Part 7 (2/2)
”I was trying to warn you of your danger.”
”Was that what you meant? We thought you were cheering the _Woodville_.”
”I saw you were going on the rocks, and I shouted and made signs for you to keep off.”
”You certainly did all you could for us, both before and after the accident,” added Mr. Sherwood. ”When did you get home, Lawry?”
”To-day noon, just after you went to the house for me. I came right up to see you; but I found you had gone.”
”Yes; I was so impatient to get that little steamer up here, that I couldn't wait any longer.”
”And what a waste your haste has made!” laughed Mrs. Sherwood.
”There is our fine little steamer at the bottom of the lake.”
”She may lie there, for all me,” added Mr. Sherwood.
”I should not dare to put my foot on board of her again,” said Miss f.a.n.n.y.
”Nor I,” chimed in f.a.n.n.y Jane.
”She isn't to blame, Mr. Sherwood,” interposed Ethan French. ”She worked as though she had been alive.”
”No steamer could stand such a thump on the Goblins,” added Lawry.
”I don't blame the boat, of course,” replied Mr. Sherwood; ”but this adventure has cured me of my love for steamboating. I don't want to see another one.”
”Shall you let the _Woodville_ lie there?” asked Lawry.
”She's a wreck now, stove in and ruined.”
”But she can be raised and repaired, and be as good as ever, or nearly so,” continued Lawry.
”She is good for nothing to me now. I will give her to any one who wants her.”
”There are plenty who will want her,” said Lawry.
”It will cost them a fortune to raise and repair her--almost as much as she is worth, if she is to be used as a plaything. But I have come to the conclusion that she is a dangerous machine for me, and I don't want anything more to do with her. I came very near drowning my wife and my friends with her; and this fills me with disgust for the boat and for myself.”
”Just now you spoke of a reward for what I had the good luck to do for you, Mr. Sherwood,” continued Lawry.
”I did; and you may be a.s.sured I shall never forget your n.o.ble conduct,” replied Mr. Sherwood warmly.
”If you are going to give the _Woodville_ away, sir--”
”Well, what?” asked Mr. Sherwood, as the young pilot paused.
”I don't know as I ought to say what I was going to say.”
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