The Adventure Club Afloat

  CHAPTER III

  CAST OFF!

  Some two weeks later, or, to be exact, sixteen days, making the datetherefor, the eighth day of July, a round-faced, freckle-cheeked youthin a pair of khaki trousers, white rubber-soled shoes, a light flannelshirt that had once been brown and was now the colour of much dilutedcoffee and a white duck hat sat on the forward deck of a trim motor-boatwith his feet suspended above the untidy water of a slip. By turning hishead slightly he could have looked across the sunlit surface ofButtermilk Channel to the green slopes of Governor's Island and, beyondthe gleaming Statue of Liberty. But Perry Bush was far more interestedin the approach that led from the noisy, granite-paved street behind adistant fence to the pier against which the boat was nestled. As hewatched he sniffed gratefully of the mingled odours that came to him;the smell of salt water, of pitch and oakum, of paint from aneighbouring craft receiving her Summer dress, of fresh shavings andsawdust from the nearby shed whence came also the shriek of theband-saw and the _tap-tap_ of mallets. Ballinger's Yacht Basin was abusy place at this time of the year, and the slips were crowded withsailboats and motor-boats, while many craft still stood, stilted andcanvas-wrapped, in the shade of the long sheds. Perry whistled a gaytune softly as he basked there in the warm sunlight and awaited thearrival of the rest of the boat's crew.

  Much had happened since that Thursday when they had toasted theAdventure Club in Steve's and Joe's room in Sumner. Graduation Day hadsent them scurrying homeward. Then had followed much correspondence withSteve. After an anxious four days, Perry and the rest had each receiveda brief but highly satisfactory telegram: "_Cockatoo_ ours for twomonths. Meet Ballinger's Basin, Brooklyn, fourth." But work on thecruiser had delayed the starting date, and they had now been kickingtheir heels about New York for four days. Perry and Phil Street had beentaken care of by Steve, and Joe had had Neil, Han and Ossie as hisguests. At Bay Shore, on the south side of Long Island, the _Follow Me_was awaiting them impatiently. The _Follow Me_ had been ready to put tosea for a full week.

  Although Steve and Joe had provisioned the _Cockatoo_--which, by theway, was no longer the _Cockatoo_, but the _Adventurer_, having beenrenamed during the process of painting--the crew had not been altogetheridle during their wait. Each had thought of something further to add.Ossie, who, as a special favour, was to be allowed to try his hand atcooking, had made several trips between a big department store on FultonStreet and had returned to the basin laden each time with mysteriouspackages, many of which rattled or clinked when deposited in the galley.Perry had purchased an inexpensive talking machine and a dozen records.Neil had contributed a patent life-preserver that looked like awaistcoat to be used by an Arctic explorer and was guaranteed to keepBarnum and Bailey's fat man afloat. Phil had supplied the cabin withmagazines, few of them, to Perry's chagrin, of the sort anyone but a"highbrow" would care to tackle. Joe, as an after-thought, had stockedup heavily with Mother Somebody's Cure for Seasickness. George Hanfordhad tried to smuggle on board a black and white puppy about a foot longwhich he had bought on a street corner for two dollars and a half.Steve, however, had objected strenuously and Han had been forced to seethe puppy's former owner and sell his purchase back for a dollar, thevalue of it having decreased surprisingly in a few hours. Even Stevehad supplemented the boat's contents the day before by stowing twodesperate-looking revolvers and several boxes of cartridges in a lockerin the forward cabin.

  Then, too, they had each outfitted more or less elaborately, accordingto their pocket-books. Steve and Joe had pointed out that, with sevenaboard, locker room would be at a premium, and had urged the others totake as little in the way of personal luggage as they could get alongwith. But when the out-of-town boys got into the stores the advice wassoon forgotten. Neil had outfitted as if he was about to set forth on avoyage around the world, and Han was not far behind him. Perry wouldhave liked, too, to become the proud possessor of some of the things theformer fellows brought aboard, but Perry's finances were low after hehad paid for that talking machine, and so, with the exception of a newgrey sweater, he had made no additions to his wardrobe. This morning hehad volunteered to go to the basin early and superintend the loading ofice and water, and now, those things aboard, he was wondering, a trifleresentfully, why the others didn't come. They were to cast off at elevenand it was now well after ten.

