The Island School — page 9: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

2 ' ; Gordon,” said one, as he turned the bags over, “ to ask if this was all, considering that it is the heaviest mail ever known for the school.” “Tt might have been heavier for all that,” replied Gordon, coolly; “there was no harm in asking. Be- sides, it is like your cheek to speak of itto me. Who is the captain of the sailing boats, Lal Brodie? Answer me that, if you please ?” “You are,” replied Lal. “Then why in the name oftarnation do you put impertinent questions to me?” . “ Because I did not know it was impertinent. What say you, Stiff P” “ Cheek is pretty well apparent in the pair of you,” said Stiff, laughing; “but I think Gordon takes the cake.” “Silence fore and aft!” shouted Gordon, in the authoritative tone of a naval captain. “ Ay, ay, sir!” replied the other two, and for a few moments they were quiet. The boat sped across the water in the directed of land lying five or six miles away. The sail:that bore her along seemed to be tremendously tall for the boat, but she carried it gallantly, having a deep keel and plenty of ballast in the form of shingle in small sacks. Presently Brodie gravely saluted the youth at the helm. * May we sink the official, sir?” he asked. “* Yes, for a time,” was the reply. “ All serene, Gordon,” said Brodie, promptly chang- ing his tone and manner. “ Now as this is the first time I have been out to meet the mails, being only just appointed to the crew of the ‘Swallow’” (that was the name of the little craft), “may Lask how we get our ietters if we miss the mail-boat ?” “We never miss it in fine weather,” was the reply. “ But it has been done, I reckon,” persisted Brodie, “and then, where are they left ?” “At Minorea, and we have to trust to a Spanish trader to bring the mail to us.” “Which they do, of course ?” | “In their own good time,” said Gordon, with a ehrug. “They are a rough lot, for trader and smug- gler here are synonymous terms.” “Sometimes,” said Stiff, “the launch Minorca, to fetch the bags.” “Tt hasn’t been for a year,” said Jim Gordon, “be- cause our own Napoleon got into trouble ons some big Spanish toff living there.” ‘What was the row about ?” put the question. “Nobody knows,” replied Jim Gordon; “ but since then our mighty chief won’t allow even the would-be hucksters of Spanish origin to land on the island of Fermentera.” “Has he a fullmght to stop them ?” goes to It was Brodie: who THE ISLAND SCHOOL. “J suppose so. Anyway, he pays a subsidy to the Spanish Government for the entire control of the island.” 7 “ And it had no inhabitants P” “ There were a few, I believe; but when Napoleon Farrell made a bargain to hold it for a term of years, the Government induced the small number of residents to leave.” ‘Paid them out, I suppose ?” “No. Took them away in a boat by the scruff of their necks, howling and protesting. Of course, that was before our school was established; but I have heard, and really think, that something will come of it one day. Your true Spaniard never forgives a wrong, and it was one, you know;; for thé island is a beautiful place, and they were very happy there. The people had really no ruler over them, and I fancy they made it a smuggler’sstation. But that is not our affair.” “Tt was a thunderige good idea, starting a school like ours,” said Stiff, “ where a fellow gives his morn- ings to his books, and his afternoons to learning some useful: business or profession. How many are there of us now ?” | “With the three that arrived last night overland and per fishing-smack,” said Gordon, “we made up the two hundred, or’ there may be one over. I won't be sure.” ‘“‘Here’s a boat bearing down upon us,” said Brodie, pointing aft. They gazed in the direction of his extended fore- finger, and about a mile in the rear beheld a boat, rigged as theirs was, but at least double the size, gaining upon them hand over hand. Her sail was enormous, tapering towards the sky, with a small red flag fluttering at the topmost point. There seemed to be at least half-a-dozen men in her, and there might be more, but at that distance 1% was impossible to say. “T wonder what he is up to,” muttered Gordon. “He is coming direct for us. I don’t like the look oi it. Give the canvas another hoist, you two. Well make for home smart.” ‘What can the fellow do to us?” asked Brodio ‘Run us down if he has a mind to,” quietly an- swered Jim Gordon; “anyway, I had orders not to get too near any of the native craft. The mail-boat is gone.” ‘‘Her hull is below the horizon,” said Stiff. “Then she can see nothing, On my word 1 think that-fellow means mischief, Give the sail another pull, my boys! Up with her! That’s it! Now, if you lie ever this side, we shall not have the fear of capsizing.” The boat in the rear responded with a similar hoist- ing of her. lateen sail. Gordon, looking back, saw 900ks.co mn co Cc cS