wanted to see you
about this Captain Boomsby, I waited for you to
come on shore.”
“I have told you all that you want to know
about Captain Boomsby. He isn't an honest man,
and you can't trust him. He lives up the river
from the Saginaw, the first opening you come to
on the east shore of the stream. Sound and feel
your way; and, when you come to a house, it is
his,” I continued, rising.
“ What sort of a desk is that you have, Captain
Alick?” said my visitor, raising the lid. “It is
just like mine."
Exactly like it, but there is no yellow mud
on this one, and I don't keep any valuable papers
or money in it.”
“What do you mean by that, Captain Alick ?”
“I don't think you keep any such things in
your desk now, Captain Braceback," I replied ;
and I was so good-natured as I thought of my
visit to the Islander, that I could not help laugh.
ing.
“How many hands have you on board, Captain
Alick?”
“Seven, all told.”


262
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
“ All of them boys?”
“ Three of them will count as men. How many
have you?”
“Six men, and no boys."
“Is there any thing more I can do for you,
Captain Braceback?”
He asked some more questions; and, in reply to
him, I said we were bound first to Lake Superior,
and should be there some time the next day. He
seemed to be very unwilling to leave the steamer.
He kept his eyes wandering about the boat; and
I have no doubt he was thinking of the lost
package all the time, having no suspicion that it
was not still on board the Sylvania. At last he
went over the side into his boat. I saw that his
lips were firmly set together as he picked up his
oars, and pulled for the Islander. I was sure he
meant mischief; and he would have searched the
steamer if he could have got the other two men
on board of her.
I supposed I should be permitted to depart in
peace now. But, as the boat went up to the
davits of the Islander, she was headed again to
the west. Captain Braceback would not let me
pass. I dodged about for a while in vain attem;


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
263
to get out into the bay. At last, in despair, I
headed the Sylvania for the river. As we were
about to enter the mouth of it, a large steamer
came down.
The Islander was over to the eastward; and, as
the steamer came out of the river, I placed the
Sylvania abreast of her. She went ahead at full
speed, but our boat was fast enough for her.
Captain Braceback ran for her, perhaps hoping
that the Sylvania might fall astern of her as she
increased her speed. But we maintained our posi-
tion alongside the passenger-boat, and not more
than sixty feet from her, for I was not inclined
to leave any space for the enemy to crawl in be-
tween us.
But Captain Braceback seemed to be
utterly reckless in his movements, and dashed on
till a collision seemed to be imminent. Doubtless
the pilot of the passenger-boat was astonished at
the conduct of the officers of the little propeller.
“I believe the Islander will run into that
boat!" exclaimed Ellie, much excited.
“I can't think Captain Braceback is reckless
enough to do that, especially as he will not make
any thing by it," I replied, trying to fathom the
intentions of the enemy. “If he does it he will


264
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
a
only smash that steamer as well as his own, with
out doing us any harm. While he is afoul of her,
we can get out of the way.”
“ He is certainly going into her,” added Bob
Washburn.
When a crash seemed to be inevitable, we heard
the gong of the larger boat, followed by two
bells to back her. Captain Braceback was
sharp operator; and his long experience enabled
him to calculate upon the action of the pilot of
the other boat with certainty. He had evidently
accomplished what he played for, and appeared to
be in a position to head off the Sylvania. But I
was not disposed to give up the contest. As soon
as I heard the bell of the passenger-boat, I threw
the wheel hard over to starboard.
ing at full speed, and our little craft worked very
lively.
“Don't let him run into us," said Ellie.
“ We must take our chances now," I replied,
trying to keep cool; but it was like freezing ice-
cream in the oven of a cooking-stove.
“I think we are all right,” added Bob. “We
shall run ahead of her."
But it was a close shave ; and the first satisfac
We were go-


THS CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
265
tory intimation I had, that we were not to be sunk
in a collision, was a change in the course of the
Islander. Captain Braceback evidently saw that
his boat would pass astern of the Sylvania, and he
put his helm to port.
“Give her all the steam you can, Moses !” I
called through the speaking-tube to the engine-
room.
The bow of the Islander lapped a few feet over
the stern of the Sylvania, but her stem was twenty
feet from our quarter. I had sent word to Moses,
directing him to prepare for emergencies; and,
when the boat began to shake and quiver, I was
satisfied that he had all the steam it was safe to
carry.
“Go aft, Bob, and keep your eye on the stem of
the Islander,” I continued, for I was unable to
compare the relative positions of the two vessels.
“Send me word how it is going with us.”
Ellie went with him, for I needed no assistance,
unless it was to watch Lynch. I saw that the
mate was very nervous, and evidently wanted to
do something to improve the chances of his father.
I kept one eye on him all the time. He stood at
the heel of the bowsprit, looking ahead as his duty


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
267
CHAPTER XXVI.
AN EXCITING RUN TO THE NORTHWARD.
THE
IE pilot-house of the Sylvania was two steps
above the main deck, the space below it
being thrown into the forward cabin. The sort of
trunk on which the pilot-house was built formed
a skylight, with swinging window-sashes on the
front and on each side, by which the forward cab-
in received an abundance of light and air. The
two windows in front were open. Between them
passed down the two wheel-ropes, which were here
joined to the chains and rods that connected with
the rudder. I was satisfied that Lynch intended
to cut these ropes; and this act of treason would
render the vessel unmanageable, at least till we
could ship a tiller, and get it in working order.
When I struck the mate, in dropping from the
window of the pilot-house, I knocked him over on
As his hand came out from the window,
I saw that he held a knife. But it was no easy
one side.


