the first southward bound train that passed through bridgeport on the morning that don gordon so unexpectedly obtained a clue to the whereabouts of the deserters, took him and all the rest of captain mack’s men to oxford. although the young officer had full authority to act in this way, he did not omit to drop a note into the post-office, telling the superintendent where he had gone and what he intended to do.
“he’ll not get it before ten o’clock,” said the captain, gleefully, “and by that time we shall be so far away that he will not think it worth while to recall us, or to send a teacher after us.”
“we don’t want any teacher with us,” said don. “we can do this work ourselves.”
“of course we can; and what’s more, we’re going to. now, keep out of sight, all of us, and don’t go out on the platform when we stop at the[325] stations. we don’t want to see any despatches. we’re doing this ourselves, and having begun it, we want to go through with it.”
the next time the superintendent heard from captain mack and his men they were at oxford, and ready to continue the pursuit in the idlewild, which was lying to in the river when mack sent the despatch. in fact he took pains to see that everything was ready for the start before he went near the telegraph office. he got the yacht, as he knew he would, without the least trouble (mr. shelby laughed heartily when he heard what the deserters had done, and said he wished he had thought of such a thing when he was a boy), laid in a stock of provisions and water, and then turned the management of affairs over to egan, who selected his crew and got the yacht under way. when she came abreast of the city (the berth she usually occupied was about a mile up the river) mack went ashore in the dory, and after sending off his despatch, telling the superintendent where he was and what he intended to do next, he plumed himself on having done his full duty as a gentleman and an officer.
“he couldn’t stop us now if he wanted to,”[326] said mack, as he returned aboard and the idlewild filled away for the bay, “for there are no telegraph offices outside, and if we see a tug after us, we’ll hide from her. but the superintendent can’t say that i didn’t keep him posted, can he?”
the pursuing vessel had a much better crew than the sylph—of the twenty-three boys aboard of her there were an even dozen who could go aloft and stand their trick at the wheel—and if she had once come in sight of the deserters, she would have overhauled them in short order; but the trouble was to get on the track of them. there was a good deal of territory in the bay—it was about a hundred miles long and half as wide—and there were many good hiding-places to be found among the numerous islands that were scattered about in it. for five days they sailed about from point to point, but could gain no tidings of enoch and his crowd. the island farmers, of whom they made inquiries, declared that captain mack and his squad were the only academy boys who had been seen on the bay that summer. if the deserters had left the corn-fields and melon-patches alone, their pursuers might not have been able to get on their track at all; but one irate[327] truck-gardener, whom they had despoiled of nearly a cart-load of fine watermelons which were in prime condition for the oxford market, gave them the needed information, and after that their work was easy. they traced the sylph from island to island, gaining on her every hour, and would have overhauled her before the close of the day on which the storm came up, had they not been obliged to seek a safe anchorage from the gale.
during the night of the blow the little vessels were not more than five miles apart. the idlewild made the earlier start, and if the sylph had remained in the cove an hour longer she would have been captured there, for it was egan’s intention to coast along the lee-shore of that very island. as it was, he did not catch sight of the object of his search until she rounded the promontory and stood up the bay. then all was excitement on the idlewild’s deck.
“hold her to it, burgess,” said egan to the boy at the wheel. “the sylph’s got the weather-gauge of us now, but we can soon gain the wind of her. at any rate we’ll make her captain show what he’s made of. go aloft, a couple of you, and we’ll set the topsails.”
[328]
“are you going to lay us alongside of her?” asked burgess.
“not in this sea,” replied egan. “we’ll keep her company until she gets into smooth water, and then we’ll bounce her. what do you see, gordon?” he added, addressing himself to bert who was gazing steadily at something through the glass.
“i never saw a wreck,” replied bert, handing the glass to egan, “but if that isn’t one, tossing about on the waves just ahead of the sylph, i’d like to know what it is.”
egan looked, and an exclamation indicative of the profoundest astonishment fell from his lips. it was a wreck, sure enough, said all the boys, as the glass was passed rapidly from hand to hand, and there were people on it, too. now what was to be done?
“stow the topsails and lay down from aloft,” commanded egan. “we don’t want any more canvas on her until we have taken care of those castaways.”
never before had the idlewild bore so excited a party as captain mack and his men were at that moment, and never had she carried a more orderly[329] one. there was not the slightest confusion among them. those who understood egan’s hurried orders obeyed them, and those who did not, kept out of the way. when they saw that the deserters were making preparations to board the wreck, their admiration found vent in lusty and long-continued cheers.
