Transcriber’s Note:

The Table of Contents was created by the transcriber and placed in the public domain.

Additional Transcriber’s Notes are at the end.

CONTENTS

Chapter I. A New Project.

Chapter II. The Auction at Ruoara.

Chapter III. On Board the “Belle.”

Chapter IV. In the Picnic Grove.

Chapter V. The Battle With Words.

Chapter VI. The Battle With Blows.

Chapter VII. Waddie and I.

Chapter VIII. The Wreck of the “Highflyer.”

Chapter IX. By the Great Horn Spoon!

Chapter X. Waddie in a New Character.

Chapter XI. A Steamboat Strike.

Chapter XII. Captain Wolf Penniman.

Chapter XIII. In the Wheel-house.

Chapter XIV. The Horse-Shoe Channel.

Chapter XV. A Decided Victory.

Chapter XVI. Tommy Toppleton Mounted.

Chapter XVII. Tommy Toppleton Threatens.

Chapter XVIII. The Two Majors.

Chapter XIX. The Major’s Next Move.

Chapter XX. Grace Toppleton Faints.

Chapter XXI. Grace Toppleton’s Story.

Chapter XXII. Our Next Move.

Chapter XXIII. Up the Lake.

Chapter XXIV. A Trick of the Enemy.

Chapter XXV. The Steamboat Excursion.

Chapter XXVI. Major Toppleton’s Proposition.

ALGER SERIES No. 149 On Time BY Oliver Optic

STREET & SMITH CORPORATION PUBLISHERS NEW YORK

BOOKS THAT NEVER GROW OLD

Alger Series

Price, Fifteen Cents Clean Adventure Stories for Boys

The Most Complete List Published

The following list does not contain all the books that Horatio Alger wrote, but it contains most of them, and certainly the best.

Horatio Alger is to boys what Charles Dickens is to grown-ups. His work is just as popular to-day as it was years ago. The books have a quality, the value of which is beyond computation.

There are legions of boys of foreign parents who are being helped along the road to true Americanism by reading these books which are so peculiarly American in tone that the reader cannot fail to absorb some of the spirit of fair play and clean living which is so characteristically American.

In this list will be included certain books by Edward Stratemeyer, Oliver Optic, and other authors who wrote the Alger type of stories, which are equal in interest and wholesomeness with those written by the famous author after which this great line of books for boys is named.

ALL TITLES ALWAYS IN PRINT

ON TIME OR, BOUND TO GET THERE

BY OLIVER OPTIC Author of many books for boys which will never grow old.

STREET & SMITH CORPORATION PUBLISHERS 79-89 Seventh Avenue, New York

Copyright, 1869 By W. T. ADAMS

Renewal Granted to Alice Adams Russell, 1897

On Time

(Printed in the United States of America)

[5]

ON TIME.

CHAPTER I. A NEW PROJECT.

“You don’t want that boat, Wolf, any more than the lake wants water,” said my father, after I had read an advertisement, in the Ruoara Clarion, of the effects of a bankrupt which were to be sold at auction the next day.

“I don’t think the lake would amount to much without water; in fact, to no more than I do without business,” I replied. “I want something to do, and if I can buy this boat at a low price, I am sure I can make something out of her.”

“What can you do with her? She is a very pretty plaything; but you and I can’t afford such luxuries,” added my father.

“I don’t want her for a plaything, father,” I persisted. “I want to make some money out of her.”

[6]

“You are an enterprising boy, Wolf; but I really don’t see any money in a boat like that.”

“I think there is, though of course I may be mistaken. Since Major Toppleton has been running his steamers across the lake to Centreport so many times a day, the ferry would not pay, and the owner has gone up to Ruoara with his boat. Now, there are many people who wish to cross between the steamers’ trips.”

“I don’t think that would pay,” said my father, shaking his head.

“There is hardly a boat to let, either in Middleport or Centreport. I think a boat kept for parties of pleasure would pay well. There are plenty of people who want to go up the lake fishing; and there would be a great many more if a decent boat were to be had.”

“Well, Wolf, you have made your own money, and you are smart enough to take care of it yourself. If you want to go into a speculation on your own account, I haven’t a word to say. But what will this boat cost?”