268
LAKE BREEZES ; OR,
matter to cut off a three-quarter-inch rope, even
with a sharp blade. I seized the mate by both
hands; and, before he could recover from his sur-
prise at the suddenness of the movement, I had
taken the knife from him. When I had done this,
I permitted him to rise.
“What are you about, Captain Alick?” de-
manded Lynch, panting with rage and the violence
of his exertions, for he had struggled smartly in
the brief contest between us.
Keep her steady, Bob,” I added, turning to the
wheelman, for I was afraid his attention would be
distracted by the scuffle on the forecastle.
Steady,” replied Bob.
“ Now, what were you about, Lynch Braceback,
with that knife ?” I continued, looking the rec-
reant mate in the face.
“ If that's the way you treat the mate of the
Sylvania, I think there will be a broken head
round here somewhere,” growled Lynch.
“So I think; and it won't be mine, but yours,
I replied. “So you want to cut the wheel-rope,
do you?”
“ Who wants to cut the wheel-rope ? "
“That's your little game. I will relieve
you
of


270
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
66
Yes, I was : my arm is not quite long enough
to reach it, and I pieced it out with my knife,”
replied Lynch.
I looked through the window into the cabin.
A coat was hanging on the opposite end of the
trunk; but it belonged to Ben Bowman, who had
one of the berths there. The nail on which it
hung was six feet from the window, and he could
hardly have reached it with a yard-stick, much
less with a jack-knife.
“ That coat don't belong to you: it is Ben
Bowman's,” I replied to his assertion.
6 I don't care whose it was: I wanted it, for
the air is chilly on the heel of the bowsprit,”
muttered Lynch.
I was afraid he had weakened the wheel-rope,
and I bent over to examine it. I found he had
partly cut off one of the strands, so that the ma-,
terial was fraying up around the wound. While
I was looking at and feeling of the cut, the ex-
mate suddenly pounced upon me, and began to
hammer me with his fists. He hit me several
times in the head before I could get up enough to
make a decent resistance. But I was begini
to make a fair show for myself when Professor
-


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
271
Buckminster came forward ; and, seeing that I
was hardly holding my own, he seized Lynch by
the collar, and dragged him off.
“ How is this, Captain Alick ?” demanded the
man of letters, still holding the struggling traitor
at arm's-length.
“ He pitched into me while I was stooping
down, and came behind me, so that I could not
see what he was about,” I pleaded, in excuse for
getting the worst of it.
“ And that's just the way he took me a little
while ago," growled Lynch.
“ He was trying to cut the wheel-ropes,” I
added. 6. He is a traitor to me and the vessel he
sails in ; and I shall get rid of him as soon as I
can."
“What will you have done with him in the
mean time ? ” asked the professor, still holding his
prisoner.
“He ought to be put in irons for mutiny, and
for being faithless to his trust as the mate of the
Sylvania,” I replied; and I was very indignant as
I thought of the mischief he might have caused
if he had succeeded in disabling the wheel even
for a moment.


274
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
6 But we
I had noticed that her sails, if she had any, were
not bent on. The stiff breeze we were getting
over the quarter suggested that we might use it to
advantage.
“ Can you spare Ben Bowman, Moses ? ” I
asked, as I went forward to the engine-room.
“ For a while ; but I don't like to leave the
engine to go into the fire-room, for you may want
to stop her in a hurry,” replied Moses.
have fire enough for ten or fifteen minutes.”
I called Ben, and directed him and Ellie to lay
aloft, and shake out the fore-topsail. It was a
very unusual occurrence for us to carry any sail
on the Sylvania ; and we had hardly ever done it
except for fun. But my companions were in-
terested in the art of seamanship; and I had put
on sail to please them, and to exercise them in
setting and furling. Gopher, the steward and
cook, was a sailor; and, when the topmen had
loosed the sail, he and I handled the sheets, hal-
yards, and braces. The fore-topsail was set in the
same manner. Moving aft, we hauled out the
mainsail, and shook out the gaff-topsail. To com-
plete the work, we run up the jib and flying-jib.
The effect was seen immediately. The Syl-


