



Produced by Annie R. McGuire








[Illustration: HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE]

       *       *       *       *       *

VOL. II.--NO. 81. PUBLISHED BY HARPER & BROTHERS, NEW YORK. PRICE FOUR
CENTS.

Tuesday, May 17, 1881. Copyright, 1881, by HARPER & BROTHERS. $1.50 per
Year, in Advance.

       *       *       *       *       *




[Illustration]

[Begun in No. 80 of HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE, May 10.]

THE CRUISE OF THE "GHOST."

BY W. L. ALDEN,

AUTHOR OF THE "THE MORAL PIRATES," ETC.

CHAPTER II.


The next day Charley had the boat drawn up on the shore, and went to
work at her, assisted by the other boys. It took two weeks of constant
work to lengthen her, but when she was finished, everybody admitted that
she was greatly improved.

The jib halyards and sheets, as well as the throat and peak halyards,
were all led aft so that they could be reached by the helmsman without
leaving his post. When all the other work was finished, Charley made a
gun-carriage for the cannon, and it was lashed to the deck just forward
of the mast. Nothing now remained to be done but to name the boat, and
this proved to be the most difficult task of all. Each of the boys could
think of a dozen names that he did not like, but not one that he really
did like. Tom thought that perhaps they could not do better than to call
her the _America_, or the _George Washington_, but admitted that both of
those names were in rather too common use. Harry said that he didn't
much like the idea of calling her the _Red Revenger_, but if they
couldn't find any better name they might have to come to it. Charley
ridiculed the idea of calling her the _Red Revenger_, since she was not
intended to revenge anything, and instead of being red was as white as a
ghost. "Then suppose we call her the _Ghost_," exclaimed Joe.

The other boys asked if he was in earnest, said that it would never do
to call the boat the _Ghost_, and finally agreed that they rather liked
the name than otherwise, on account of its oddity. The end of it was
that Joe's suggestion was adopted, and _Ghost_ was painted in large
letters on the stern.

Three days before the cruise was to begin Jim Sharpe fell down an open
cellarway and broke his leg. The boys at first thought of abandoning
their cruise altogether, but Jim wouldn't hear of it. He told them to
go, and write him letters every few days, and convinced them that he
would really feel hurt if they did not go, so they bade him good-by, and
set sail from Harlem the following Monday morning, half in doubt whether
they ought to enjoy themselves while poor Jim was lying on a sick-bed,
where he was to pass most of his vacation.

The breeze blew gently from the west, and the _Ghost_, with the tide in
her favor, slipped rapidly down the river under full sail. As soon as
the yacht was fairly off, Charley, who was at the helm, divided his crew
into watches. The starboard watch consisted of the Captain and Joe, and
the port watch consisted of Tom and Harry, the former being in command
of it as mate. Each watch was to take charge of the boat in turn, and to
remain in charge four hours, except when the _Ghost_ might be lying at
anchor. The officer in charge of the watch was to steer, while his
companion was to be stationed in the forward part of the cockpit, where
he could handle the centre-board and attend to the jib sheets. Whenever
the officer gave an order, it was to be executed by his companion, and
the other boys were to remain quiet unless "all hands" were called.
Charley had been in the navy long enough to know that no vessel, however
small or however big she may be, can be properly sailed unless every
member of the crew knows what his duty is, and how to do it, and
refrains from interfering with the duty of other men, unless especially
ordered to do so.

The river was crowded with sailing craft and steamboats, and it was no
easy matter to steer the _Ghost_ so as to avoid collision. Every little
while a ferry-boat or tug would whistle hoarsely, and the boys noticed
that very often Charley altered the course he had been steering as soon
as he heard the whistle. "Do those whistles mean anything except for us
to get out of the way?" asked Harry, presently.

"A long whistle or a lot of little short whistles means 'get out of the
road,'" answered Charley; "but when you hear a steamboat give one short
whistle, or two short whistles, she is telling you which way she is
going to steer. Now there's a tug coming up the river straight at us;
you'll hear her whistle in a few minutes, and then I'll know what she's
going to do, and which way to steer to keep out of her way." He had
hardly said this when the tug gave two blasts of the whistle. "That
means she's going to starboard her helm and pass on our right,"
exclaimed Charley, at the same moment heading the _Ghost_ a little more
toward the Brooklyn shore.

"I thought," said Harry, as the steamboat passed between the _Ghost_ and
the New York shore, "that'starboard' meant right, and 'port' left."

"So it does."

"Then how did that tug turn to the left when you said she was going to
starboard her helm?"

"If I push the tiller over to the left-hand side of the boat, I port my
helm; but the boat turns to the right, doesn't she? Well, the tiller is
really the helm, and every vessel, whether she is steered with a wheel
or not, has a tiller, though it may not be in sight. Now when the helm
is pushed or pulled toward the port side, the vessel turns her head to
starboard, and when it's pushed toward the starboard side, she turns her
head to port. You've got to remember this, for some day if one of you is
steering, and I sing out 'port,' you mustn't make any mistake about it."

"I understand," said Joe. "The boat is always to do the opposite of what
you tell me to do if I'm steering. When you tell me to 'port,' the boat