Freaks of Fortune Part 7

"Why don't you say something, you absurd skipper? I'm dying to know what you think of it, and you don't say a word."

"I like it first-rate; but if I had read 'Bessie' there, I should have liked it better, much as I like it now."

"I couldn't have her named after me! How ridiculous! I'm sorry you don't like the name."

"But I do like it, Bessie; though you couldn't expect me to like any other name as well as yours."

"Why, how absurd you are!" replied Bessie, as Levi ran the boat up to the yacht.

The gangway had been rigged so that the pa.s.sage from one craft to the other was an easy matter, even for ladies. Mr. Watson a.s.sisted them on board. One of the hands, who knew the coast, was deputed to take charge of The Starry Flag, and Levi went on board of the beautiful vessel he was to command.

"Well, Levi, what do you think of her?" asked Mr. Watson, after they had walked around the deck, and inspected the cabin and cook-room of the yacht.

"She is magnificent, sir!" replied Levi. "She is, without exception, the finest yacht I ever saw, and I have examined a great many."

"I am glad she suits you. How do you like the name?"

"Very much, sir, though if it had been the Bessie, I should have liked it better."

"I intended to give her that name, but Bessie was contrary, and insisted that she should be called The Starry Flag, in grateful remembrance of her trip from the Pen.o.bscot. I really appreciate her motives, and both of us desire to perpetuate the name of your boat by giving it to the finest yacht that could be built."

"Since it pleases both you and her, I ought to be satisfied with it--and I am. We have two Starry Flags now, and we may get them mixed."

"The name of your boat shall henceforth be The Starry Flag, Jr.,"

laughed Mr. Watson. "When we say The Starry Flag, we mean the yacht, and when we say The Starry Flag, Jr., we mean your boat."

The Starry Flag, then, cut her way through the long billows at a rate which was highly gratifying to the embryo captain, who, prompt to his instincts, had taken the helm, when he had examined her. He declared that she steered splendidly, and he was sure she would prove to be a good sea-boat. In a short time she came to anchor off Mike's Point. The steward had prepared a lunch for the party, and they sat down at the table as soon as the yacht swung round to her cable.

"Now, Levi, you must get a crew for your vessel. These men, with the exception of the cook and steward, will return to Boston this afternoon," said Mr. Watson.

"Are the crew to leave her?"

"I only engaged them to bring her down, for I thought that you would prefer to select your own hands."

"I should," replied Levi, thinking what young men he could procure.

"We shall be ready to start on our cruise to the eastward in three or four days," added Mr. Watson.

"I will be ready, sir."

By the time the lunch was disposed of, The Starry Flag, Jr. had arrived, and Levi landed the party. He was anxious to engage his crew, and he ran the boat over to her moorings. On the rocks he found Dock Vincent, who had been observing the yacht.

CHAPTER VII.

GRAVE CHARGES.

"What vessel's that, Levi?" asked Dock Vincent, as the young skipper landed on the rocks.

"It's The Starry Flag," replied Levi, smiling.

"No, I mean the large yacht, off the Point."

"So do I."

"You don't mean to tell me that vessel's called The Starry Flag!"

"Yes, I do; that's her name. My boat is now called The Starry Flag, Jr.," answered Levi, beginning to move off, for he was not disposed to hold any intercourse with such a person as Dock Vincent.

"Hold on a minute, Levi; tell us about her," said Dock. "What is she for?"

"A yacht; but I am in a hurry now."

"Wait a minute. I have some bad news to tell you."

"Bad news?"

"Your uncle had an ugly fall this morning, just after you went off in the boat," added Dock.

"Where did he fall?" asked the young skipper, interested now, and troubled by the information.

"He fell into the cut, where the plank crosses it," replied Dock, pointing to the place where the accident had occurred.

"Is he much hurt?"

"Yes; I think the old man is putty badly damaged in his timbers. He has taken to his bed, and I shouldn't wonder if he had to stay there a month."

"I am sorry for it," said Levi, with entire sincerity. "How did it happen?"

Dock explained how it happened, taking care to locate himself at a considerable distance from the scene of the catastrophe.

"The old man thinks somebody fixed the plank so as to make him fall,"

added he, finis.h.i.+ng his narrative.

"To make him fall!" exclaimed the attentive listener. "Who does he think did it?"

"Well, Levi, he thinks you did it," answered Dock, softening his tones, so as not to commit himself to this view.

"I!"

"The old man thinks so, but that don't make it so, you know."

"What makes him think I did it?"

"Because you were the last person that went down to the P'int before he did. You were running over to Watson's new house, in the Flag, when the thing happened."