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
275
vania heeled over on her port side; and, with all
her sails drawing full, she began to shove herself
through the water at a very lively rate. I had
noticed before that her sails had a lifting effect
upon the vessel so far as the bow was concerned.
This settled the stern a little deeper in the water,
so as to increase the force of the screw, even
while she was heeled over so far by the action of
the wind on the sails.
“We are gaining rapidly on the Islander now,'
said Bob Washburn, as he came upon the quarter-
deck, Ellie having relieved him at the wheel.
“ I think we are gaining two knots 'an hour on
her," I answered, after I had watched the dis-
tance between the vessels for a time. “But I
don't
suppose that all the sail we can put on will
help her more than a knot an hour.”
“ I should say it would increase the speed three
or four miles an hour," added Bob.
“ Not more than one and a half, at the most," I
added. 66 The sails are more for ornament than
for use ; though, if the engine should break down,
we could get into port with them.”
I found, at the end of the first hour, we had not
gained more than a mile and a half. But I was


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
277
CHAPTER XXVII.
LYNCH HEARS THE WHOLE STORY.
THE
HE wind had all died out, so that the lake
was as calm as a millpond. We had furled
all the sails, and I found by the movement of the
passenger-steamer that our speed had been reduced
fully two knots an hour; but I had told Moses
before sunset not to crowd her so hard as he had
been doing during the day.
“What are you going to do with me, Captain
Alick ?” asked Lynch Braceback, when we had
made every thing snug for the day.
"I am going to get rid of you as soon as possi-
ble,” I replied.
He was in a better frame of mind than he had
been all day; for he was so ugly that I did not
consider it prudent to release him from his con-
finement longer than to permit him to eat his
dinner and supper, which he had taken under the
supervision of the professor. He seemed to have


278
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
come to the conclusion that we had every thing
in our own hands, and that it was useless to make
any further resistance.
“ What do you mean by getting rid of me, Cap-
tain Alick? I thought I was to go with you on
this trip,” continued Lynch in quite a subdued
tone. “If I have done any thing out of the way,
I am willing to apologize for it.”
“I think it has gone too far to be settled by
any apology,” I added very decidedly. “It is clear
enough now that you have been a traitor to me
from the beginning.'
“I don't know what you mean by that, Alick,”
said he, with one of his sickly smiles. “You made
me mad by jumping down upon me from the win-
dow of the pilot-house, and I pitched into you.
But I am sorry for it now; and I don't think we
shall have any more trouble.”
“Can you tell me why you tried to cut the
wheel-rope ?”
“ You are entirely mistaken about that, Captain
Alick. I had no more intention to cut the wheel-
rope than you had.”
" I don't want to use any hard words, Lynch ;
but I think you had. And I know as well as I


280
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
now,” I added with no little indignation; for his
hypocrisy was even worse than his treachery.
“ I don't know what has come over you all at
once, Captain Alick,” muttered Lynch. “I am
sure I haven't done any thing to merit this treat-
ment.”
“ Considering the treachery and meanness of
your conduct since we started on this excursion, I
think you have been treated with the greatest gen-
erosity,” I retorted.
“ I can't see it.”
“ What do you think causes your father to act
as he does with the Islander? I think he intended
to run into the Sylvania, and sink her if he could.
How do you explain his conduct ?”
“I don't explain it. I am not responsible for
what he does."
“ But he is responsible for what you do.”
“I don't think he is."
“I do; for you are acting under his instructions,
and you have been ever since we came out of Glin-
ten River."
“I don't understand what you mean, as I have
said a dozen times before. If you want to say
any thing, why don't you say it?” snarled Lynch,


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
281
:
>>
struggling as rogues and rascals always do to avoid
committing themselves.
“I have this to say: that, when that passenger.
boat comes up with us, I shall put you on board
of her.”
“I won't go on board of her!” protested the
culprit.
Very well: I can't force you on board of her ;
but I can do the next best thing,” I replied, as
decidedly as he had spoken.
" What's that?"
“I shall put you on shore at the first land we
come to; and that will be at Point Detour Light,”
I added, as I thought he had a right to know what
was to be done with him.
“ That is rather rough on me.
You insisted
that I should be the mate of the Sylvania ; and
now you are going to leave me in a desert place.”
“We insisted that you should be the mate
because the lot fell upon you.
But that was
before you got that mud on your clothes," I added
sharply.
“What has the mud on my clothes to do with
it? I didn't suppose I had to be a dandy because
I was the mate of a little steamer,” sneered
Lynch. “What has the mud to do with it?”


282
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
“ It has every thing to do with it. I don't
think we need to mince the matter any more.
Perhaps you can remember how you got that
yellow mud on your clothes?”
“I haven't the least idea."
“By a singular coincidence, your father is
daubed with the same mud; and he didn't seem
to know where it came from. The desk in his
state-room was also stained with it."
“ Now you speak about it, I can recall where
it came from. My mother has been complaining
of the drain at our house in Montomercy; and
father and I cleaned it out just before we left
home.”
6. Your father did not remember that circum-
stance," I replied, smiling at the invention. “But
I think you have mixed things a little.”
“No, I haven't; and father will tell you the
same thing, if you ask him. We went down into
the cellar, and took up the sink-drain ” —
“ You went down into the cellar; but it was
not in your father's house, but in that of Mr.
Brickland. You dug up the brick pavement,
and took out a package you found there. Your
father carried it on board of the Islander with
him.”


