Haste and Waste; Or, the Young Pilot of Lake Champlain. A Story for Young PeopleOptic, Oliver
General
Haste and Waste; Or, the Young Pilot of Lake Champlain. A Story for Young People
Optic, Oliver
Steamboats -- Juvenile fiction
It cannot be denied that Lawry and his mother, and even Mr.
Sherwood, were glad of his escape, though he was more guilty than the
two men who had been captured and were afterward tried and sent to
Sing Sing. The little captain and the engineer of the _Woodville_
were warmly congratulated upon the safety of the steamer, when it was
known that Ben intended to burn her in revenge for having been made
a "nobody"; but Mr. Sherwood declared that, if the boat had been
destroyed, he would have built another, and presented her to Lawry
and Ethan, for he was too much interested in the steamboat experiment
to have it abandoned.
Mrs. Wilford trembled when she learned that the robbers had been
armed with pistols. Many laughed as they, listened to the account of
the choking operation in the cabin, and everybody was satisfied with
the result.
Lawry and Ethan were too much excited to sleep that night, though
they turned in at ten o'clock. At midnight the fireman on duty called
them, and the steamer soon started for Whitehall with Mr. Sherwood
and his gold, where she arrived in season for the morning train. As
the party did not start till nine o'clock, the exhausted pilot and
engineer obtained a couple of hours' sleep, while the steamer lay at
the wharf, which enabled them to get through the day without sinking
under its fatigues.
The following day was Sunday; and though Lawry and Ethan went to
church in the forenoon, as both of them were in the habit of doing,
the day was literally a day of rest to them, and there was a great
deal of "tall sleeping" done. On Monday morning, at six o'clock, the
boat went to Ticonderoga, arriving in good season to keep her
engagement.
Our limits do not permit us to follow Captain Lawry and the
beautiful little steamer any farther. The young pilot has redeemed
the fairy craft from the bottom of the lake, and overcome all
obstacles in his path to prosperity. He was not again disturbed by
the envy and jealousy of his brother. He was sad when he thought of
his father in prison, and Ben an exile, banished by his misdeeds; but
their errors only made him the stronger in the faith he had chosen,
that fidelity to principle is the safest and happiest course, under
all circumstances.
Lawry had all the business he could do with the _Woodville_. On
the following week, another pilot and another engineer were obtained,
and the price raised to sixty dollars a day, in conformity with the
suggestion of Mr. Sherwood. This was especially necessary, as, during
the bright moonlight evenings, in the latter part of the month, the
_Woodville_ was employed every night in taking out parties. The
boat lay hardly an hour at a time at the wharf. The money came in so
fast that Mrs. Wilford was bewildered at the riches which were
flowing in upon them. By the advice of Mr. Sherwood the money was
invested in government stocks; but he resolutely refused to accept
payment for what he had advanced on the place or for the boat.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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