"We shall not say good-by to Dick," Mr. Tolman declared, "for he is not to be very far away and I hope sometime he will come to Coventry and spend a holiday with us. Why don't you plan to do that too, Ackerman? Run over from New York for Thanksgiving and bring the boy with you. Why not?"
"That is very kind of you."
"But I mean it," persisted Mr. Tolman. "It is no perfunctory invitation. Plan to do it. We should all be delighted to have you. There is nothing in the world Mrs. Tolman loves better than a houseful of guests. Doris will be home from college and I should like you to see what a fine big daughter I have. As for Steve—"
"I wish you would come, Mr. Ackerman," interrupted the boy.
Mr. Ackerman hesitated.
"I tell you what we'll do," replied he at length. "We'll leave it to Dick. If he makes a good record
at school and earns the holiday we will accept your invitation. If he doesn't we won't come. Is that a bargain, youngster?" he concluded, turning to the lad at his side.
The boy flushed.
"It is a rather stiff one, sir," he answered, with a laughing glance.
"I think that's playing for too high stakes, Ackerman," Mr. Tolman objected. "It is a little rough to put all the burden on Dick. Suppose we divide up the responsibility and foist3 half of it on Stephen? Let us say you will come if both boys make good in their studies and conduct."
Dick drew a breath of relief at the words, regarding the speaker with gratitude4.
"That is a squarer deal, isn't it?" continued Mr. Tolman.
"I think so—yes," was Dick's response.
"And you, Steve—do you subscribe5 to the contract?"
"Yes, I'll sign," grinned Stephen.
"Then the agreement is clinched," exclaimed his father, "and it will be the fault of you two young persons if we do not have a jolly reunion at Thanksgiving time. Good-by Ackerman! Good-by, Dick. Good luck to you! We are pinning our faith on you, remember. Don't disappoint us."
"I'll try not to," the boy answered, as he stepped to the platform.
"Dick is a fine, manly6 young chap," observed Mr. Tolman, after the train was once more under
way and he and Stephen were alone. "I have a feeling that he is going to make good, too. All he needed was a chance. He has splendid stuff in him. There isn't a mean bone in his body."
Stephen moved uncomfortably in his chair and a guilty blush rose to his cheek but apparently7 his father did not notice it.
"You liked Mr. Ackerman also, didn't you, son? Indeed there is no need to ask for he is a genius with young people and no boy could help liking8 a man of his type. It is a pity he hasn't a dozen children, or isn't the leader of a boy's school."
"He is corking9 at story-telling!" was Steve's comment.
"He certainly is. I caught some fragments of his Hudson River tale and did not wonder that it fascinated you. What a remarkable10 era that was!" he mused11.
"There were a lot of questions I wanted to ask him," Stephen said.
"Such as?"
"Well, for one thing I was curious to know what happened after the steamers on the Hudson were proved a success."
"I can answer that question," replied his father promptly12. "After the river boats had demonstrated their practicability steamships13 were built for traffic along short distances of the coast. Owing to the War of 1812 and the danger to our shipping14 from the British, however, the launching of these new lines did not take place immediately; but in
time the routes were established. The first of these was from New York to New Haven. You see, travel by steam power was still so much of a novelty that Norwich, first proposed as a destination, was felt to be too far away. It was like taking one's life in one's hands to venture such an immense distance from land on a steamboat."
Stephen smiled with amusement.
"But gradually," continued Mr. Tolman, "the public as well as the steamboat companies became more daring and a line from New York to Providence15, with Vanderbilt's Lexington as one of the ships, was put into operation. Then in 1818 a line of steamers to sail the Great Lakes was built; and afterwards steamships to travel to points along the Maine coast. The problem of navigation on the rivers of the interior of the country followed and here a new conundrum16 in steamboat construction confronted the builders, for the channels of many of the streams were shallow and in consequence demanded a type of boat very long and wide in proportion to its depth of hull17. After such a variety of boat had been worked out and constructed, lines were established on several of the large rivers, and immediately the same old spirit of rivalry18 that pervaded19 the Hudson years before cropped up in these other localities. Bitter competition, for example, raged between the boats that plied2 up and down the Mississippi; and in 1870 a very celebrated20 race took place between the Natchez and the Robert E. Lee. The distance to be covered was 1218 miles
and the latter ship made it in three days, eighteen hours, and thirty minutes. The test, however, was not a totally fair one since the Natchez ran into a fog that held her up for six hours. But the event illustrates21 the keen interest with which men followed the progress of American shipping; and you can see how natural it was that after the river boats, lake steamers, coastwise vessels22 and tugs24 had had their day the next logical step (and very prodigious25 one) was the—"
"The ocean liner!" ejaculated Stephen.