286
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
I may say that I was very anxious to settle this
question. At Port Huron I went on board of
the Islander. Your father was very polite to me,
as he had never been before.”
“. Because he always said you were a liar and a
humbug; and I believe he was right,” retorted
Lynch.
“ Thank you, Lynch. Your father invited me
into his state-room; and, when I saw that his desk
as well as his clothes were stained with yellow
mud, I concluded that the package he and you had
stolen was in that desk. He asked me to excuse
him for five minutes: this was when he went over
to tell you to start the Sylvania before I could
get on board. You remember about this?”
“Go on: my hands are tied, and you can say
any thing you like," growled Lynch.
• But I want you to remember this, and tell it to
your father; for it will save him the trouble of
following us all around Lake Superior.”
“I shall not tell him any thing."
“ Yes, you will : I will take the risk of this. In
a word, I opened the desk, and took out the pack-
age. It was my property; and I had a right to it,
wherever I found it.”


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
287
“ I see: you robbed my father's desk in the
Islander. I understand now why he is chasing
you all about,” sneered Lynch.
Any way you please. When your father sup-
posed he had me safe in his state-room, he started
for the south. But in the course of the night he
ascertained that he had lost the package ; and, put-
ting about, he chased us up Saginaw River.”
"I wonder he did not get an officer, and have
you arrested for robbing his desk.”
“ He knew better than to do any thing of the
kind. He did not even hint at such a thing when
he came on board this morning. Now, you can
tell him to-night, when he picks you up, that it is
no use to follow me any longer, for the package is
not on board of the Sylvania. When I went on
shore at Bay City, I took the train for Monto-
mercy; and before eight in the evening I had
handed over that property to Mr. Brickland, who
is my guardian. It is now deposited somewhere
in Detroit for safe-keeping. That is the whole
story; and your father will not be glad to hear it,
though you had better tell him all about it.
intends to catch us in some quiet place on Lake
Superior, and with his six men he will try to re


288
9
LAKE BREEZES, OR,
cover the package by force. But he won't find
it.”
“Do you mean to tell me, Alick, that you went
to Montomercy last night ?" demanded Lynch.
“I left at two o'clock in the afternoon, and ar-
rived at the Grand Trunk Junction at six, and at
Montomercy at a little after seven.”
“ That is the biggest lie you have told yet! It
is impossible to do any such thing; and if you
have stolen any property from my father, as you
confess you have, I shall advise him not to take
any notice of this yarn.”
“ As you please. I have nothing more to say.'
At ten in the evening we were off Point De-
tour; and, in spite of his protest and his struggles,
we put Lynch Braceback on shore.


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
289
CHAPTER XXVIII.
INTO LAKE SUPERIOR.
power
THINK all on board felt a very considerable
relief as soon as Lynch was out of the vessel.
He had been a restraint upon us all since we left
Montomercy. The feeling that he was a traitor
was uppermost in our minds, and we could not
be happy in the presence of such a person.
I had never been through St. Mary's River; and,
being a stranger to the navigation, I did not like
to run in the night. But the Islander would
appear in about an hour, and it was hardly pru-
dent to anchor near the place where we had
landed Lynch Braceback. The river was
than a mile wide, and no obstructions appeared on
the chart. I kept the Sylvania going till I found
a little bay, which had a background of woods
beyond it.
When we had passed beyond a point which
concealed the steamer from the view of the ex-
mole


292
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
stopped her screw, and we heard her captain hail
the person on the land.
Then a boat was got
out, and in a few moments more Lynch was taken
on board. The steamer went ahead again, going
up the river.
“ Now lie down, fellows,” I said to my com-
panions, suiting the action to the word.
66 The
Islander may come very near to this point, and I
wouldn't have her people see us for all the old
shoes I have in the Sylvania.”
“ She isn't coming within half a mile of us,”
added Ellie, as he lay down by my side.
" Do
you think they can see the Sylvania ?”
"I am sure they cannot; for she lies half a mile
up the inlet, with a background of trees to hide
her. Besides, Captain Braceback will be busy lis-
tening to Lynch's story.';
“May not Lynch have seen us go into this
inlet?" asked the prudent Bob.
" I don't think he paid any attention to us after
the Sylvania started her screw. He had enough
to do to watch his father's vessel,”' I replied.
“Don't you believe, after Captain Braceback
has heard Lynch's story, that he will give up the
chase ? ” asked Ellie.