“Of course I don’t mean to pay anything like her[7] value. If she can be bought at a low figure, I can do something with her, even if I have to sell her.”

“They say she cost five or six hundred dollars.”

“I should say she could not be built and fitted up for anything less than six hundred. I am willing to go one hundred on her. If I can buy her for that, I can turn her again so as to double my money,” I continued confidently.

“I don’t know. A boat is either the best or the worst property in the world.”

“I know that. It is October now, and the boating-season is about over, though there is considerable fishing done up the lake. Not many people want to buy a boat in the fall, and for that reason she won’t bring much.”

“Here is the hundred dollars. If you can buy her for that, I think you will be safe enough,” added my father, as he took the bills from the bureau drawer.

I was very fond of boating, and would rather have made my living in that way than any other; but while I could get two, or even one dollar a day for running an engine, I could not afford to risk my chances with a boat. I was out of business now. I had been contemptuously[8] discharged from the Lake Shore Railroad, and, not a little to my chagrin, Colonel Wimpleton, who had made me liberal offers to serve in his new steamer, did not repeat them. My father also was out of employ, and, though we were not likely to suffer at present for the want of work, we could ill afford to be idle.

I had taken it into my head that I could make something with a good sailboat. The people of the two towns, as well as many strangers who came to them, were fond of fishing, and six or seven dollars a day for such a boat as I proposed to buy would not be an extravagant price, including, as it would, my own services as skipper. Twenty days’ work would refund my capital, and I could reasonably hope to obtain this amount of business during the next two months. The next summer she would be a small fortune to me, for boats were in constant demand.

The next day I crossed the lake, and went up to Ruoara in Colonel Wimpleton’s new steamer, the Ucayga. This was the first time I had sailed in her, and I could not help seeing that she was “a big thing.” It seemed almost incredible to me that I had been[9] offered the situation of captain of this boat, and even more incredible that I had refused it; but both of these statements were true. I had come to the conclusion that the colonel had repented of his splendid offer.

Just now the Lake Shore Railroad was in the ascendant, and the Ucayga was under a shadow. She had very few passengers, while the train which had just left Middleport had been crowded. It was a busy season among travelers, and I heard that the colonel was terribly galled by the ill-success of his line. Major Toppleton had ordered the captains of the two boats which ran up the lake to be regularly ten minutes behind time, so that the steamer was unable to leave Centreport in season to connect with the trains at Ucayga. This delay entirely defeated the colonel’s plans, and the Ucayga was generally obliged to leave without any of the through passengers, which comprised more than half. Without them the boat would not pay.

It did not make much difference to Colonel Wimpleton whether the steamer made or lost money for him, if he could only get ahead of the railroad. The[10] Ucayga had failed to connect with the railroads at the foot of the lake two or three times a week; and this had given her a very bad reputation. It was true that the Lightning Express, on which I had formerly run as engineer, had been similarly unfortunate quite a number of times; but as the major’s plan was fully understood by the people up the lake, the train was regarded as the surer of the two modes of conveyance.

Lewis Holgate, the son of the man who had robbed my father, was still the engineer of the Lightning Express. He was under the powerful protection of Tommy Toppleton, who ruled all Middleport by ruling his father, the magnate of the town. Lewis was a treacherous wretch. He had labored to ruin me, under the direction of his young master; but I tried to think as kindly of him as I could. I was daily in fear that, through his unskilful management of the locomotive, an accident would occur on the road. I am almost sure that Colonel Wimpleton would have hailed such a catastrophe with satisfaction, so deep and bitter was his hatred of Major Toppleton, and so great was his opposition to the road. As the matter stood, neither[11] the train nor the steamer was entirely reliable. A little more shrewdness, skill, and enterprise would have turned the scale in favor of either.

The Ucayga started this morning without waiting for the arrival of the up-lake steamer. As soon as she left the wharf, I began to walk about her decks and cabins on an exploring-tour. I was delighted with her appointments; and, while I tried to be impartial between the steamer and the railroad, my admiration of the beautiful craft inclined me to believe that she ought to win. In the course of my wanderings about the boat, I came to the forward deck. About the first person I encountered here was Mr. Waddie Wimpleton. He sat on the capstan, smoking a cigar, for the young scion of the Wimpleton house was bent on being as “big” as anybody else.