“who are those fellows in the dory?” egan asked of don, who had the glass. “they have good pluck, i must say.”
“one of them is enoch williams, and the other is——”
don was so utterly amazed by the discovery he had made, that he could go no further. he wiped both ends of the glass with his handkerchief to make sure that there was nothing on them to obscure his vision, and then he looked again.
“the other is lester brigham,” said he.
his companions could hardly believe it. first one and then another took the glass, and every one who gazed through it, gave utterance to some expression of astonishment.
“i’ll never again be in such haste to pass judgment upon a fellow,” said egan, after he had satisfied himself that enoch’s companion was none[330] other than the boy who had faltered when his courage was first tested. “i have been badly mistaken in both those boys. you are going to capture the deserters, mack, but enoch and lester will go back to bridgeport with a bigger feather in their caps than you will.”
captain mack did not feel at all envious of them on that account. he and the rest watched all their movements with the keenest solicitude, and cheered wildly every time one of the sloop’s crew was released from his lashings and put into the dory. when that big wave came and washed enoch overboard, their hearts seemed to stop beating, and every boy anxiously asked his neighbor whether or not enoch could swim well enough to keep himself afloat until they could reach him. their fears on that score were speedily set at rest and their astonishment was greatly increased when egan, who held the glass, said that he could swim like a cork, that he held a little child in his arms, and that he knew enough to get beyond the influence of the whirlpool made by the wreck which was now going to the bottom.
“he’s a hero!” cried egan, after he had shouted himself hoarse. “look out for that spar,[331] burgess! get handspikes, some of you, and stand by to push her off!”
but the handspikes were not needed. being skilfully handled the idlewild came up into the wind within easy reach of the spar, but never touching it, and hung there barely a moment—just long enough to give the eager boys who were stationed along the weather-rail, time to seize the swimmer and haul him aboard. he was none the worse for his ducking, while his burden lay so white and motionless in his arms that everybody thought he was dead; but he was only badly frightened, and utterly bewildered by the strange and unaccountable things that were going on around him.
“now, then, what does a fellow do in cases like this?” exclaimed don, who was at sea in more respects than one.
“take the boy below and put him to bed,” commanded egan. “pull off those wet clothes, give him a good rubbing to set his blood in motion, and then cover him up warmly and let him go to sleep. i suppose his father is among those whom you and lester took off the wreck?”
“i think he is, and his mother too,” replied[332] enoch, who was wringing the water out of his coat.
“his mother!” cried egan.
“yes. the first one we took off was a lady.”
“who are they, and where did they come from?”
“haven’t the shadow of an idea. i don’t know the name of their vessel, or whether or not any of the crew were lost. the lady was insensible, and the men were not much better off.”
“then we must run for a doctor!” exclaimed mack.
“you can’t get to one any too quick,” answered enoch. “but first, you had better send somebody off to take charge of that schooner. jones is at the wheel, and he can’t handle her in this wind.”
captain mack lost no time in acting upon this suggestion. while the idlewild was taking up a position on the sylph’s starboard quarter, her small boat, which had been housed on deck, was put into the water, half the squad, six of whom were capable of managing the schooner, were sent off to take charge of the prize, and the majority of the deserters were transferred to the idlewild.[333] bert gordon, who was the only non-commissioned officer in the squad, commanded the sylph, but burgess sailed her. all this work was done as soon as possible, and when it was completed the two vessels filled away for the nearest village, the idlewild leading the way. during the run the deserters fraternized with their captors, and many interesting and amusing stories of the cruise were told on both sides. the former were treated as honored guests instead of prisoners, and mack and his men praised them without stint.
“we’re all right, fellows,” said jones, when he had opportunity to exchange a word with lester and enoch in private. “the superintendent won’t say anything to us. he can’t after what we have done.”
“but we didn’t all do as well as enoch did,” said lester.
“i know that. he will receive the lion’s share of the honors, but the rest of us did the best we could, and if one is let off scot free, the others must be let off too. those people would have gone to the bottom with their yacht if we hadn’t sighted them just as we did; and by rescuing them we have made ample amends for our misdeeds.”