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
293
“I am afraid not. Lynch did not believe what
I told him about conveying the package to Monto-
mercy; and I hardly expect his father will be
satisfied with this explanation.”
We watched the movements of the Islander
with intense interest. She passed within half a
mile of the spot where we lay. She continued on
her course without any variation, for her captain
Wis perfectly familiar with the navigation of the
river. In a few minutes we lost sight of her.
We launched the boat again, and pulled back to
the Sylvania. The excitement for the night was
over; and we had nothing to do but turn in and
sleep till daylight. Professor Buckminster insisted
upon keeping the anchor watch, and I left him in
charge of the steamer.
He called me at four o'clock in the morning, as
I had requested. I turned out the engineer, and
in half an hour we were ready to resume
voyage. With the chart before me, I had no diffi-
culty about the navigation in the daytime. At
ten o'clock we reached Sault St. Mary, the village
on the American side at the foot of the rapids. I
ran the Sylvania up to the wharf, where all vessels
have to wait for a chance to pass through the
canal.
our


LAKE BREEZES; OR,
“I'll pull you off in the morning, Captain
Alick!” shouted Captain Braceback, in tones of
derision, as we came near his vessel.
" And I will do all I can to help you out of the
scrape," jeered Lynch. “ You won't have as good
a time there as I had on the point where you left
me.”
“ You needn't go any nearer to the steamer,
Flickers,” I said to the pilot, for I did not care to
hear any more blackguard talk.
- Well, Captain Alick, I have done all I can for
you ; and I reckon I'll go on board of the vessel,
and see if there's any whiskey in her lockers,”
replied the pilot with an audible grin.
" Then I am to suppose your business up here
was to put the Sylvania on that shoal,” I added
bitterly.
Well, as to that, you can come to your own
conclusions," answered Flickers, chuckling as he
ran up the accommodation-steps of the Islander.
I pulled back to the Sylvania ; and I think a
more disgusted skipper of a small steamer never
floated on the waters of Lake Superior. The boat
was hoisted up at the davits, and all hands had an
exciting discussion over the situation. Flickers
66



THE SEARCH FOR THE TREASURE. Page 303.


302
LAKE BREEZES, OR,
bug, Captain Alick; but I did not think you
would steal,” Captain Braceback proceeded.
Thank you, sir, for the compliment," I added. ·
“You robbed my desk while we were at Port
Huron: you took a package belonging to me from
it. I want that package,” continued the captain,
in a very decided tone.
“I suppose it is no use to discuss the question
of the ownership of that package; but I confi-
dently believed that it belonged to me, and not to
you.'
“ That's very cool of you, Captain Alick!”
sneered the pirate. “ Perhaps, if it were worth
while, you could explain how it happened to
belong to you. But we haven't time to go into an
argument; and they say you are a regular sea-
lawyer, Captain Alick.
You admit that you
took it from my desk at Port Huron.”
" I admit it," I answered, as little disposed to
argue the case as he was.
“That's enough! you hear that?” he added,
turning to his men.
“ Make him give it up!” shouted the latter :
and Lynch's voice was the loudest among them.
“ The package is in Detroit now," I replied,


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
307
CHAPTER XXX.
THE BAD NEWS FROM DETROIT.
I
WAS rather surprised to see that no one
came from the house to welcome us after our
return from the long cruise. We had been absent
nearly seven weeks. As soon as the steamer was
secured I walked up to the house. The servant-
girl was at home, but none of the family. Mrs.
Brickland had gone to Chicago three days before,
to see her brother, who was dangerously sick, and
her daughter had gone with her. Mr. Brickland
had been called to Detroit the day before, by bad
news; though she did not know what it was, and
had no idea when he would return.
“ How did the bad news come from Detroit ? "
I asked.
“I don't know, Captain Alick: I did not see
any person, or any letters, come to the house,":
replied the girl. “But that reminds me that
there are two letters for you in the hall.”


308
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
bad news
6. When did
you
first hear of any
?”
Yesterday morning. Mr. Brickland had fin
ished his breakfast, and was reading the newspa-
pers while I cleared up the table. All of a sudden
he jumped up, and said something was bad news,
and he must go to Detroit right off. He went as
soon as he had dressed; and that's all I know
about it."
I went to the hall for the two letters. I
they were from England. As I returned, the girl
handed me a newspaper, saying it was the one my
guardian was reading when he got the bad news.
I took it, and walked down to the wharf. On the
way I looked it over; but I could see nothing
that I thought could be bad news to Mr. Brick-
land, unless it were a large fire which had de-
stroyed several buildings. I woked over the three
columns the account occupied; and I saw that the
firm of Brooks and Keeper was mentioned. The
senior partner was an old friend of Mr. Brickland;
but I was not aware that my guardian had any
particular interest in his business affairs.
ticed that the safe containing the books and pa-
pers of the firm had been destroyed by the falling
of a wall upon it.


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
309
I decided at once to run down to Detroit, and
ascertain what the bad news was. Moses was as
much interested as I was, and Ellie and Bob were
not yet tired of life on board of the Sylvania.
After the Sylvania passed out of the river into the
lake, I gave the helm to Ellie, and retired to my
state-room with the two letters I had received at
the house. The first was from my father, inform-
ing me that the suit had gone against him.
Though my grandfather had recognized me as the
son of his son, the evidence in relation to the
marriage of my father to Olive Somerset was not
considered sufficient in the courts.
But my father had appealed from the decision;
and he confidently assured me that he should
prevail in the end. For a new trial he could
secure all the evidence needed; and he should
leave for America in the course of the summer.
I was not much interested in the question which
called forth all the energies of my father. I
opened the other letter, though not till a glance
at the direction assured me that it was not from
my father. It was from his business man, inform-
ing me that Sir Bent Garningham had been taken
very ill immediately after the close of the trial.


