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Page 12
"That's a good plan," said Johnson. "Boswell, see if you can find Charon."
"I am here already, sir," returned the ferryman, rising. "Most of my boats
have gone into winter quarters, your Honor. The _Mayflower_ went into dry
dock last week to be calked up; the _Pinta_ and the _Santa Maria_ are slow
and cranky; the _Monitor_ and the _Merrimac_ I haven't really had time to
patch up; and the _Valkyrie_ is two months overdue. I cannot make up my
mind whether she is lost or kept back by excursion steamers. Hence I
really don't know what I can lend you. Any of these boats I have named you
could have had for nothing; but my others are actively employed, and I
couldn't let them go without a serious interference with my business."
The old man blinked sorrowfully across the waters at the opposite shore.
It was quite evident that he realized what a dreadful expense the club was
about to be put to, and while of course there would be profit in it for
him, he was sincerely sorry for them.
"I repeat," he added, "those boats you could have had for nothing, but the
others I'd have to charge you for, though of course I'll give you a
discount."
And he blinked again, as he meditated upon whether that discount should be
an eighth or one-quarter of one per cent.
"The _Flying Dutchman_," he pursued, "ain't no good for your purposes.
She's too fast. She's built to fly by, not to stop. You'd catch up with
the House-boat in a minute with her, but you'd go right on and disappear
like a visionary; and as for the Ark, she'd never do--with all respect to
Mr. Noah. She's just about as suitable as any other waterlogged
cattle-steamer'd be, and no more--first-rate for elephants and kangaroos,
but no good for cruiser-work, and so slow she wouldn't make a ripple high
enough to drown a gnat going at the top of her speed. Furthermore, she's
got a great big hole in her bottom, where she was stove in by running
afoul of--Mount Arrus-root, I believe it was called when Captain Noah went
cruising with that menagerie of his."
"That's an unmitigated falsehood!" cried Noah, angrily. "This man talks
like a professional amateur yachtsman. He has no regard for facts, but
simply goes ahead and makes statements with an utter disregard of the
truth. The Ark was not stove in. We beached her very successfully. I say
this in defence of my seamanship, which was top-notch for my day."
"Couldn't sail six weeks without fouling a mountain-peak!" sneered Wren,
perceiving a chance to get even.
"The hole's there, just the same," said Charon. "Maybe she was a
centreboard, and that's where you kept the board."
"The hole is there because it was worn there by one of the elephants,"
retorted Noah. "You get a beast like the elephant shuffling one of his
fore-feet up and down, up and down, a plank for twenty-four hours a day
for forty days in one of your boats, and see where your boat would be."
"Thanks," said Charon, calmly. "But the elephants don't patronize my line.
All the elephants I've ever seen in Hades waded over, except Jumbo, and he
reached his trunk across, fastened on to a tree limb with it, and swung
himself over. However, the Ark isn't at all what you want, unless you are
going to man her with a lot of centaurs. If that's your intention, I'd
charter her; the accommodations are just the thing for a crew of that
kind."
"Well, what do you suggest?" asked Raleigh, somewhat impatiently. "You've
told us what we can't do. Now tell us what we can do."
"I'd stay right here," said Charon, "and let the ladies rescue themselves.
That's what I'd do. I've had the honor of bringing 'em over here, and I
think I know 'em pretty well. I've watched 'em close, and it's my private
opinion that before many days you'll see your club-house sailing back
here, with Queen Elizabeth at the hellum, and the other ladies on the
for'ard deck knittin' and crochetin', and tearin' each other to pieces in
a conversational way, as happy as if there never had been any Captain Kidd
and his pirate crew."
"That suggestion is impossible," said Blackstone, rising. "Whether the
relief expedition amounts to anything or not, it's good to be set going.
The ladies would never forgive us if we sat here inactive, even if they
were capable of rescuing themselves. It is an accepted principle of law
that this climate hath no fury like a woman left to herself, and we've got
enough professional furies hereabouts without our aiding in augmenting the
ranks. We must have a boat."
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