“What are you doing on our boat, Wolf Penniman?” demanded he, leaping down from his high seat the moment he saw me.

“I’m going down to Ruoara on her; that’s all I’m doing just now,” I replied.

“Did you come to count the passengers?” said he bitterly.

[12]

“I did not, though, for that matter, it would not be a difficult task to count them.”

“None of your impudence, Wolf Penniman!”

“What’s the matter, Waddie?” I asked, laughing. “I suppose you know I’m not the engineer of the railroad now, and you need not waste any hard words upon me.”

“I don’t want to see you on this boat, or on our side of the lake,” he added, restoring the cigar to his mouth, and looking as magnificent as a little magnate could look.

“I won’t hurt you, or the boat.”

“I’ll bet you won’t!”

“This is a splendid boat,” I continued, in a conciliatory tone.

“Splendid enough.”

“But I don’t think you are smart to let the major get ahead of you, as he does.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“If I were running this boat, I should have my share of the through passengers,” I replied, with all the good-nature I possessed.

“You would do big things!” sneered he.

[13]

“I should try to.”

“You can’t come it over me, as you did over my father.”

“I haven’t the least desire to come it over you. I expect to go into business on my own account pretty soon,” I replied.

“If it hadn’t been for me, you would have been captain of this boat,” said he, intending to throw his heaviest shot by this remark.

“Well, I suppose you did what you thought was best for the line; and if you are satisfied, I ought to be.”

“You didn’t make much when you ran away from Centreport.”

“Neither did I lose much. If we are both satisfied about that, we need not quarrel.”

“I shall always quarrel with you, Wolf Penniman, as long as I live,” he added spitefully. “I hate you!”

“Well, I hope you will have a good time. For my part, I don’t hate you, Waddie; and if I had a chance to do you a good turn, I would do it now as quick as ever I would.”

“You needn’t snuffle to me. I don’t ask any favors[14] of you. I am president of the steamboat company, and I suppose you would like to have me get down on my knees and beg you to take command of this boat.”

“Not much,” I replied, laughing.

“You think you are a great man!”

“No, I’m only a boy, like yourself.”

“If I had seen you before the boat started, you should not have gone in her.”

“That game was tried on the other side of the lake. It don’t work well.”

“Don’t you come on board of this boat again; if you do, we will try it on.”

Both of the little magnates down upon me, and I was forbidden to ride in either steamer or cars! Waddie puffed up his cigar and walked away, evidently with the feeling that he was not making much out of me. The Ucayga touched at the wharf, and I went on shore. So did the little magnate of Centreport.

[15]

CHAPTER II. THE AUCTION AT RUOARA.

It was not yet time for the auction, and I waited on the wharf to see the steamer start. She was still a novelty in Ruoara, and many people came down to the shore to observe her beautiful proportions, and the speed with which she cut through the waters. Hundreds of them made the trip to Ucayga and back for the sole purpose of seeing the boat. After the old steamers were taken off, and before the Ucayga was put on the route, the inhabitants of this town had been obliged to cross the ferry to Grass Springs, and take the trains of the Lake Shore Railroad when they wished to go in either direction. The advent of this palatial steamer was therefore a new era to them, and they regarded her with pride and pleasure.

Ruoara was situated nearly opposite Grass Springs; but the four islands lay off the former town, and a little below. The South Shoe was due west from the wharf where the boat touched, and she was obliged to back, and go over a mile out of her course, to avoid[16] the island and the shoal water which lay near it. The South Shoe, therefore, was a nuisance in its relation to the steamboat navigation of Ruoara. The five minutes which this circuit required had doubtless caused the Ucayga to miss her connection more than once.

I have been told that I am a machinist by nature. I do not know how this may be, but I am sure that I never see a difficulty without attempting to study out the means to remedy it. As I stood on the wharf, watching the winding course of the splendid steamer, I could not help grappling with the problem of saving this loss of time on the trip. These five minutes might sometimes enable the boat to win the day in the competition with the railroad.