310
LAKE BREEZES ; OR,
me.
the excitement of which had produced a completo
nervous prostration.
I was alarmed at this intelligence; for my father
was very dear to me for himself alone, and not at
all for the wealth that might come through him to
The business man thought he would be
better as soon as he could obtain a little rest.
Then he went on to give me the details of the
suit. It appeared that a certain property was
entailed upon the next of kin to the incumbent of
the baronetcy, which a son of my
father's younger
brother claimed. The case had been tried in one
of the lower courts on an action to recover a small
portion of the rents of the estate.
I was more concerned about the result of the
suit. When I was in England I learned that my
father had been suspected of a tendency to in-
sanity; and I dreaded any thing like a nervous
disease. I was very anxious to receive another
letter, which the business man had promised to
write in a few days. I was very anxious, and I
even thought of sailing for England in the next
steamer. I forgot all about the bad news from
Detroit until Moses came into my room, and asked
if I were going up town to find his father. He


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
311
could not help seeing that I was very much dis-
turbed, and I gave him the substance of the two
letters before we went on shore. He was full of
sympathy, and his kind words did me much good.
I felt that I was giving way to my feelings; and I
tried to brace up my nerves to meet whatever of
trial and misfortune might be in store for me.
When we came out of the room we saw two
gentlemen on the wharf, who seemed to be regard-
ing the Sylvania with a great deal of interest. As
we landed, they asked us a great many questions
about her, which I answered as fully as the case
required. I was glad to forget the sorrows of the
moment; and I showed the two strangers
the vessel, and they examined every part of her
with the minutest care. When I told them, at
parting, that the Sylvania was a private yacht, and
could neither be bought nor hired, they seemed to
be greatly disappointed; but they did not explain
the reason why they were so deeply interested in
the steamer.
We left them on the wharf still admiring the
beautiful craft, and hastened to the scene of the
late fire, hoping to ascertain where Mr. Brickland
was to be found. Brooks and Keeper had taken
all over


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
321
Lynch spoke very glibly about these things,
and did not seem to be particularly penitent. I
concluded that he had a purpose to accomplish.
I let him tell his story without any reproaches ;
for I knew he had injured himself more than he
had me.
66
“ I didn't want to do these things, but my
father made me. I couldn't help myself,” pleaded
he.
“ It was a hard case for you, Lynch ; but I
think I could have found a way to help myself.”
“Perhaps you could, but I could not. My
father always was a tyrant.
You would not run
away, as my father wanted you to do, even when
you were turned out of the college. We knew
when you took the package from the bank; and
my father made me keep watch of you till I found
out what you did with it. I had an eye on you
about all the time, from the moment you took it
from the bank till you buried it in the cellar.”
* And I saw you hanging about the house the
night we put it in the cellar.”
“ Yes; and I thought you had found me out
then. My father left soon after to take charge of
the Islander; and you know the rest of the story.


322
LAKE BREEZES; OR,
Now, Alick, it was not my fault that I did al) ;his
I always liked
you
first-rate.”
“I shall not find any fault with you now,
Lynch.”
“But you can do something to get me out of
the scrape,” said the culprit.
What could I do? He wished me to give my
evidence so as not to prove any thing against him.
But I could only tell the truth as it was. I would
not have obeyed my father, or any other person
who commanded me to commit a crime. The trial
came on; and I told my story as I have related it
in these pages. It was amply confirmed by Mr.
Brickland, Moses, and others. Captain Braceback
was sentenced to the State Prison for three years,
and Lynch for three months. They had the worst
of it; but I was sorry for Lynch. It was a terri-
bie thing to have a father who could lead him into
crime.
Only a few days after the trial I was not a
little surprised to receive a visit from the two
gentlemen who had so carefully looked over the
Sylvania at Detroit on our return from Lake
Superior. One of them was a young man, ap-
parently not over twenty, while the other was


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
323
forty. Both of them were elegantly dressed ; and
they seemed to be cultivated people.
“ I learned the other day that circumstances had
changed somewhat with you, Captain Alick," said
the elder of the two, “and that possibly you
might be inclined to sell or allow us to charter
the fine steam-yacht we saw at Detroit."
“ The circumstances have changed, though I
don't care to sell the Sylvania ; for I expect to
make a living out of her," I replied.
“ The truth of it is, Captain Alick, this young
gentleman is my ward; and he is possessed to
take a cruise in a steam-yacht. As he has the
means, I am not disposed to thwart him,” con-
tinued the elder of the two. “ Is this a sea-going
yacht?"
"If she can stand the gales of the great lakes,
she is good for any thing on the ocean," I replied.
“ He has taken a fancy to the Sylvania ; and he
insists upon going in her, or a vessel just like
her.
“ Where does he wish to go?” I asked.
“ He has been out of health, and has a vacation
from college for a year. He must spend the next
witcr in the South."
“ In the South!” I exclaimed.


THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
325
fully Sir Alexander Garningham, I don't say any
thing about that. I don't like the “ handle to
my name, and prefer to be simply “Captain
Alick” if I must have
any
title. I was not sorry
to think of the prospect of sailing on the blue
ocean again; though, in spite of the excitement
and the anxiety of it, I had enjoyed the “ Lake
Breezes; or, The Cruise of the Sylvania.”





OLIVER OPTIC'S BOOKS
ALL-OVER-THE-WORLD LIBRARY
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FIRST SERIES
A MISSING MILLION or The Adventures of Louis Belgrave
A MILLIONAIRE AT SIXTEEN or The Cruise of the Guardian Mother
A YOUNG KNIGHT ERRANT or Cruising in the West Indies
STRANGE SIGHTS ABROAD or A Voyage in European Waters
SECOND SERIES
THE AMERICAN BOYS AFLOAT or Cruising in the Orient
THE YOUNG NAVIGATORS or The Foreign Cruise of the Maud
UP AND DOWN THE NILE or Young Adventurers in Africa
ASIATIC BREEZES or Students on the Wing (in press)
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first place he has a rascally step-father whom he had to subjugate, a dear
mother to protect and care for, and the missing million to find before he
could commence his delightful travels. They are all accomplished at
last, and there was plenty of excitement and brave exploits in the doing
of them, as the boy readers will find. The cover design shows many
things - - a globe, the Eiffel tower, mountains, seas, rivers, castles and
other things Louis will see on his travels.- Current Review.
LEE AND SHEPARD Publishers Boston


OLIVER OPTIC'S BOOKS.
THE BLUE AND THE GRAY
Illustrated.
With Emblematic Dies. Each volume bound in
Blue and Gray. Per volume, $1.50.
NAVY SERIES
TAKEN BY THE ENEMY
WITHIN THE ENEMY'S LINES
A VICTORIOUS UNION
ON THE BLOCKADE
STAND BY THE UNION
FIGHTING FOR THE RIGHT
ARMY SERIES
BROTHER AGAINST BROTHER
IN THE SADDLE
A LIEUTENANT AT EIGHTEEN
Other volumes in preparation
The opening of a new series of books from the pen of Oliver Optic
is bound to arouse the highest anticipation in the minds of boy and girl
readers There never has been a more interesting writer in the field of
juvenile literature than Mr. W. T. Adams, who under his well-known
pseudonyın, is known and umired by every boy and girl m the country,
and by thousands who have long since passed the bounilaries of youth,
yet who remember with pleasure the genial, inter«-sting pen that did so
much to interest, instruct and entertain their younger years. The pres-
ent volume opens “ The Blue and the Gray Series," a title that is suffi-
ciently indicative of the nature and spirit of the series, of which the first
volume is now presented, while the name of Oliver Optic is sufficient
warrant of the absorbing style of narrative. “Taken by the Enemy,”
the first book of the series, is as bright and entertaining as any work uiat
Mr. Adams has yet put forth, and will be as eagerly perused as any that
has borne his name. It would not be fair to the prospective reader to
deprive him of the zest which comes from the unexpected, by entering
into a synopsis of the story. A word, however, should be said in regarii
to the beauty and appropriateness of the binding, which makes it a most
attractive rolume. - Boston Budget
"Taken by the Enemy” has just come from the press, an announce-
ment that cannot but appeal to every healthy boy from ten to fifteen
years of age in the country. "No writer of the present day,” says the
Boston Commonwealth," whose aim has been to hit the boyish beart, has
been as successful as Oliver Optic. There is a period in the life of every
youth, just about the time that he is collecting postage-stamps, and
before his legs are long enough for a bicycle, when he has the Oliver
Optic fever. He catches it by reading a few stray pags somewhere, and
then there is nothing for it but to let the matter take its conrse. Relief
comas only when the last page of the last book is read; and then there
are relapses whenever a new book appears until one is safely on through
the teens." - Literary News.



OLIVER OPTIC'S BOOKS.
YOUNG
AMERICA ABROAD.
SECOND SERIES.
A Library of Travel and Adventure in Foreign Lands. 16mo.
Illustrated by Nast, Stevens, Perkins, and others.
Per volume, $1.50.
1. UP THE BALTIC;
Or, Young America in Norway, Sweden, and
Denmark.
2. NORTHERN LANDS;
Or, Young America in Russia and Prussia.
3. CROSS AND CRESCENT;
Or, Young America in Turkey and Greece.
4. SUNNY SHORES;
Or, Young America in Italy and Austria.
5. VINE AND OLIVE;
Or, Young America in Spain and Portugal.
6. ISLES OF THE SEA;
Or, Young America Homeward Bound.
o Oliver Optic” is a nom de plume that is known and loved
by almost every boy of intelligence in the land. We have
seen a highly intellectual and world-weary man, a cynic whose
heart was somewhat imbittered by its large experience of
human nature, take up one of Oliver Optic's books and read
it at a sitong, neglecting his work in yielding to the fascina-
tion of the pages. When a mature and exceedingly well-
informed mind, long despoiled of all its freshness, can thus
ind pleasure in a book for boys, no additional words of rec-
ommendation are needed. — Sunday Times.


