Breaking Away Part 22

"What are you going to do with that tiller?" continued he, fixing his eye fiercely upon me.

"I am going to steer the boat with it," I replied. "If you wish to go with us, I shall not object to your company."

I saw that the man only wished me to bully and threaten him a little, to induce him to pitch into me, though it was plain he did not like the looks of the heavy tiller in my hand. I refrained from provoking him any further than to persist in claiming possession of my boat.

"You say this boat is yours," said he, after a moment of deliberation.

"I do; if you need any proof, I will now refer to Mr. Leman, the grocer, and Mr. Irwin, the provision-dealer; and if you belong on this wharf, you must have seen me land from her more than once."

"I don't want to quarrel with you," he added. "I know the boat very well, and very likely I've seen you in her; but I don't remember. I live close to the sh.o.r.e beyond the village, and I was waked up in the night--it was about one o'clock, I guess--by a lot of boys hollering.

I got up, and found all these boats heaved up on the beach, and the boys trying to get 'em off. I helped 'em a while, and then brought the boats round here, for they would all got stove to pieces there."

The man talked very well now, and I met him in the same spirit.

"The boys who got into the sc.r.a.pe ought to pay you for helping them out," I replied.

"I don't like to be turned out of my bed in the night to do such a job for nothing."

"You must make them pay you."

"They said they would, or that the schoolmaster over to Parkville would, for he sent them to look out for some boys who had run away."

"Did they?" I replied, glancing significantly at Bob Hale, for this acknowledgment implied that Mr. Parasyte had sent the deserters to do the work they had accomplished. "But I don't see that we have anything to do with the matter. If I were you, I would hold the other boats till they paid me for my trouble."

"I'll do that."

"How much do they owe you?" asked Bob.

"Well, I don't know; they ought to give me a couple of dollars, I think," replied the man.

We pa.s.sed a few words among ourselves, and Tom handed the man two dollars.

"That's to pay for saving this boat," said Tom. "We ought not to pay it, for our boat was stolen from us; but you must collect as much more before you let the other boats go."

"Thank ye," replied the man, with a broad grin, indicative of his satisfaction, as he took the money. "I spoke rather sharp to you at first, because I thought you were going to take the boats without paying for the job I did. I didn't mean nothing by it, and I hope you'll excuse it."

"It is all right."

"You can take the other boats too, if you like," continued the man, magnanimously.

We concluded that we did not want them. They were of no service to us, for with a south-west wind, I could work the scow over to Parkville; and I intended to go in search of her in the Splash.

"Did the fellows that came in these boats say anything to you about where they came from?" asked Bob Hale of the man.

"They told me all about it; but I knew something about it yesterday, for the schoolmaster came over here in the steamer, inquiring after you. He said you went to the Cleaver first, and then left--he didn't know where you was now."

"Mr. Parasyte here!" exclaimed Tom Rush.

"He's at the hotel, and he's going to find you and bring you back to-day," added the man, with a laugh. "You have done the handsome thing by me, and I don't mind telling you all about it."

We could scarcely believe that this was the man who had been so intent upon quarrelling with us; but it seemed he supposed we were the same boys who had come in the boats, and intended to cheat him out of his money for the job he had done.

"What is he going to do?" asked Bob Hale, rather excited.

"He has engaged the Adieno, and is going to look for you."

"The Adieno!" e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed Tom Rush.

The Adieno was a small steamer, owned in Parkville and Cannondale, employed in towing, conveying pleasure parties, and other uses on the lake. She was lying at the other side of the steamboat pier, and the smoke was already rolling out of her smokestack. Our informant did not precisely know in what manner Mr. Parasyte intended to proceed; and we could not ascertain whether he intended to bring off our party by force, or to resort to some milder means to break up the camp; but we were very grateful for the information we had obtained. By this time Mr. Parasyte had learned from the deserters where we were.

Our new-made friend, who, I think, had learned to respect me for the decision with which I had answered him, went up the steps. As he did so, he repeated his offer to allow us to take the other boats, which we again declined.

"He's coming!" said our new ally, as he reached the cap-sill of the wharf.

"Who?"

"The schoolmaster, and all them boys. Be in a hurry! He's close by."

I ran the mainsail up, and cast off the fasts which secured the Splash; but just as I had pushed off from the steps, Mr. Parasyte, attended by the deserters, appeared on the wharf. The eyes of the latter opened wide when they saw our party in the Splash, and it appeared to be a great mystery to them how we happened to be on the main sh.o.r.e, when they had left us on the island without a boat or craft of any kind. We were behind the wharf and building, so that the sails of the Splash did not get the wind, and I told a couple of my companions to take the oars.

"Stop, Thornton!" shouted Mr. Parasyte.

"Hold on a minute, and let us hear what he has to say," said Bob Hale.

We waited, looking up at the princ.i.p.al of the Parkville Liberal Inst.i.tute to hear what he had to communicate. Mr. Parasyte went down the steps with the deserters, and they got into a couple of the row-boats.

"We are ready to hear anything you have to say," called Tom Rush.

"I simply wish to know whether you intend to compel me to use extreme measures," said Mr. Parasyte, as, by his direction, d.i.c.k Pearl pushed the boat in which they stood towards the Splash.

"We will return to the Inst.i.tute when you comply with the terms stated by Henry Vallington," replied Bob Hale, as the bow of the row-boat came up to the stern of our craft.

"Perhaps I did not clearly understand what that proposition was," said Mr. Parasyte, as he turned and said something to Pearl which we could not hear.

Bob was going to restate the terms, when Pearl suddenly made fast the painter of his boat to a ring in the stern of the Splash.

"Only to hold her for a moment," said the princ.i.p.al, as he stepped into the bow of the row-boat.

We watched him closely. The other row-boat, in which six of the deserters had taken their places, was also working up to the Splash. I decided that we were getting into a sc.r.a.pe, and told my companions with the oars to pull. They obeyed, and in a moment we caught the stiff breeze; the Splash forged ahead, twitching the row-boat after it.

"Hold on tight, Pearl!" said Mr. Parasyte, savagely, now indicating that he meant war, and not peace.

I dragged the boat half a mile from the sh.o.r.e, and then, in tacking, gave it such a sudden twitch as to throw Mr. Parasyte, who was still standing, off his balance, and he went over the side into the angry waters.

CHAPTER XIX.