[334]
all the deserters seemed to be of the same opinion, and the boys who, but a short time before, would have shrunk from meeting the gaze of their teachers, now looked forward to their return to camp with the liveliest anticipations of pleasure. there was one thing they all regretted, now that the fun was over, and that was, that the confiding coleman had lost his situation through them. they resolved, if they could gain the ear of the sylph’s owner, to make an effort to have him reinstated. fortunately for coleman, this proved to be an easy thing to do.
it was twenty miles to the nearest village, but the fleet little vessels, aided by the brisk wind that was blowing, covered the distance in quick time. the moment the sylph came within jumping distance of the wharf, one of her crew sprang ashore and started post-haste for a doctor, and shortly afterward burgess and another of bert’s men boarded the idlewild.
“the lady is coming around all right and wants to see her boy,” said the former.
the little fellow was fast asleep in one of the bunks, and his clothes were drying in the galley; so burgess picked him up, blankets and all, and[335] carried him off to his mother, while his companion lingered to give captain mack some account of the rescued people who, he said, were able to talk now, but too weak to sit up. they were from newport, and they were all relations of mr. packard, the sylph’s owner. the owner and captain of the lost sloop was mr. packard’s brother, and the little boy was his nephew. the lady was the captain’s wife. they had been out in all that storm, and after the men had worked at the pumps until their strength failed them, they had lashed themselves to the rigging in the hope that their disabled craft would remain afloat until the waves could carry her ashore.
“but she wouldn’t have gone ashore,” said egan. “she would have missed the island and been carried out to sea if she had stayed above water.”
“they know that,” said the student, “and they know, too, that they owe their lives to the sylph, for they would have gone down before the idlewild could have reached them. they feel very grateful toward the dory’s crew, and mr. packard says he will never forget the gallant fellow who saved his boy’s life at the risk of his own.”
[336]
these words were very comforting to the deserters. the owner of the sylph was one of the prominent men of bridgeport, and it was not at all likely that he would neglect to use his influence with the superintendent in behalf of the boys who had saved his relatives from a watery grave. lester brigham could hardly contain himself. he had won a reputation at last, and the hated gordons were nowhere. he believed now that he would stay at the academy, and enoch, jones and the rest of them had about come to the same conclusion. they all wanted warrants and commissions, and who could tell but that their recent exploit would give them the favor of the teachers, who would see that their desires were gratified?
at daylight the next morning bert gordon sent word to captain mack that the doctor thought his patients were now able to continue the journey to bridgeport. no time was lost in getting under way, and at dark they were in oxford. the idlewild was turned over to her owner in just as good condition as she was when she left port, and captain mack, after seeing the rescued people to a hotel, at which they intended to remain for a day or two in order to obtain the rest they so much[337] needed, and sending despatches to the superintendent and mr. packard, took the first train for bridgeport with the deserters and the main body of his men, leaving bert, egan, and six others to bring the sylph up the river. before she was hauled into her berth the camp had been broken, the students had marched back to the academy, and the examination was going on as if nothing had happened during the term to draw the students’ attention from their books. mr. packard had responded to captain mack’s telegram by going down to oxford and bringing his relatives back with him, and the townspeople were almost as highly excited over what the deserters had done, as they were when they learned that an academy company had put down the hamilton riot. there were some among them who declared that enoch and lester ought to be promoted; but the superintendent was of a different opinion. he admired their courage, but he could not lose sight of the fact that in stealing a private yacht and running off in her, they had done something for which they ought to be expelled from the academy. in fact that was the sentence that was passed upon them by the court-martial; but the[338] superintendent set it aside, as everybody knew he would, and commuted their punishment to deprivation of standing and loss of every credit mark they had earned during the year, thus destroying their last chance for promotion.
the examination came to a close in due time, and the result astonished everybody. don gordon made the longest jump on record, springing from the ranks to a position “twelve yards in the rear of the file-closers, and opposite the centre of the left wing” of the battalion. in other words, he became major; bert was made a first-lieutenant, and sam arkwright, the new york boot-black, was promoted to a second-lieutenancy. this was enough to disgust lester and enoch, and not even the satisfaction they felt at being invited to dinner and made much of at mr. packard’s residence, could make them good-natured again. forgetting that the position a boy occupied in that academy was determined by his standing as a student and a soldier, and not by any acts of heroism he might perform while on a runaway expedition, they laid don’s rapid promotion to favoritism, and threatened him and the teachers accordingly. as for don, who had simply[339] tried to behave himself, hoping for no higher round than a lieutenant’s commission, he was fairly stunned; and as soon as he had somewhat recovered himself, his first thought was to enjoin secrecy upon his brother.