  "Probably," he muttered, edging back so that he could have the supportof the big, round smoke-stack, "Neil's buying another necktie! It wouldserve them right if I started the thing up and went off without them."As, however, Perry knew absolutely nothing about a gasoline engine,there was little likelihood of his carrying that threat into action. Inany case, there would have been no excuse, for less than a minute laterhe descried the tardy ones skirting the shed and coming along the wharf.They looked, Perry thought with satisfaction, very hot and disgruntledas, each carrying his belongings in a parcel so that there would be nobags to stow away, they approached the boat. Although Perry was nomechanician, he quite understood the operation of an electric horn, andnow, swinging nimbly down to the bridge deck, he set the palm of hishand against a big black button. The result was all that he desired. Anamazing, ear-splitting shriek broke the ordinary clamour of the scene.Perry smiled ecstatically and peered out and up from under the awning.But the half-dozen countenances that looked down at him expressed onlydisgust, and Joe's voice came to him even above the blast of the horn.

  "Don't be a silly fool, Perry!" shouted Joe peevishly. "Let that aloneand catch these bundles!"

  Perry obeyed and one by one the fellows scrambled from wharf to boat.And, having reached the bridge deck, they subsided exhaustedly onto thetwo cushioned seats or the gunwale. Perry viewed their inflamed,perspiring faces in smiling surprise. "What did you do?" he asked. "Runall the way?"

  "Joe got us on the wrong car," panted Neil, "and we went halfway toConey Island, I guess."

  "It wasn't my fault any more than it was yours," growled Joe. "You hadeyes, hadn't you?"

  "We had eyes," replied Ossie from behind his handkerchief, as he wipedhis streaming face, "but we aren't supposed to know where these sillycars go to."

  "I didn't have any trouble," murmured Perry.

  "Well, we did," said Han resentfully. "We waited ten minutes on abroiling-hot corner and then, when we did get another car, it gotblocked behind ten thousand drays and we had to foot it about elevenmiles! Got any ice-water aboard?"

  "We've got ice and we've got water," replied Perry. "If you mix 'em inthe proper proportions--"

  "Oh, dry up and blow away," muttered Han, dragging himself painfullydown the companion on his way to the galley. Phil Street smiled.

  "Seems to me we're starting our adventure rather inauspiciously," hesaid. "If we have a grouch before we leave the dock what's going tohappen later?"

  "Maybe it's a good thing to have it now and get over it," laughed Steve."It was hot, though! And it isn't much cooler here. Let's get under way,fellows, and find a breeze. It will take us the better part of fourhours to get to Bay Shore, anyway, and I telephoned Wink yesterday thatwe'd be there by three. Every fellow into sea-togs as quick as he canmake it. Joe and Phil and I bunk aft, the rest of you in the main cabin.Get your things put away neatly, fellows. Anyone caught being disorderlywill be keel-hauled. Have a look at this thermometer, Joe. It's almosteighty-nine! Let's get out of here in a hurry!"

  For the next ten minutes the fellows busied themselves as Steve haddirected. All, that is, save Perry. As Perry was already dressed for seahe used his leisure to sit in the hatchway of the after cabin andconverse entertainingly with the occupants until, on the score that hewas keeping the air out, he was driven up to the cockpit. There heperched himself in one of the four comfortable wicker chairs, placed hisfeet on the leather-cushioned seat across the stern and languorouslyobserved a less fortunate person scrape the deck of a sloop on the farside of the slip.