OLIVER OPTIC'S BOOKS.
THE BOAT-BUILDER SERIES.
Couplotod in SL Volumos. Illustratoch.
Por Volon $1.25
1. ALL ADRIFT;
Or, The Goldwing Club.
8. SNUG HARBOR;
Or, The Champlain Mochanian
3. SQUARE AND COMPASS;
Or. Building the House.
4. STEM TO STERN;
Or, Building tho Bent.
5. ALL TAUT;
Or, Rigging tho Bonito
6. READY ABOUT;
Or, Sailing tho Boot.
The series includes in six successive volumes the whole
art of boat-building, boat-rigging, boat managing, and prac-
tical hints to make the ownership of a boat pay. A great
teal of useful information will be given in this Boat-Building
series, and in each book a very interesting story is sure to be
interwoven with the information. Every reader will be inter
ested at once in “Dory,” the hero of “All Adrift," and one
of the characters to be retained in the future volumes of the
series, at least there are already several of his recently made
friends who do not want to lose sight of him, and this will be
the case of pretty much every boy who makes his acquaint
ance in "All Adrift.”


7. T. TROWBRIDGE'S BOOKS.
THE TIDE-MILL STORIES
Six Volumes Handsomely Illustrated. Per Vol., $1.25.
THE TINKHAM BROTHERS' TIDE-
MILL
PHIL AND HIS FRIENDS
THE SATIN-WOOD BOX
THE LITTLE MASTER
HIS ONE FAULT
PETER BUDSTONE
« The more stories Mr. Trowbridge can write, the
better for the boys of this generation. Flooded as our
country is with literature of a dime-novel order, we
have need of just such safe and interesting books as
• The Little Master," · Phil and His Friends,' • Bound
in Honor,' etc., to put into the hands of our growing
boys."-- Living Church.
“Mr. Trowbridge's humor, his fidelity to nature and
story-telling power, lose nothing with years, and he
stands at the head of those who are furnishing a litera-
ture for the young, clean and sweet in tone, and always
of interest and value.”. The Continent.
LEE AND SHEPARD Publishers Boston


LEE
AND SHEPARD'S
STAR JUVEN
JUVENILES
MENSRS. LEE AND SHEPARD announce the following new line of 12mo Juveniles,
consisting of books by KELLOGG, KINGSTON, BALLANTYNE, HEADLEY,
and others. Printed on a fine quality of paper, fully illustrated, and bound
in the best English cloth, at $1.00 per volume.
By ELIJAH KELLOGG.
Lion Ben of Elm Island.
Charlie Bell; The Waif of Elm Island.
The Ark of Elm Island.
The Buy Farmers of Elm Island.
The Young Shipbuilders of Elm Island.
The Hardscrabble of Elm Island.
Sowed by the Wind; or, The Poor Boy's Fortune.
Wolf kun; or, The Boys of the Wilderness.
Brought to the Front; or, The Young Defenders.
The Mission of Black Rifle; or, On the Trail.
Forest Glen; or, The Mohawk's Friendship.
Burying the Hatchet; or, The Young Brave of the Delawares.
A Strong Arm and a Mother's Blessing.
The Unseen Hand; or, James Renfew and his Boy Helpers.
The Liv, Oak Boys; or, The Adventures of Richard Constable
Afgat and Ashore.
Artbvi Browr, the Young Captain.
The "oung Deliverers of Pleasant Covg.
Th, Cruise of the Casco.
Tlie Child of the Island Glen.
John Godsoe's Legacy.
The Fisher Boys of Pleasant Cove.
A Stout Heart; or, The Student from Over the Sea.
A Spark of Genius; or, The College Life of James Trafton.
The Sophomores of Radcliffe; or, James Trafton and his Bos-
ton Friends.
The Whispering Pine; or, The Graduates of Radcliffe.
The Turning of the Tide; or, Radcliffe Rich and his Patients.
Winning his Spurs; or, Henry Morton's First Trial.
By P. C. HEADLEY.
Fight it out on this Line; The Life and Deeds of Gen. U. S. Granto
Facing the Enemy; The Life of Gen. William Tecumseh Shero
man,
Fighting Phil; The Life cf Lieut. Gen. Philip Henry Sheridan
Old Salamander; The Life of Adiniral David Glascoe Farragut.
The Miner Boy and his Monitor; The Career of John Ericsson,
Engineer.
Old Stars; The Life of Major-Gen. Ormsby McKnight Mitchel






lu
In Memory of
STEPHEN SPAULDING
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
1997
1925
yehir Bichire 127