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                            A YEAR IN A YAWL

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                                BOOKS BY
                           RUSSELL DOUBLEDAY

                       A GUNNER ABOARD THE YANKEE
                       CATTLE RANCH TO COLLEGE
                       A YEAR IN A YAWL

                       The True Adventure Series

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[Illustration: “‘WE ARE UNDER WAY AT LAST.’”]

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                            A YEAR IN A YAWL

                           A TRUE TALE OF THE
                        ADVENTURES OF FOUR BOYS
                         IN A THIRTY-FOOT YAWL

                                   BY
                           RUSSELL DOUBLEDAY

                            FROM THE LOG OF
                              CAPT. RANSOM

                                NEW YORK
                         DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & CO.
                                  1906

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                          Copyright, 1901, by
                         DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & CO.

                             OCTOBER, 1901.

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                                CONTENTS

               I. The Launching of the Scheme
              II. The Launching of the Boat
             III. Outward Bound
              IV. An Adventure in St. Louis
               V. A Perilous Situation
              VI. An Arctic Adventure
             VII. Sailing with Frozen Rigging
            VIII. An Icy Storm off “Sunny” Baton Rouge
              IX. On Salt Water at Last
               X. Riding a Monster Turtle
              XI. Lost on Captive Island
             XII. Fighting a Man-eating Shark
            XIII. A Thrilling Fourth of July Celebration
             XIV. A Race with a Gale
              XV. Captured by “Liberty”
             XVI. From New York to Albany
            XVII. Along the “Raging Canal”
           XVIII. In the Grip of Iron and Stone
             XIX. A Stormy Night on a Sinking Pile-Driver
              XX. Homeward Bound

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                         LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

    “We are Under Way at Last”

    “... the Boat was Launched”

    “Saw the Great Cakes of Ice go Racing by”

    Taking Soundings.—“... Frank Shouted, ‘Three Fathoms!’”

    Fish they Caught in the Gulf of Mexico

    On the Gulf Coast.—“Graceful Palms and Sturdy Live Oaks”

    “The Moon Broke from the Clouds and Silvered the Crescent Sea”

    John Gomez’s Cabin.—“A... Cottage Thatched with Palm Branches”

    “Old Cape Florida Lighthouse”

    “The Tall, Straight Shaft of the Cape Fear Light”

    Chesapeake Bay

    Beaufort, North Carolina.—Poplar Trees Bent Over by the Wind

    A “Bugeye.”—“Flew by Like the Shadow of a Swiftly Moving Cloud”

    On the “Raging Canal.”—“‘Step Lively’ Once More Got Going”

    Swaying on the Halliards.—“The Sails were Hoisted”

    “Looking for Port Stanley”

    “The ‘Gazelle’ Raced with the Flying Spray into Port”

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                                 NOTE.

          Acknowledgments are due to Mr. Thos. A. Hine, Mr.
          Clinton P. Townsend, and Miss Katherine R. Constant
          for the use of the photographs printed in this book.

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                            A YEAR IN A YAWL




                               CHAPTER I

                      THE LAUNCHING OF THE SCHEME


In the shadow of a big apple tree four boys lay on the grass studying a
map of the United States. One of the group was talking vehemently and
pointing out a route of some sort with a stubby carpenter’s pencil; the
other three were watching with eager interest.

“That sounds all right,” said one of the four as he rose to lean on his
elbow, “but you can’t do it with a little boat like yours. I don’t
believe you could do it anyway, Ken.”

“Well, I couldn’t do it in a steam-yacht,” the boy with the pencil
returned, “for obvious reasons. But I can and will make that trip.”

“I admire your pluck, Ken,” the third boy exclaimed. “It took
considerable gumption to plan and build a craft like yours alone; but I
don’t believe you’d bring your boat through whole.”

Again they bent down to the map, and the three listened while Kenneth
Ransom went over the route again.

“Yes, it looks all right on the map,” Clyde Morrow broke in; “but you
don’t realize that the couple of inches of Illinois River from Chicago
to the Mississippi, for instance, is a couple of hundred miles.”

“Of course it’s a big undertaking, but think of the fun. You fellows
like to sail on the Lake, and we have been through some pretty tough
squalls, and had