  Suppose that, while the _Adventurer's_ crew prepares for service, wehave a look over the boat. The _Adventurer_, late the
_Cockatoo_, was aforty-foot V-bottom, military type cruiser, with a nine-foot beam and adraught of two feet and six inches. Below the water-line she was painteda dark green. Above it she was freshly, immaculately white as to hull,while decks and smoke-stack were buff. The exterior bulkheads were ofpanelled mahogany, and a narrow strip of mahogany edged the deck. Therewas a refreshing lack of gold in sight, and, viewed from alongside, the_Adventurer_ had a very business-like appearance. As she was of theraised-deck cabin type, with full head-room everywhere, she stood wellabove the water, and the low, sweeping lines that suggest speed werelacking. But the _Adventurer_ had speed, nevertheless, for under thebridge deck was a six-cylinder 6x6 Van Lyte engine that could send heralong at twenty miles an hour when necessary. On the stern was thelegend "ADVENTURER: NEW YORK," and the name appeared again on each ofthe mahogany boards that housed the sidelights. The cockpit, which wasself-bailing, was roomy enough to accommodate seven persons comfortably.A broad leather-cushioned seat ran across the stern and there were fourwicker chairs besides. Life preservers were ingeniously strapped underthe chair seats and two others hung at each side of the after cabindoor.

  The after cabin, or owner's stateroom, held two extension seats which atnight were converted into wide and comfortable berths. At the forwardend a lavatory occupied one side and a clothes locker the other. Otherlockers occupied the space between the seats and the three ports. Thiscompartment, like the main cabin, was enamelled in cream-white withmahogany trim. Three steps led to the bridge deck, a roomy place whichhoused engine, steering wheel and all controls. The engine, althoughunder deck, was readily accessible by means of sectional hatches. On thesteering column were wheel, self-starter switch, spark, throttle andclutch, making it easily possible for one person to operate the boat ifnecessary. Two seats were built against the after bulkhead, chart boxesflanked the forward hatchway and the binnacle was above the steeringcolumn. Forward, the compartment was glassed in, but on other sideskhaki curtains were depended on in bad weather. When not in use thecurtains rolled up to the edge of the awning, which was set on apipe-frame.

  From the bridge deck three steps led down to the main cabin. Here in thedaytime were two longitudinal couches with high upholstered backs. Atnight the backs swung out and up to form berths, so that the compartmentsupplied sleeping accomodations for four persons. There were roomylockers under the seats and at meal times an extension table made amiraculous appearance and seated eight. Forward of the main cabin wasthe galley, gleaming with white enamel and brass. It was fitted with alarge ice-chest, many lockers, a sink with running water, a two-burneralcohol stove with oven and a multitude of plate-racks. It was thelightest place in the boat, for, besides a light-port on each side, ithad as well a hatch overhead. The hatch, although water-tight, was madeto open for the admission of ice and supplies. Still forward, in thenose of the boat, was a large water tank and, beyond that, the ropelocker. The gasoline tanks, of which there were four, held two hundredand fifty gallons. The boat was lighted by electricity in all parts bymeans of a generator and storage battery. An eight-foot tender rested onchocks atop the main cabin. The boat carried no signal mast, butflag-poles at bow and stern and abaft the bridge deck frame held theUnion Jack, the yacht ensign and the club burgee. All in all, the_Adventurer_ was a smart and finely appointed craft, and a capable one,too. Steve's father had had her built only a little more than a year agoand she had seen but scant service. In the inelegant but expressivephraseology of Perry, "she was a rip-snorting corker of a boat." Theconsensus of opinion was to the effect that Mr. Chapman was "a peach tolet them have it," and there was an unuttered impression that thatkind-hearted gentleman was taking awful chances!

  For, after all, except that Steve had had a brief week or so on the boatthe preceding Summer and that Joe had taken two days of instruction ingasoline engine operation, not a member of the crew knew much of thework ahead. Still, George Hanford had operated a twelve-foot motordingey at one time, Phil Street had sailed a knockabout and all had anaverage amount of common-sense, and it seemed that, with luck, theymight somehow manage to escape death by drowning! Mr. Chapman surelymust have had a good deal of faith in Steve and his companions or hewould never have consented to their operating the cruiser without theaid of a seasoned navigator. As for the boys themselves, theyanticipated many difficulties and some hazards, but, with the confidenceof youth, they expected to "muddle through," and, as Neil said, whatthey didn't know now they soon would.

  At exactly seven minutes past eleven by the ship's clock the_Adventurer_ gave a prolonged screech and, moorings cast off, edged herway out of the basin and dipped her nose in the laughing waters of thebay, embarked at last on a voyage that was destined to fully vindicateher new name.