"Precisely26!" nodded his father. "Now there are two separate romances of our ocean-going ships. The first one is of the sailing vessels and is a chronicle of adventure and bravery as enthralling27 as any you could wish to read. I wish I had time to tell it to you in full and do it justice, but I fear I can only sketch28 in a few of the facts and leave you to read the rest by yourself some time. You probably know already that whalers went out from Gloucester, New Bedford, and various of our eastern ports and often were gone on two or three-year cruises; and when you recall that in those early days there not only was no wireless29 but not even the charts, lighthouses, and signals of a thoroughly30 surveyed coast you will appreciate that setting forth31 on such a voyage for whale-oil (then used almost exclusively for lighting32 purposes) took courage. Of course the captains of the ships had compasses for the compass came into use just before the beginning of the Fifteenth Century and
was one of the things that stimulated33 the Portuguese34 and Spaniards to start out on voyages of discovery. The Spaniards built ships that were then considered the largest and finest afloat, and probably Columbus caught the enthusiasm of the period and with the newly invented compass to guide him was stirred to brave the ocean and discover other territory to add to the riches of the land he loved. It was a golden age of romance and adventure and the journeys of Columbus grew out of it quite naturally. But in America shipping had its foundation in no such picturesque35 beginning. The first vessel23 made in this country was constructed as a mere36 matter of necessity, being built at the mouth of the Kennebec River to carry back to England a group of disheartened, homesick settlers."
He paused thoughtfully a moment.
"Even the ships of later date had their birth in the same motive—that of necessity. The early colonists37 were forced to procure38 supplies from England and they had no choice but to build ships for that purpose. At first these sailing packets were very small, and as one thinks of them to-day it is to marvel39 that they ever made so many trips without foundering40. As for our coastwise ships, up to 1812 they were nothing more than schooner41-rigged hulls42."
"I wonder where the word schooner came from," commented Steve.
"The legend goes that the term scoon was a
colloquialism43 used when skipping stones. When a pebble44 glanced along the top of the water it was said to scoon," answered his father, with a smile. "After the War of 1812 was over and our American vessels were safe from possible attack, and after the country itself had recovered somewhat from the stress of this financial burden so that men had more money to invest in commerce, we began to branch out and build finer vessels; and when it came to rigging them there seemed to be no name to apply to the arrangement of the sails. The story goes that one day as one of these new ships sailed out of Gloucester harbor a fisherman watching her exclaimed with admiration45, 'See her scoon!' The phrase not only caught the public fancy but that of the shipbuilders as well, and the word schooner was quickly adopted."
"I never knew that before!" announced Steve, when the narrative46 was concluded.
"Slowly the models of ships improved," went on his father, without heeding47 the interruption. "Vessels became larger, faster, more graceful48. Even the whalers and fishing smacks49 took on more delicate lines. Merchants from Salem, Gloucester, New Bedford invested their hard-earned savings50 in whalers and trading ships, and many of them made their fortunes by so doing. The sailing packets that went to Liverpool began to make excellent time records. Although the English were now using steamers for trans-Atlantic travel they had not perfected them to a sufficient extent to
make their trips faster than those of sailing ships."
"About how long did it take them to cross?" inquired Stephen.
"The average time to Liverpool was from nineteen to twenty-one days," was the answer. "And for the return voyage from thirty to thirty-five."
"Whew, Dad! Why, one could walk it in that time!" exclaimed the lad.
"It was a long time," his father agreed. "But it is not fair to measure it by present-day standards. Think how novel a thing it was to cross the ocean at all!"
"I suppose so," came reflectively from Stephen.
