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THE GIBRALTAR

Among the ingenious plans which Beechnut contrived for amusing himself and the village boys on Saturday afternoons, one was the fitting up of a large flat-bottomed boat which he called the Gibraltar. In this boat he used to make excursions with the boys on a pond not far from the village. The pond was a large and beautiful sheet of water studded with wild, wooded islands. There were a great many birds' nests on these islands, and the shores were generally bordered on all sides by a smooth beach strewn with a great variety of colored pebbles. The bottom of the pond was of hard sand, and as the water was very clear the boys could generally see the bottom, wherever they might be, by looking over the gunwale of the boat. At one place a cove extended for a considerable distance into the land, and in this cove the pond lilies grew very luxuriantly.

There were two or three small boats on the pond. These the boys of the village were fond of borrowing in order that they might go out on the water to fish or to get pond lilies. The soil which formed the bottom of the cove was black and made the water look very deep, though it really was not; but the boys felt a particular dread of it because it appeared so gloomy and was so full of the tangled stems of the lilies. They imagined that many serpents, lizards, and turtles lived in the mud of the bottom.

There was a raft in the cove made of old logs, fence posts, boards, and rails. The larger and more daring boys used to go out on this raft, though it was a rather hazardous operation. The mystery and danger, however, which characterized the waters of the cove gave to the enterprise of exploring them a particular zest and charm.

One day when Beechnut and several of the other boys were walking along the shore of the pond near .the outlet they found a large flat-bottomed boat lying bottom upward on the land a little back from the water. It was very much out of repair and was full of leaks. Some of the boys proposed that they should heave it over and launch it and so have a sail.

"Very well," said Beechnut, "let us try."

The boys, accordingly, took hold with great resolution. They stood in a row along one side of the boat, and putting their hands under the edge of the gunwale began to lift.. They could move the boat a little, but could not raise it from the ground.

Then they sat down on the edge of the boat in the shadow of the trees to consider what they would do.

"Whose boat is it?" asked Beechnut.

The boys said it belonged to a man named Grey who lived in a small red house not very far distant, near a mill.

"I am going to get him to give it to me," said Beechnut, " and then I mean to repair it and put it afloat and enlist a crew to manage it."

"Who will you have in your crew?" inquired Arthur.

"I will first make sure that I can get the boat," replied Beechnut.

He rose and with the other boys in his rear went along the shore of the outlet to the pond until he came to a bridge. Parker was fishing on the bridge, but Beechnut's party were so much interested in going to see about getting the boat that they crossed without stopping to learn whether he had caught anything. On the other hand, Parker himself, seeing this company passing rapidly by with a manner that indicated they were intent on something of importance, hastily wound up his line and followed them.

He was not in very good standing with Beechnut, for he had disobeyed Beechnut's orders at the encampment and had afterwards refused to be tried by court-martial for his offense. So Beechnut would not admit him to be a member of any of their expeditions, though in other respects he and Parker were on as friendly terms with each other as usual.

The boys went on at a quick pace along a cart path which led through the fields toward the house where Mr. Grey lived.

Mr. Grey was at work in his yard with a yoke of oxen hauling great stones on a drag to a place where some men were building a wall. He looked up somewhat surprised to see such a company of boys coming into his yard. Beechnut was at the head of them. Mr. Grey having drawn the stones which were on his drag to the place where they were wanted, stopped the oxen and waited to hear what Beechnut had to say.

"I have come," said Beechnut, "to ask you to give me that old boat of yours which lies under the trees on the shore, if you have no use for it."

"That old boat?" repeated Mr. Grey, looking first at Beechnut and then at the other boys. "What do you want to do with it?"

"I want to repair it and fit it for sea," replied Beechnut.

"Well," said Mr. Grey, "I don't use the old scow now, but I may possibly want it hereafter for some purpose or other."

"Will you lend it to me then?" Beechnut asked.

"I will sell it to you," said Mr. Grey.

"What do you ask for it?" inquired Beechnut.