As I have hinted before, I knew every foot of bottom in this part of the lake. I had sailed hundreds of miles among these islands, and, while I was thinking over the matter, the key to the problem flashed upon my mind. I do not mean to say that it was a very brilliant idea; but, simple as it was, it had evidently not occurred to the captain of the steamer, who was a Hitaca man, and knew only the ordinary channels of the lake, used by the steamers. I had an idea;[17] but I deemed it wise to keep my own counsel in the matter, for a suggestion from me would probably have been deemed impertinent.

When the Ucayga disappeared behind the South Shoe, I turned my attention to the business which had brought me to Ruoara. A short distance down the lake, and on its bank, was a beautiful and very elaborate cottage, which had evidently been intended as a copy of that occupied by Colonel Wimpleton. Off the lake-wall lay the boat which I hoped to purchase. The owner had made an immense “spread,” and failed out clean in the height of his glory. People who could afford to purchase such rich and gaudy trappings as those with which the bankrupt owner fitted up his mansion, did not care to buy them at second-hand. Everybody expected that the ornamental appendages of the establishment would be sold for a tithe of their cost; and so they were.

To most of the people on the lake, any boat beyond a skiff for actual service was regarded as a luxury, especially such a craft as that which floated off the wall. Taking hold of the painter, I hauled her in, and stepped on board. She was a very rakish-looking boat,[18] sloop-rigged, with a cabin forward containing two berths, and the smallest stove it is possible to imagine. She was about twenty-four feet long, and as well appointed in every respect as though she had been fitted up to cross the ocean. The owner had certainly lavished money upon her, which he could afford to do, at the expense of his creditors.

While I was examining her I saw the crowd of purchasers moving about the house as the sale proceeded. It was a hopeful sign that no one seemed to care a straw about the boat. Men and women were examining everything else about the establishment, but the Belle—for that was the name I found upon her stern—was wholly neglected. I continued my examination without the notice of any one for some time. I took the trap off the well, and got at the bottom. I found that she was built in the most thorough manner. I was sure she had cost all of six hundred dollars.

“What are you doing in that boat, Wolf Penniman?”

I raised my head from the diligent search I was making in the bottom of the boat, and discovered Mr. Waddie on the wall.

[19]

“I am looking at her,” I replied.

“What are you looking at her for?”

“Because I want to see her.”

“What do you want to see her for?”

“I take an interest in boats,” I answered, not caring to be very communicative with the scion of the Wimpletons.

It immediately occurred to me that Waddie’s business at Ruoara was the same as my own, and my heart sank within me, for I could not hope to bid against one who had so much money at his command. But I could not think, for the life of me, why Waddie should want the boat, for he had one of about the same size, which was his own private property. Probably he had taken a fancy to her, as I had.

“Are you going to buy her, Wolf?” asked he, with more interest than he was accustomed to manifest in anything.

“That will depend upon circumstances.”

“Who told you that I was going to buy this boat?” demanded he sharply.

“No one.”

“You came up to bid against me!”

[20]

“I didn’t know you were coming till I saw you here.”

“If you bid against me, Wolf Penniman, I’ll be the death of you.”

“I think not,” I replied, laughing at this rash threat.

“I will! You will find me an uglier customer to deal with than you did Tom Toppleton. Do you think I’m going to have you dogging my steps wherever I go?”

I could only laugh.

“No one about here wants the boat but me,” he added.

“I want her.”

“Yes, and you want her only because I do,” snarled he.

“It’s an open thing, I suppose. This is a public auction; and if you are willing to give more than I can, of course you will have her,” I replied.

“If you don’t bid against me, she will be knocked off at the first offer.”

“We won’t quarrel, Waddie.”

“Yes, we will, if you bid against me. The auctioneer[21] is coming. You mind what I say. If you bid against me, you will repent it as long as you live.”

Such language from an ordinary boy would have been very remarkable; from Waddie it was not at all so. It was his usual style of bullying. It seemed very strange that the young gentleman should attempt to bully me into silence when he could outbid me; but I ascertained afterward that his father objected to buying the boat, and even refused to furnish the money, so that Waddie could only bid to the extent of the funds then in his possession. However weak and indulgent the colonel was, he had not sunk into the condition of subserviency to his son into which the major had fallen.