"It was not long," continued his father, "before the English improved their engines so that their steamers made better time, and then our American sailing packets were left far behind. This, as you can imagine, did not please our proud and ambitious colonists who were anxious to increase their commerce and build up their young and growing country. Something must be done! As yet they had not mastered the enigma51 of steam but they could make their sailing ships swifter and finer and this they set to work to do. Out of this impetus52 for prosperity came the remarkable clipper-ship era.
"We shall probably never see such beautiful ships again," continued Mr. Tolman, a trifle sadly. "Youth and romance go hand in hand, and our country was very young, and proud and eager in
those days. Our commerce was only beginning and the far corners of the world were strange, unexplored and alluring53. It is like an Arabian Night's Tale to read of those wonderful ships built to carry merchandise to China, India and other foreign ports. Speed was their aim—speed, speed, speed! They must hold their own against the English steamers if they would keep their place on the seas. For in those days the methods of packing produce were very primitive54, and it was imperative55 that such perishable56 things as tea, dried fruits, spices and coffee should be rushed to the markets before the dampness spoiled them. If they mildewed57 they would be a dead loss to the merchants handling them. Moreover as cable and telegraph were unknown there was no way to keep in touch with the demands of the public, or be sure of prices. Therefore every merchant hurried his goods home in the hope of being the first in the field and reaping the largest profits."
"More racing58!" exclaimed Stephen.
"It was racing, indeed!" returned his father. "Ships raced one another back from China, each trying desperately59 to discharge her cargo60 before her rival did. Like great sea-birds these beautiful boats skimmed the waves, stretching every inch of canvas to be the winner at the goal. As a result the slow merchant packets with their stale cargoes61 could find no patrons, the clippers commanding not only all the trade but the highest prices for produce as well. Silks, chinaware, ivory, bamboo—all
the wealth of the Orient began to arrive in America where it was hungrily bought up, many a man making his fortune in the East India trade. Of this fascinating epoch62 Hawthorne gives us a vivid picture."
"It must have been great to travel on one of those ships!" said Stephen.
"It was not all pleasure, by any means, son," Mr. Tolman replied. "Often the vessels encountered hurricanes and typhoons in the treacherous63 Eastern waters. Sometimes ships were blown out of their course and wrecked64, or cast ashore65 on islands where their crews became the prey66 of cannibals."
"Jove!"
"It had its outs—this cruising to distant ports," announced his father. "Moreover, the charts in use were still imperfect and lighthouse protection was either very scanty67 or was lacking entirely68."
"What became of the clipper ships?"
"Well, we Americans never do anything by halves, you know. When we go in we go in all over," laughed his father. "That is what we did with our clipper ships. We were so pleased with them that we built more and more, sending them everywhere we could think of. Many went around to California to carry merchandise to the gold searchers. At last there were so many of these swift vessels that they cut into one another and freight rates dropped. Besides, steamboats were coming into general use and were now running on
all the more important ocean routes. The day of the sailing ship was over and the marvelous vessels were compelled to yield their place to the heralds69 of progress and become things of the past. Nevertheless, their part in our American commerce will never be forgotten and we have them to thank not only for the fame they brought our country but also for much of its wealth."
With a quick gesture of surprise he rose hurriedly.
"See!" he exclaimed. "We are almost home. We have talked 'ships and sealing-wax' for hours."
"It hasn't seemed for hours," retorted Stephen, springing to collect his luggage.
"Nor to me, either."
"Some time I'd like to hear about the ocean liners," ventured the boy.
"You must get Mr. Ackerman to tell you that story when he comes to visit us Thanksgiving," was the reply, "if he does come. That part of it seems to be up to you and Dick."
"I mean to do my part to get him here," Steve announced. "I hope Dick will plug, too."
"I rather think you can trust him for that," was the quiet answer.
