it was the month of october, and yet for the boys who belonged to the school of mr. wallace, in boontown, the summer vacation was not yet over. mr. wallace had been taken sick, and although he was now recovering, it was not expected that he would be able to resume the labors of his school until about the middle of november.
everybody liked mr. wallace, and very few of his patrons wished to enter their boys at another school when it was expected he would certainly re-open his establishment in the course of the fall. most of his scholars, therefore, were pursuing their studies at home, according to methods which he[8] recommended, and this plan was generally considered far more satisfactory than for the boys to go for a short time to other schools, where the systems of study were probably very different from those of mr. wallace.
it is true that some of the boys did not study very much during this extension of the vacation, but then it must be remembered that those who expect boys to do always everything that is right are very apt to be disappointed.
philip berkeley, who lived with his uncle, mr. godfrey berkeley, at hyson hall, on the banks of one of pennsylvania’s most beautiful rivers, had studied a good deal since the time when his vacation should have ended, for he was a boy naturally inclined to that sort of thing, and he had, besides, the example of his uncle—who was hard at work studying law—continually before his eyes. but his two most particular friends, chapman webster and phineas poole, did not subject their school-books to any great amount of wear and tear.
chap webster was a lively, energetic boy, always ready to engage in some enterprise of work or play; and phineas, generally called phœnix by his companions, was such a useful fellow on his father’s farm that he was usually kept pretty busy at one thing or another whenever he was at home.
[9]at the time our story begins, chap webster had, for a week, been living in what he considered the most delightful kind of clover. he was a great lover of the water, although he had no particular desire for a mariner’s life, in the ordinary sense of the term.
accustomed since a child to the broad waters of the river, he had a great fancy for what might be called the inland marine service, and his highest ambition was to be captain of a tug-boat.
to course up and down the river in one of these swift and powerful little vessels, and to make fast to a great ship ever and ever so much larger than the “tug,” and to tow her along against wind and tide, appeared to chap a most delightful thing to do. there was a sense of power in it which pleased him.
he was now paying a visit to a relative in the city, who was one of the officers of a tug-boat company, and this gave chap an opportunity to take frequent trips on his favorite vessels. he enjoyed all this so much that i fear he was in no hurry for his school to begin.
it was on a monday afternoon that philip and phœnix were at the railroad station in boontown. each had come to town on an errand for his family, and they were now waiting for the three o’clock train from the city to come in.
the first person who jumped from the cars was[10] chap webster, and his feet had scarcely touched the platform before he spied his two friends.
“hello, boys!” he cried, striding toward them. “i’m glad i found you here. i want to tell you the best thing you ever heard of! i’m going down to the breakwater to-morrow on a tug-boat, and you two can go along if your folks will let you. i’ve fixed the whole thing up right. we’ll be gone two days and a night. and i tell you what it is, boys, it will be more than glorious! we’re going down after a big steamer, that’s broken her propeller-blades and has to be towed up to the city. i came up to tell you fellows, and see what my people said about it. but i know they’ll agree, and i don’t want you to let your folks put in any objections. it’ll be just as safe as staying at home, and there’s entirely too much fun in it for any of us to miss it.”
neither phil nor phœnix hesitated for an instant in agreeing that chap’s idea was a splendid one.
mr. berkeley, phil’s uncle, when the subject was laid before him about an hour afterward, gave a hearty approval to the plan, for he was very glad that phil should have an opportunity to enjoy an excursion of the kind.
his summer vacation had been filled up much more with work and responsibility than with recreation, and his uncle considered that a trip of some kind was certainly his due.
[11]but the matter did not appear in the same light in the eyes of mr. poole. now that phœnix was not going to school, he thought it the boy’s duty to make himself useful about the house and farm, and there were a great many things he wanted him to do.
when phœnix came over to hyson hall early the next morning, and told phil he didn’t believe his father intended to let him go on this jolly old trip, mr. berkeley ordered his horse, jouncer, to be saddled, and rode over to the poole farm.
when he came back, he found chap webster with the other boys, and a noisy indignation meeting going on. he put a speedy stop to the proceedings, by informing the members of the small assemblage that mr. poole had consented to let phœnix join the tug-boat party.
this news was received with a unanimous shout, and the boys separated to get ready as quickly as possible for the expedition, for they were to start for the city on the noon train.