“don’t lisp a word of this in your letters to mother,” said he. “tell her that the result of the examination is perfectly satisfactory to both of us, and let her be content with that until she sees our shoulder-straps.”
lester brigham pursued an entirely different course. the papers were full of the exploit the deserters had performed on the bay, and whenever he found an article relating to it that was particularly flattering to his vanity, he cut it out and sent it to his father. he wanted him and everybody else about rochdale to know what a brave boy he was.
the examination over, two parties of students left the academy and started off to enjoy their vacation in their own way, lester and his friends heading for mississippi, and curtis and his friends striking for the wilds of maine. the latter had long ago sent for their guns, which arrived during their first week in camp. bert, whose highest[340] ambition was to bag a brace or two of ruffed grouse, carried his little fowling-piece; don, who had an eye on the moose and caribou which, so curtis told him, were still to be found on the hunting-grounds he intended to show them, had sent for his muzzle-loading rifle; while egan and hopkins were armed with the same ponderous weapons with which they had worked such havoc among the ducks and quails about diamond lake. to these outfits were added fly-rods, reels and baskets which they purchased in boston, curtis making their selections for them. the southern boys were astonished when they handled the neat implements that were passed out for their inspection.
“i don’t want this pole,” said don, who was holding an elegant split-bamboo off at arm’s length. “it’s too limber. it isn’t strong enough to land a minnow.”
“that isn’t a pole; it’s a rod,” said curtis. “of course it is very light and elastic, and you couldn’t throw a fly with it if it were not; but it’s strong enough to land any fish you are likely to catch in maine. i suppose you have been in the habit of yanking your fish out by main strength,[341] haven’t you? well, that’s no way to do. you’d better take it if you want to see fun.”
don took it accordingly, though not without many misgivings, and the other boys also paid for the rods that curtis selected for them, carrying them out of the store as gingerly as though they had been made of glass. but there proved to be any amount of strength and durability in those same frail-looking rods, and their owners caught many a fine string of trout with them before the season closed.
their journey from boston to dalton, which was the name of the little town in which curtis lived, was a pleasant though an uneventful one. the last fifty miles were made by stage-coach—a new way of traveling to the southern boys, who, of course, wanted to ride on the top. about ten o’clock at night the stage drove into the village, and after stopping at the post-office to leave the mail, and at the principal hotels to drop some of its passengers, it kept on to curtis’s home. late as the hour was, they found the house filled with boys who had gathered there to welcome their friend who had been in a real battle since they last saw him, and to extend a cordial greeting to[342] the comrades he had brought with him. they were introduced to the new-comers, one after the other, as members of the rod and gun club, which, according to curtis’s way of thinking, could boast of more skillful fishermen, and finer marksmen, both at the trap and on the range, than any other organization of like character in the state. there were nearly a score of them in all, and they seemed to be a jolly lot of fellows. some of them had performed feats with the rod and gun that were worth boasting of, and as fast as curtis found opportunity to do so, he pointed them out to his guests, and told what they had done to make themselves famous. that tall, slender, blue-eyed boy who stood over there in the corner, talking to mr. curtis, had won the club medal by breaking a hundred glass-balls in succession, when thrown from a revolving trap. he was ready to shoot against any boy in the country at single or double rises, and curtis was going to try to induce don gordon to consent to a friendly trial of skill with him. that fellow over there on the sofa, who looked enough like hopkins to be his brother, was the champion fisherman. he had been up in canada with his father, and during[343] the sixteen days he was there, he had caught more than eight hundred pounds of fish with one rod. they were all salmon. one of them weighed thirty-two pounds, and it took the young fisherman fifty minutes to bring him within reach of the gaff. the boy who was talking with don gordon was a rifle shot. he could shoot ten balls into the same hole at forty yards off-hand, and think nothing of it.
“i’ll just tell you what’s a fact,” said egan, when he and the rest were getting ready to go to bed,“we’ve fallen among a lot of experts, and if we intend to keep up the good name of our section of the united states we’ve got to do some good work.”
the other boys thought so too, but they did not lose any sleep on account of it.