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1
haven
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| n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所 | |
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plied
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| v.使用（工具）( ply的过去式和过去分词 )；经常供应（食物、饮料）；固定往来；经营生意 | |
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3
foist
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| vt.把…强塞给，骗卖给 | |
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4
gratitude
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| adj.感激，感谢 | |
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5
subscribe
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| vi.(to)订阅，订购；同意；vt.捐助，赞助 | |
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6
manly
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| adj.有男子气概的；adv.男子般地，果断地 | |
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7
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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8
liking
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| n.爱好；嗜好；喜欢 | |
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corking
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| adj.很好的adv.非常地v.用瓶塞塞住( cork的现在分词 ) | |
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10
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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mused
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| v.沉思，冥想( muse的过去式和过去分词 )；沉思自语说（某事） | |
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12
promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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13
steamships
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| n.汽船，大轮船( steamship的名词复数 ) | |
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14
shipping
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| n.船运（发货，运输，乘船） | |
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15
providence
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| n.深谋远虑，天道，天意；远见；节约；上帝 | |
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16
conundrum
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| n.谜语；难题 | |
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17
hull
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| n.船身；(果、实等的)外壳；vt.去(谷物等)壳 | |
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18
rivalry
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| n.竞争，竞赛，对抗 | |
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19
pervaded
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| v.遍及，弥漫( pervade的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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celebrated
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| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
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21
illustrates
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| 给…加插图( illustrate的第三人称单数 )； 说明； 表明； （用示例、图画等）说明 | |
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22
vessels
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| n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人 | |
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23
vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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24
tugs
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| n.猛拉( tug的名词复数 )；猛拖；拖船v.用力拉，使劲拉，猛扯( tug的第三人称单数 ) | |
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25
prodigious
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| adj.惊人的，奇妙的；异常的；巨大的；庞大的 | |
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26
precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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27
enthralling
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| 迷人的 | |
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28
sketch
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| n.草图；梗概；素描；v.素描；概述 | |
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29
wireless
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| adj.无线的；n.无线电 | |
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30
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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31
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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32
lighting
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| n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光 | |
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stimulated
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| a.刺激的 | |
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Portuguese
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| n.葡萄牙人；葡萄牙语 | |
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35
picturesque
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| adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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colonists
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| n.殖民地开拓者，移民，殖民地居民( colonist的名词复数 ) | |
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38
procure
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| vt.获得，取得，促成；vi.拉皮条 | |
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39
marvel
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| vi.(at)惊叹vt.感到惊异；n.令人惊异的事 | |
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40
foundering
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| v.创始人( founder的现在分词 ) | |
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41
schooner
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| n.纵帆船 | |
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42
hulls
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| 船体( hull的名词复数 )； 船身； 外壳； 豆荚 | |
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43
colloquialism
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| n.俗话，白话，口语 | |
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44
pebble
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| n.卵石，小圆石 | |
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45
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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46
narrative
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| n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的 | |
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47
heeding
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| v.听某人的劝告，听从( heed的现在分词 ) | |
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48
graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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49
smacks
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| 掌掴（声）( smack的名词复数 )； 海洛因； （打的）一拳； 打巴掌 | |
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50
savings
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| n.存款，储蓄 | |
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51
enigma
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| n.谜，谜一样的人或事 | |
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52
impetus
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| n.推动，促进，刺激；推动力 | |
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53
alluring
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| adj.吸引人的，迷人的 | |
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54
primitive
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| adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物 | |
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55
imperative
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| n.命令，需要；规则；祈使语气；adj.强制的；紧急的 | |
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56
perishable
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| adj.（尤指食物）易腐的，易坏的 | |
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57
mildewed
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| adj.发了霉的，陈腐的，长了霉花的v.（使）发霉，（使）长霉( mildew的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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58
racing
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| n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的 | |
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59
desperately
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| adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地 | |
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60
cargo
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| n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物 | |
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61
cargoes
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| n.（船或飞机装载的）货物( cargo的名词复数 )；大量，重负 | |
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62
epoch
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| n.(新)时代；历元 | |
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63
treacherous
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| adj.不可靠的，有暗藏的危险的；adj.背叛的，背信弃义的 | |
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64
wrecked
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| adj.失事的，遇难的 | |
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65
ashore
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| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
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66
prey
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| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
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67
scanty
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| adj.缺乏的，仅有的，节省的，狭小的，不够的 | |
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68
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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69
heralds
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| n.使者( herald的名词复数 )；预报者；预兆；传令官v.预示( herald的第三人称单数 )；宣布（好或重要） | |
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