The Border Boys Along the St. Lawrence
CHAPTER XXXI. AFLOAT AGAIN!
The old man was more than angry. He was furious. He wept and wailed andtore his hair. The loss of the boat affected him like some greatdisaster, which, in fact, it was to him. But Ralph succeeded in allayingsomewhat his fury and grief by promising him a new skiff as soon as heshould be able to procure one.
"I feel that I am partly responsible for the loss of your skiff," saidthe boy, "as, if it had not been for me, those three men would not havecome near your hut. So I'll see to it that you get another one."
"A Guerin skiff?" quavered the old man. "That one they took was built byhim. He is dead and gone now, but nobody on the St. Lawrence ever builtskiffs like Amie Guerin. That one of mine was thirty years old andbetter than when she was new."
After Ralph had promised that if possible one of the skiffs from theworkshop of the redoubtable Guerin should replace the missing one, theold man grew calmer.
"I am selfish," he said. "After all, perhaps your beautiful motor craftis ruined, and what is one poor skiff to the loss of a fine craft likethat?"
"Let us go and see how badly she is damaged," said Ralph; and togetherthe old man and the boy set off for the point upon which the luckless_River Swallow_ had driven her bow. In a short time they reached it.
The _River Swallow_ lay on the placid river, apparently unharmed. Thestern lines that Ralph had had the foresight to order out had held, andher after part was swinging clear of the sand-spit on which she hadrammed her bow.
Ralph waded out to the craft and examined her as well as he could. Tohis joyous amazement, so far as he could make out, she had suffered nogreat damage. One or two of her rivets might be strained, he thought,but beyond that the _River Swallow_ appeared to be in good order.
The boy could not resist the temptation to see if he could get her offthe sand-bar. This was not as difficult as it sounds. The wind of thenight before had held the craft on the sand-spit. But now she appearedto be about to glide off into deeper water of her own volition. Almosther entire hull was afloat, the exception being the foot or two of bowthat was embedded in the sand.
"I believe I could do it," mused Ralph, as he sized up the situationcritically. "Wouldn't it be fine to come cruising along into Piquetvilleunder my own power with old man Whey for a crew!"
He turned to the old man.
"Mr. Whey, can you steer a boat?"
"What kind of a boat?" croaked the old man, who had been lost inadmiration of the shapely lines and finish of the _River Swallow_.
"Why, this boat. The _River Swallow_. Do you know anything abouthandling a wheel?"
"He! he! he! What a question!" chuckled the old man. "Why, Enos Whey wasskipper of a Montreal packet afore rheumatiz crippled him up. D'ye wantme to help you get her off the shoal?"
"That's just what I do. If you will ship as wheelman and run her toPiquetville I'll pay you well for it."
"I'll do it! By gum, I'll do it!" cried the old man. "I haven't had awheel in my hands for fifteen years, but a man never forgets how tosteer. Help me aboard, lad, and I'll show you what I can do."
Ralph clambered on board the _River Swallow_ and then proceeded to helpthe old man up the rope ladder, sometimes used by the boys in debarkingin a rough sea. With many grunts and groans, old Whey was at last safelyon deck.
"What now, lad?" he asked.
"I'll get the engines started and then we can cast off the stern lines.Then you'll take the wheel and I'll throw my clutch into the reverse andgive her full power. I _think_, that with both propellers tugging at herthe _River Swallow_ will back off into deep water just as nicely asanything."
"She ought to," agreed the old man, "that sand is soft and she is not upon it very far. You go below, lad, and tell me when you are ready."
Ralph hastened to his cabin, jumped into overalls and descended to themotor room. Everything was in apple-pie order, except that Hansen hadleft tools untidily lying about. Leaving the cleaning-up process tillsome future time, Ralph turned on the gasoline, set the sparks on bothmotors and then pulled the lever that started the compressed airapparatus that spun the engines till they picked up their power.
There was a whirr and a buzz and then a volley of explosions.
"Fine!" exclaimed Ralph, as the big motors began to revolve. He adjustedthe mixture and then the powerful machines settled down to a rhythmichum. The clutch was not in and they were running free--that is, thepropellers were not yet revolving.
"All right!" cried Ralph, hastening on deck. "All ready when you are!"
The old man and the boy cast off the stem lines, and then Ralph, withoutloss of time, for there was danger of the freed hull swinging with thecurrent, hastened below once more. Old man Whey took up his position onthe bridge. A flash of fire came into his aged eyes as he felt thespokes of a steering wheel in his grip once more.
He seized the engine-room signal lever with a hand that shook but wasstill determined.
"Full speed astern!" flashed up on the indicator below, on which Ralph'seyes had been glued.
"The old man sure does understand his business," murmured the boy, as hegrasped the reverse lever.
There came a rattling, grinding whirr as the cogs of the gears engaged.Then a tremor and a convulsion of the hull.
"Is she moving?" wondered Ralph excitedly.
He speeded up the engines to their full capacity. The sharp pitchedpropellers "bit" the water, exercising a tremendous backward drag on the_River Swallow_.
Unable to restrain himself, Ralph rushed up on deck. What he saw causedhim to utter a shrill whoop of joy, which was echoed in a feeble croakby old man Whey.
"We're off!" shouted the boy.
"See here, you get below and mind your engines," chuckled old man Whey."I'm the temporary skipper of this craft."