“take your heavy overcoats with you,” said mr. berkeley, as chap and phœnix were bidding him a hasty good-by; “for it may be cold on the water at night, and you had better each take a change of linen with you, and some underclothes.”
“what!” cried phil; “for a little trip like this?”
[12]“yes,” said mr. berkeley. “i am an old traveller, and i know that a great many things happen on these little trips. one of you may tumble overboard, and need a dry shirt, and at any rate you ought to feel that you may rough it as much as you please, and yet look clean and decent when you are coming home.”
hyson hall was appointed for the rendezvous of the boys, and, after a slight luncheon, joel drove them over to boontown. but before they started mr. berkeley gave each of them a long, stout fishing-line, suitable for salt-water fishing.
“you may have a chance to use these,” he said, “and i don’t believe any of your own lines are strong enough for deep-water work.”
he gave phil a pocket lantern and a tin box of matches, with a paper of extra fish-hooks and various other little articles, which might be of use.
“if i’d been going by myself,” said chap, “i’d have just clapped on my hat, and started for town.”
“yes,” said phœnix, “and then, when you got a chance to fish, you’d have growled because you hadn’t a line. i tell you what it is, phil, your uncle knows what he is about. i wish i knew what he said to father.”
“some magic words,” said chap; “but you needn’t think anybody is ever going to tell them to you. you’d go round slinging spells over your[13] whole family, and having everything your own way. i rather think you’d have an easy time of it.”
“yes,” said phœnix, “you’re about right, and when any work turned up that i wanted to do, i’d chuck a spell over a long-legged fellow named chap webster, and make him come and help.”
“joel,” said chap, “hadn’t you better touch up the noble beast? we don’t want to be late, you know.”
“we’ll get there soon enough,” said joel. “i drive on time, and i never miss trains.”
“if you hurry up people that way, chap,” said phil, “you’ll have this trip over sooner than you want it to be.”
“you needn’t worry your mind about that,” said chap. “when we get on the real trip, i’m the fellow to help stretch it out as far as it will go.”
the trip down the river and bay was quite as enjoyable as the boys had expected it to be. the little tug was not very commodious, and not very clean, but there was a small after-deck, on which they could lounge quite comfortably.
the boys had never been far below the city, and the scenery was novel and interesting to them. chap would have been glad to have the tug stop occasionally, so that they could have a chance to fish; but he had sense enough not to propose anything of the kind to the captain.
[14]they reached their destination the next day, and it was then found that the steamer with the broken propeller was not quite ready to be towed up; and it was decided not to start with her on her trip up the river until the following morning.
in the course of the afternoon, however, some work appeared for the captain of the tug-boat. far out to sea a schooner was perceived, with her foremast and part of her bowsprit gone, and endeavoring, against a head-wind, to make her way to the refuge of the breakwater.
there was a strong wind blowing from the north, with a chance of its getting farther to the east before long, and it was considered doubtful whether the disabled schooner would be able to get in before a storm came on.
“boys,” said the captain, coming aft to where our friends were sitting, “i’ve made up my mind to go out and offer to tow that schooner in. i might as well be making some money for the company as to lie here doing nothing. but i think it’s going to be pretty rough, and, if you fellows don’t care to go along, i’ll put you ashore.”
the boys, who had been so much interested in everything around them that they had not even taken out their fishing-lines, cried out at once that they would not think of going ashore. nothing would please them more than a trip out to sea.
[15]“the rougher the better!” cried chap. “i just want to feel what it is like to be tossed on the ocean wave.”
“all right!” said the captain, with a grin. “we’ll toss you.”
