The Voyage of the HoppergrassPearson, Edmund Lester
General
The Voyage of the Hoppergrass
Pearson, Edmund Lester
Boats and boating -- Juvenile fiction; Pirates -- Juvenile fiction
He pushed the indignant Chief away, and taking the wheel himself,
began to put the boat about.
"Who's Simon?" asked Mr. Daddles.
Nobody paid any attention to his question.
"To think of forgetting him!" exclaimed Pete, "can you see
anything of him, Warren?"
Sprague had run up forward, and was peering ahead as we entered
the inlet.
"Here he comes!" he cried, "by Jingo, here he comes! Well, what do
you think of that? Isn't he a brick, Pete?"
I tried to see what all this was about. The moon was bright on the
water, and at last I could make out some white thing, like a sea
gull, moving toward us. We were running before the wind and soon
were near enough to get a good view. It was a bird of some kind.
We were in no doubt about the kind when it raised itself upon the
water, flapped its wings and uttered a loud "Quack! qu-a-a-a-ck!"
"It's a duck!" said Ed Mason.
"Of course it's a duck," replied Pete, "we got him at Duck Island,
too. It's Simon. Can you reach him, Warren?"
"I think so," answered Sprague, "easy now!"
Pete brought the yacht carefully alongside the duck, Sprague
twined one foot around the bob-stay, reached over and lifted the
bird into the boat. As soon as it was set on deck the duck shook
its feathers, gave one defiant waggle of the tail, and paddled
aft, remarking: "Quack! quack! qua-a-a-ck!"
"Well! Simon, old man!" said the delighted Pete, "did you think we
had left you behind? You didn't think that of us, did you? But you
had started out to overtake us, hadn't you? That shows what a good
old sport you are. The Chief might have left you in the lurch, but
your Uncle Warren and I wouldn't."
Simon waddled about a little, and finally settled down in the
center of a coil of rope. Once more we turned and started again on
our flight from Bailey's Harbor.
It was a beautiful night. The moonlight sparkled on the water, and
shone clear and soft on the sails of the boat. The breeze was cool
and delicious. Gregory the Gauger had stopped thumping and
everything was very pleasant and restful after the jail, and the
other exciting events of the night. Except for the sound of the
water at the bow, we sailed for five or ten minutes in perfect
silence. My eyes half closed and my head fell forward as I sat in
the cockpit.
"Well, I'd go below, and turn in," said Mr. Daddles, "but I don't
know about facing that sabre-toothed tiger down there. We made a
great mistake, boys, in not slitting his weasand the first time we
saw him. Somehow, I think I'm going through life with him in close
pursuit."
"Let's see what he's up to now," said Sprague.
"He's probably scuttling the ship," suggested Jimmy Toppan.
Sprague opened the cabin doors, and pushed back the hatchway.
Gregory had lighted the lamp and was calmly engaged in examining
the clock. To our surprise the wrath seemed to have gone out of
the man.
"Where didger git that air clock?" he asked, peering up at
Sprague.
"In Boston," Sprague answered him, "what do you think of it?"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account