"I'll sell it to you very cheap," said Mr. Grey. "You may have it for two dollars. You and the other boys can make up that sum very easily."

Beechnut paused to consider the subject. "No," said he presently, "I cannot buy it — at least not now; but if you will lend it to me I will repair it if I can, and give it up to you whenever you need it."

"All right," responded Mr. Grey, "I will lend you the scow till I call for it."

"I am much obliged to you, sir," said Beechnut. "I shall take good care of it."

So saying, he turned away, followed by the other boys. As soon as they reached the boat Beechnut took a general survey of it, and then said he was going to name it the Gibraltar. "And now for a crew," he continued. "Do any of you wish to enlist in the crew of the Gibraltar ? The terms are, plenty of hard work and no pay."

"I will be one," said Arthur.

"So will I," said Gilbert; and another and another of the boys said the same.

Beechnut took from his pocket a piece of paper and a pencil, and wrote as follows:

We the subscribers enlist in the crew of the Gibraltar and promise to obey all the captain's orders until we withdraw.

"There," said Beechnut, as he finished writing, "you can leave the crew whenever you please, but so long as you remain in it you must obey."

The boys began to sign the paper one after another. Gilbert asked what they would have to do.

"Just what I order," replied Beechnut. "And suppose we don't obey?" said Gilbert. "Then," responded Beechnut, "I shall strike

your names off the list. That's all."

"And can't we join the crew again?" Gilbert asked.

"No," answered Beechnut, "not until you are first court-martialed for your disobedience and properly punished."

Beechnut sent two of the boys who had signed the paper to Mr. Henley's house to get a hammer and some nails, and several old ropes, which were in a storeroom in the barn. Two other boys were dispatched to the village to get a kettle of tar, while those that remained with Beechnut were employed in collecting sticks to build a fire, and in making wedges and selecting wood for mallets to be used in calking the seams in the boat. He sent a fifth boy to get a hatchet and saw.

In half an hour the boys had all returned, and then the spot where the boat was lying exhibited a very animated and busy scene. Beechnut was examining carefully the boards which formed the bottom of the boat, and nailing all those which he found loose and insecure. Some of the boys were picking the old ropes to pieces to make oakum, and others were driving the oakum thus made into the seams. Beechnut was very particular in allowing none but the older and more careful boys to have anything to do with the tar, for fear that they would get it on their clothes.

The boys worked in this manner very busily and harmoniously all the afternoon, and when it was time for them to go home to supper the whole bottom of the boat had been put in a complete state of repair. Beechnut then dismissed his crew, asking them to meet at the same place the next Saturday afternoon, and saying that then they would see if they could turn the boat over.

The progress of the work was not wholly arrested during the week, for Beechnut made an oar for a model and set two of the boys whose fathers were carpenters and had shops and tools, at work to make others like it. The oars were small and light and were of pine, which is a wood very easily worked.

Many new names were added to the list of Beechnut's crew during the week, and the boys assembled in great strength at the appointed time on the following Saturday. When all were on the ground they proceeded under Beechnut's directions to pry up one side of the boat by means of long levers brought for the purpose from a near-by fence. As fast as the boat was raised the boys propped it up with blocks of wood.

At last they got it up on edge. They then carried the blocks and levers around to the other side, and gradually let the boat down. They had previously laid rollers on the ground where the boat was coming, and when it rested on them the boys thought they could now push the boat into the water and have a sail; but Beechnut said there was to be no launching for the present, and in fact they waited a fortnight.

Meanwhile astonishing improvements were made on board. The boat was square and very wide so that the bottom formed quite a spacious floor. Beechnut erected a canopy at the stern. It consisted of an awning supported by four posts. He then made two rows of seats for the oarsmen extending from the center of the boat forward, six on each side. There was a considerable space in the middle of the boat, between the seats, left unencumbered.

As soon as all was ready the boat was swept out, and then washed very clean, and a day was appointed for the launching. When that day came the boys pried the boat along on the rollers into the water, and when it was afloat they gave three cheers. Then, at Beechnut's direction, they all embarked and started on a voyage.